Rescuing an unconscious diver underwater.

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there is also the option of weight system dump. upon finding an unconcious diver you flip them face up remove there weight belt (pockets) and as you ascend dump gas from there bc as needed (control your own bc as per normal ascent). If they begin to ascend to fast (with no air in there bc they will tend to only gradualy float depending on exposure suit) but if they do you simply release them, they will make it to the surface and you can follow at a safe ascent rate.

food for thought
 
Dumping the unresponsive diver's weights at depth is going to make it difficult or even impossible to control their ascent, once you get them shallow. Although, if someone is not breathing through the entire ascent, gas embolism is likely, it is at least possible that during a controlled ascent, the gas can slowly expand and exit their airway. If you have to let go of them because they have become unmanageably buoyant, embolism is all but certain.

The one exception might be if the victim is so massively overweighted that you can't get them buoyant any other way. This was the case with a body recovery here in Puget Sound last year.
 
Ascents should be swimming, rather than buoyant ascents. Regardless of whether or not you're in a rescue you should swim up or down to change your position in the water column. Of course to do that you should be neutrally buoyant, or fairly close to neutral. As a rescuer you would probably already be neutral as you approach your diver 'victim.' Skipping several steps to arrive at the point where you would ascent with the diver, you would use their BC to achieve neutral buoyancy for the victim and then swim to the surface with them. One hand would cradle the second stage in the victims mouth (if that's where you found it) and the other hand would be on their power inflator to either dump or add air as necessary to maintain the ability to swim the victim to the surface. I rarely have to adjust my own BC, swimming comfortably to the surface and immediately establishing positive buoyancy on the surface, by dumping weights, adding air to BCs or drysuits, etc - to continue rescue actions on the surface.

S.
 
Ascents should be swimming, rather than buoyant ascents.

Huh?

Maybe we are talking semantics, but maybe we are not -- however, it seems to me that many direct ascents (as opposed to following a contour) are not "swimming" ascents. To the contrary, one is neutral at the depth (let's say 50'), inhales deeply to start the ascent to 40', lets air out of drysuit and/or BC to control ascent and then stops, neutral at 40' -- rinse and repeat. The only swimming is what is necessary to keep you in formation with your buddy/teammate.

Especially when one is wearing a dry suit, swimming ascents are difficult since going vertical guarantees a loss of buoyancy due to suit venting.

Remember, not all people dive in the same configuration and, in fact, some gear (dry suits in particular) pretty much require people to remain horizontal while trying to ascend.
 
There is no one way to get them to the surface, the important thing is to get them there.

I have long arms so it's easy for me to go under a victims arm, reach up, hold the reg and tilt the head in that fashion.
I can use my BC and not worry to much about dropping them and then use their BC once on the surface. I can always go over the shoulder if their physical size warrants it.
My wife has shorter arms so she goes over the shoulder to support the reg and keep the airway open. She uses the victims BC.

Both work.
 
Real life is different than training. In training you should learn how to assess the situation and determine what needs to be done. After making a real rescue of two divers from 90 foot I added a few things to my rescue class. The first diver ran out of air and the second diver was trying to rescue him. A one person incident almost became a two person incident.

First and most important-Don't turn one victim into two victims.

Second never put so much air in any one bc that it could cause the person wearing it to shoot to the surface.

Getting back to the OP question. A person diving should at most times be close to neutral buoyant. You should be able to start swimming them up and what air that is in their bc should expand on your way up. If the victim is so over weighted that air needs to be added I would add it to him either with his power inflater or by manually inflating his bc if he is out of air. I dive neutral so I don't normally have to add air to my bc to surface. If it is a deep dive I am normally venting air on the way up. I may come up a little faster than normal and a little more positively buoyant than normal in an emergency but never so fast or buoyant that my life would be at risk.
 
In my Rescue Class we were taught to inflate the victim's BC - orally if necessary - and use his buoyancy to help you both ascend at a safe rate. This is easy to do, and if the victim gets away from you he will continue to ascend, and you can follow at a safe rate.

Orally under a high stress, task loading scenario? It doesn't seem too practical or efficient to orally inflate the victims bcd while trying to bring him to the surface, what are the justifications?
 
I teach using your bc in my OW and AOW (for those from other agencies that do not do this in basic OW) class. This is the second scenario rescue. First is loss of buoyancy assist where the buddy helps their teammate who has lost the ability to inflate their bc. Using the rescuers bc they ascend and the rescuer keeps the diver buoyant until the victim resolves the problem. Then it's back down for the unconscious diver rescue. We do not dump weights unless the diver is grossly overweighted and if we are able, do not dump all weights. Sometimes a couple pounds is all that is needed. At this point use the rescuers bc only adding air to the vics if it is absolutely necessary. With a combination of bc and kicking it is not difficult to do. I have had a 13 yr old girl bring her father who was at least twice her size to the surface successfully in the pool. But this was in OW class. I imagine by the time she gets to rescue, if she ever decides to, there won't be many people she couldn't bring to the surface.
 
Ascents should be swimming, rather than buoyant ascents. Regardless of whether or not you're in a rescue you should swim up or down to change your position in the water column. Of course to do that you should be neutrally buoyant, or fairly close to neutral. As a rescuer you would probably already be neutral as you approach your diver 'victim.' Skipping several steps to arrive at the point where you would ascent with the diver, you would use their BC to achieve neutral buoyancy for the victim and then swim to the surface with them. One hand would cradle the second stage in the victims mouth (if that's where you found it) and the other hand would be on their power inflator to either dump or add air as necessary to maintain the ability to swim the victim to the surface. I rarely have to adjust my own BC, swimming comfortably to the surface and immediately establishing positive buoyancy on the surface, by dumping weights, adding air to BCs or drysuits, etc - to continue rescue actions on the surface.

S.

You start with both BCs neutral--not empty? If you vent from the victim's BC when ascending what about the expanding air in your own? If you're diving 7 mil wetsuits they also will expand a lot.
 
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