What to do when your buddy gets away

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windapp

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Location
Windsor Ontario
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I was reading a post in the accidents/incidents forum where a diver apparently dropped like a rock and ended up dying. The details are unclear but it made me start thinking about that sort of scenario.

I would like to start a discussion on what to do when your buddy suddenly descends or ascends, and the risks associated with each protocal we come up with.

Example:

On a recent dive trip, my buddy started to ascend quickly (I think by accident), and instead of going after him which would have required me to ascend even more quickly, I caught his attention by banging on my tank with my dive knife and signalled him to come back down.

Anyway, post away.
 
Well, when you get separated and can't see buddy, you're supposed to have an agreement that each will search for a minute, then surface under control, so you'll find each other on the surface.

When buddy accidentally gets away, the first question is can you get to him? Second question is, should you? Meaning, can you get there, and assist usefully without endangering yourself and requiring a *third* rescuer to get both of you?

On an unplanned ascent (which you guess it was), you did the right thing by signalling buddy (I assume he heard and responded then?). But with a runaway ascent, if you can't get him right away and stop him before he gains "missile" speed, there may not be anything you can do (safely) except ascend under control and assist on the surface if no one else has, and tell any responders what happened.

An unplanned descent I think is a little different. It's easier (and safer compared to the rising 'missle' scenario) to get to him if you can (safely, meaning you have the air and the nitrogen margin) and help him arrest the descent, inflate BC, and help him get positive and ascending under control with you.

Sometimes you'll have an uncontrollable buddy, who goes wherever and whenever he wants, and doesn't respond to your signals. If you don't have the air to chase him, *don't*. Keep the number of victims down to one.

Many others may chime in, but these are the basic ideas I have in mind when i dive.
 
Well in the scenario that you presented you did right....Get his attention and let him fix is own situation. A diver sinking like a rock is grossly overweighted and you probably should have picked up on that before the dive ever started. Uncontrolled ascent, you probably wont be able to do anything but watch(safely that is). As far as a buddy that just does his own thing and pays no attention to you, dont dive with him ever again.
 
Having your buddy come back down may or may not be a good thing, depending on how far away he got, from a decompression standpoint. Bouncing up & down like that, especially if there is a considerable difference in depth may not be best for the off gassing of the buddy, especially if no decompression limits are being closely approached. To have the buddy that rose too quickly wait at their current depth may be better for them, unless the buddy left behind is having a problem, then of course, they should go back down to assist. Just one point to consider

For a buddy to drop like a rock indicates they are massively over weighted. It should be a tad difficult to get down the first 6- 10 ft. No recreational diver should ever be that over weighted. :shakehead:

The best way to avoid the situation to begin with is 1. for each buddy to learn & control buoyancy going both up & down. If there is an anchor line or Up/ down line, this make it much easier. If it a free ascent/ descent with no references, much more difficult. That is where the buoyancy control & monitoring one's buddy & computer, comes in (aka- multitasking). Watch your buddy, communicate with them on the way up/ down & before & after the dive.
 
New divers often have difficulty staying with a buddy during descents and ascents. These are critical phases of the dive during which the probability of buddy separation is heightened and possibility of injury is high. Avoiding this situation in the first place comes down to an issue of buoyancy control.
As your buoyancy control improves, you'll have less of a problem with buddy separation during these phases of the dive. It's generally considered good practice to stay within an arm's length of your buddy during initial descent/ascent.

Descending/ascending under control means being able to hold one's position in the water column at any given moment. I try to keep finning at a minimum so that I don't tire myself out.
During a descent, I aim for neutral buoyancy and then exhale a little to begin to descend slowly. Once downward momentum begins, I add just a little air to my BCD or drysuit...and then aim to become neutrally buoyant again. The entire time I'm watching my depth gauge and my buddy.
During an ascent, I essentially do the same thing in reverse. From a neutrally buoyant position, I inhale slightly more deeply. Once upward momentum begins, I exhaust just a little air from my BCD or drysuit...and then aim for nuetral buoyancy again. The entire time I'm watching my depth gauge and my buddy.

If my buddy begins to get away from me during a descent, I can grab onto his rig and help slow his descent. If I can't grab him, then I'll follow his bubble stream down at a controlled pace. It makes no sense to be crashing into my buddy while doing my best impression of a dirt dart.
If my buddy begins to get away from me during an ascent, I can also grab onto his rig and help slow his descent. If I can't grab him, then I'll follow him up at a controlled pace. In most cases, I'll omit safety stops to make sure that my buddy is OK on the surface.

Particularly with uncontrolled ascents, I find that making noise to get my buddy's attention does no good. He's already headed to the surface. He knows that. I know that. We both know what the other should be doing at that point.
For a buddy to drop like a rock indicates they are massively over weighted.
Or that the diver is unable, for whatever reason, to add gas to his BCD or drysuit. I've seen this happen with a buddy whose BCD inflater hose popped off of the power inflater assembly shortly after leaving the surface during initial descent. Once his strong downward momentum had already been established, it was difficult for him to add enough gas to his BCD by oral inflation to arrest the descent. Fortunately, we chose to descend over a sandy bottom that day. It could have been ugly if we were descending in an area where the bottom was beyond recreational depths. This would be an excellent way to damage one's ears if the descent outpaced ear equalization.

I agree that proper weighting is important. After fully emptying his BCD at the surface with a full tank, he should never be more negatively buoyant that the weight of his gas. Attention should also be paid to pre-dive gear/buddy checks to prevent an issue such as the inflater hose from popping off. A slow, deliberate descent gives the diver two additional safety options: (1) finning towards the surface and (2) getting a buddy to intervene.
 
But no matter how good your buoyancy control is, it can be perturbed if the water wants it that way. I lost Peter briefly on a dive in the San Juans one day -- we were working our way along a wall in reasonably good viz (20 feet, maybe?) and he was about ten or twelve feet in front of me. I stopped briefly to look at something, and when I looked up again, he was gone. I figured he had just moved along the wall farther than the viz would let me see him, so I swam after him. He was nowhere to be found, so I began an ascent along the wall, and picked him up about 30 feet higher. He'd been caught in an upcurrent that I didn't get into, and it blew him up about 30 feet before he could stop.

But this is where protocol comes in. I looked where I thought he would be for about a minute, and then began an ascent -- and did it along the wall (which was sloping) rather than straight up, because it made better sense to stay where there was structure for reference, so I would know I wasn't moving very far from the place we got separated. (Green water ascents in the current-filled San Juans can get you to the surface a LONG way from where you started!)

In the event of uncontrolled excursions in the water column, you always have to evaluate -- very fast -- what you CAN do, and how much risk you take on in doing it. I have chased students into the water column, and rode an uncontrolled drysuit-problem ascent to the surface with one. That was a 50 foot ascent in about 30 seconds, and I wasn't happy about it, but since she was a very new diver and I felt responsible for her, I took the risk. I don't know that I would have done that with an unknown buddy. I couldn't stop her, but at least I slowed her down some.
 
What if your buddy dropped quickly after doing a giant stride? Should you assume his air was off, and kick down after him to assist equalizing as best you can?

If we could, I would like to de-emphasize prevention in this thread. I know that virtually all of the situations we will talk about are preventable, but I am hoping that this discussion leads to more decisive thinking when and if these situations ever happen.
 
As they say,... Prevention is worth a pound of cure. It is best to stop the situation before it becomes an issue. If that is what happened, yes, I would follow very quickly (my ears clear easily) to make sure they are OK. Once I get to a depth where I can see there are or aren't any problems, I would act accordingly (Help them out if there is a problem, or slow & control my descent before getting to them if there isn't). I had a runaway descent the first time I dove my double steel cylinders. I was unaware of the negative buoyancy they presented. I was taken to 90 ft in less than a minute. Scared the hell out of me, but I retained enough presence of mind to collect myself on the bottom, abort the dive & slowly ascend back to the surface. In the case of a recreational diver, if properly weighted, that should never happen.
 
Just to clarify, in my example, my buddy wasn't out of control. From his vantage point, he didn't have a good reference, and I don't think he even realized he was ascending.
 
Your safety comes first. Try to signal them if you can but because of the possibility of active panic I don't recommend getting too near them and attempting a rescue in either case until you have taken further training. A Rescue Diver course which will teach you how to handle both runaway descents and ascents and let you practice doing it.
 
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