Quick question on Rescue

[InTheDrink]

Hi,

Beginning my rescue course tomorrow morning at last, despite the conniving of the gods over the last couple of years to prevent me doing so. Perhaps they know something I don't.

Anyhow, real quick question. In the situation with a panicked diver on the surface, my instinct would always be to approach from underneath and behind (emphasis on behind) to establish buoyancy.

Are there any particularly good reasons, really, that one would try a surface direct/frontal approach? I know they discuss it in the book but if someone was truly panicked on the surface surely going for the sure fire method of getting them buoyant and under control without major risk to oneself (from behind, knee cradle on the tank) would be the obvious choice. Or am I missing something?

TIA,
John

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Nope you are not missing anything. Except one scenario that I do that I have not seen in any other rescue course to date. That being that unless the panicked diver is your buddy and you are both diving alone with them, why would you not make use of your buddy to aid the panicked diver? Ie approach from the front being careful to not get within reach and continue trying to get the diver to calm down and save themself. At the same time distracting them while your buddy, or if your buddy takes on the talking role, goes under and comes up behind them, drops their weights and does the tank climb. I am more and more convinced that when diving with a buddy the team should do everything together. Including aid other divers. When performing an unconscious diver lift from depth in my AOW class I have students do it alone and with their buddy. Is anyone else doing this? Where does it say that only one rescuer has to do everything. Yes it is good for practice and every diver should know how but they should also know that they can do it as a buddy team.

 

[tc]

Another alternative is to approach where they can see you and try to talk them into establishing buoyancy. Eye contact can sometimes help calm them a bit.

But if not- be ready to revert to your first approach.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

When it comes to rescue situations, I prefer to problem solve on a case-by-case basis. Whenever you make statements using terms like "always" or "the obvious choice is..." you run the risk of not going through the decision-making process of figuring out the best course of action.

One thing that I keep in mind with a panicked diver is how large that person is. With a small, slight-of-build girl, I would consider approaching from behind (either above/underwater), simply inflating my BCD, and grabbing onto her to establish positive buoyancy. I wouldn't even consider such an approach with a large man.

You have other options open to you besides an underwater approach. A panicked diver is a danger to himself and you. You can let him tire himself out first. This is one instance in which patience can help improve the situation. You could maintain your distance and talk him into helping himself. You could also reach with some sort of implement or throw a buoy to the problem diver. I'd consider inflating my signal tube, which provides positive buoyancy and allows me to maintain my distance to the panicked diver. Lots of options to consider.

 

[rstofer]

Number 1 rule: don't let the victim's problem become your problem! If you practice rescue as a team, Jim's technique sounds good. If not, follow the book and come up from behind. In fact, I view simplicity as an enviable goal. Learn and use the rear approach - keep it simple!

Once you dump the weights (assuming they even HAVE weights, there are a lot of BP/W divers trying to eliminate ditchable weight), things will be a lot better.

OOPS! I use that DUI Weight and Trim Classic with the large D handles as do the other 3 (wife, son-in-law, grandson). I wonder if they can be ditched from the rear? Something else to try. This could actually be a problem... I know I can ditch them from in front and below but that's not a good place to be.

Richard

 

[Jim Lapenta]

In front and below is not that unsafe a position. I teach and try to stay below waist level if this is what you need to to. The last place a panicked diver wants to be is under the water. And chances are they will be thrashing around so much they won't even notice your bubbles. And hopefully they are close to being properly waited so that just dumping one pouch is enough. Just be prepared for the possibility of getting kicked! You could of course grab the pouch from the side and then go around as well.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

OOPS! I use that DUI Weight and Trim Classic with the large D handles as do the other 3 (wife, son-in-law, grandson). I wonder if they can be ditched from the rear? Something else to try. This could actually be a problem... I know I can ditch them from in front and below but that's not a good place to be.

Good luck with that!
Ditching with the pull-handle on a DUI W/T requires one to pull quite a distance across and in front of the diver. This would be very difficult to do from behind the panicked diver.
Don't get me wrong, though. I still think that the DUI W/T is a great piece of gear.

 

[tomboyy]

Good luck on your course tommorrow ! One thing on the panick diver rescue that might help you is to overweight yourself just a tad... you'll want to sink as quick as you can. Have fun ! This was my favorite course and the most demanding.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Good luck on your course tommorrow ! One thing on the panick diver rescue that might help you is to overweight yourself just a tad... you'll want to sink as quick as you can. Have fun ! This was my favorite course and the most demanding.

Hmmm. During your rescue class, I'd recommend gearing up the same way you always do. Don't underweight or overweight yourself. If you purposefully overweight yourself just for the class, you won't be replicating conditions that you might encounter in real-world scenarios.

 

[gcbryan]

We did several rescue scenarios with several divers helping with the rescue. With rescue breaths there is always one diver doing that and using his other hand to take gear off and tow...overload for the diver in other words but in some cases there were other divers to assist with the gear removal.

I think it's good to try as many different scenarios as time will allow to promote thinking out of the box should the need arise.