Semi missed safety stop

[Taynightsie]

Hi
Was diving yesterday with my usual club. I go out about once a month and this time was a new DM.
Dive went well. Deepest part was 18 meters but we spent most of dive around 12. Towards the end the DM got agitated and, I thought, was urging me forward
So I did. I realised we were aound point we said we would exit, stopped and she grabbed me made me hold hands with my confused buddy, who was fine. Made the buddy signal and wouldn't let us go. It felt like she was pulling me up, that with the hand blocked i couldn't purge and ended up going up with a limited safety stop. In the confusion i think my computer said one min.
We surfaced. She wasn't happy. Said we didn't stay close together - we felt we were always in contact. We had plenty of air and went down for a bit quite shallow to explore and exit again.
How dangerous was that?
Felt fine although was a bit mad but completed second shallower dive with no issues and a very gradual ascent along sea bed.
T

 

[MichaelMc]

You posted this in the humor section, which may not get much feedback. I'll see if the mods want to move it to maybe medical.

If this was a concern, and not odd humor:

You should call DAN, divers alert network, Join or Renew DAN Scuba Diving Membership, Contact DAN — DAN | Divers Alert Network, they are the experts.
Things they may want to know:
How long was the dive? That is how long were you at 18m and 12m?
If you were to chart it on your dive tables, does it say you were inside no-decompression limits?
How much inside the No-d limit?
How soon did you go back down? How deep?
How did you feel afterwards?
What does your dive computer say? What model of dive computer?
What other dives before? After? Depths and times?

Edit: DCS (Decompression Sickness) does not have clear cut boundaries of when it happens, just more and less likely probabilities. Diving in the no-decompression part of your dive tables, and slow ascents are designed to keep you in the less likely probability region. Safety stops add a bit of extra safety to that. If you are concerned, or have symptoms, you need to contact DAN.

 

[Peter69_56]

Speaking generally for the majority of divers, it should not be an issue. The safety stop is there as a precaution only. If you come straight up from depth with no safety stop you should be fine. If you are right at the end of your No Decompression Limit, the risk does go up a little but still you should be fine. If you have accidentally entered Decompression time, then this is when the risks are much higher.

For a recreational diver, just remember the Safety Stop is just that, for safety as a precaution. I always try and do a safety stop if not in decompression, but if I have to come to the surface without stopping I am not concerned.

For the majority of divers the above is true, however for a small minority of divers the comments below may apply so keep that in mind as you dive !!!
If you are a decompression diver, just because you miss some decompression time underwater doesn't necessarily mean you will get bent. Just because you do a safety stop as a recreational diver again doesn't mean you WONT get bent.

 

[Neilwood]

Hi
Was diving yesterday with my usual club. I go out about once a month and this time was a new DM.
Dive went well. Deepest part was 18 meters but we spent most of dive around 12. Towards the end the DM got agitated and, I thought, was urging me forward
So I did. I realised we were aound point we said we would exit, stopped and she grabbed me made me hold hands with my confused buddy, who was fine. Made the buddy signal and wouldn't let us go. It felt like she was pulling me up, that with the hand blocked i couldn't purge and ended up going up with a limited safety stop. In the confusion i think my computer said one min.
We surfaced. She wasn't happy. Said we didn't stay close together - we felt we were always in contact. We had plenty of air and went down for a bit quite shallow to explore and exit again.
How dangerous was that?
Felt fine although was a bit mad but completed second shallower dive with no issues and a very gradual ascent along sea bed.
T

My take on this:
1) The safety stop is just that - for safety. It is not a compulsory stop but it is good practise. So long as you are within NDL, it is an optional (but very beneficial) stop.
2) I would have had serious words with the DM. They completely over reacted to what seems a non situation. They might have been briefed in their DM course that people should stay close together and ended up taking it too far.
3) If I am in that situation I would let the DM know I had a stop to complete (remember the sign for safety stop - level hand with the fingers of the other hand held up to it indicating the duration of the stop remaining). In the pic - 3 minutes remaining but you could have any amount (some people like to extend the stop to 5 or more minutes) so long as that was the plan.

4) For me, diving with a buddy is more about the attention you give than the distance from them. You can be 5m away in clear water and be a very attentive diver with regular checks and communication between you. If there is a problem you are probably a couple of good fin kick away. If the vis is low, that might need to be nearer. If your buddy isn't watching you, communicating with you or simply swimming off in another direction, get a better buddy (Sounds like yours was pretty good though)
5) Ascent rate is probably as important as NDL - ascend too quickly and there is not enough time to off gas sufficiently. I would have less issue blowing off a safety stop with a reasonably slow ascent than with a rapid ascent.

 

[kelemvor]

Lesson learned: Avoid that newbie DM.

Is a divemaster required in the area where you dive? I generally prefer to avoid them unless I'm diving somewhere that has a law requiring them. Fortunately that's the exception rather than the rule.

 

[txgoose]

Admittedly, I am a newer diver. That said, I would be pretty concerned, and eventually pretty annoyed, that a DM was removing the use of one of my hands while under water. As demonstrated in your description, she created a safety issue by her actions. I would want to ask her to compare the risks of her perception that you weren't close enough verses the actual reality of a missed safety stop (that she contributed to). The reality seems worse than the perception.

 

[Gareth J]

As others have said, a safety stop is just that - a buffer added to the normal NDL limits.
It has a number of advantages, not the least of which is to encourage divers to slow down as they approach 6-3m (18-12ft) to complete the safety stop.

Modern computers are quite conservative, so there is no real issue. Similarly, on the first dive of the day, it makes it a minimal issue, you have a very low nitrogen loading. Modern computers will penalise you on your next dive, if it is one of a series.

Also remember a safety stop is a safety buffer - if you have an issue you can blow straight through a safety stop. It is safer to be on the surface than underwater if you have a problem / emergency, rather than attempting to stay on a SAFETY stop.
NOTE - It is a totally different matter if it is a compulsory decompression stop. (Again if you have no gas its better to be on the surface than under water - generally we can fix a bend but not drowning!)

 

[Marie13]

I'd have been slapping the hands of that DM away. Period. Make me unable to use my inflator? Don't think so.

 

[Patoux01]

3) If I am in that situation I would let the DM know I had a stop to complete (remember the sign for safety stop - level hand with the fingers of the other hand held up to it indicating the duration of the stop remaining). In the pic - 3 minutes remaining but you could have any amount (some people like to extend the stop to 5 or more minutes) so long as that was the plan.
View attachment 423669

I'm unaware of a "the sign for safety stop", where does that come from? Sounds like local practice to me.

Missing a safety stop is not a problem.

Unless there's a real risk of getting separated, or having someone who's struggling, I would not want to hold hand with someone.

There's a universal sign for "let me do my stuff and mind your own business", it consists in one finger up, with all others in a fist. Usually you leave the middle finger up.

 

[Marie13]

Actually that safety stop sign is what I learned here in the US during my OW class (SDI).