highest probability emergency situations?

[mi000ke]

Sorry if this is covered elsewhere but could not find anything via search.

I completed my OW course a few months ago and of course we were taught how to deal with emergency situations like out of air, free-flowing regulator, entanglement, etc., but without any mention of what are the most likely emergency situations we might face (not counting "simple" things like mask or regulator knocked out of mouth, ear squeeze, etc.) The main comment essentially was, if you prepare properly, any emergency will be unlikely. But what I would like to know is, what are the most common emergencies that beyond-novice divers tend to face? What are the highest probability emergency issues one might encounter? And how common are they?

 

[Mike.D]

Very dependant of where you dive and the type of diving you do.


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[Oldbear]

I tend to see low air/out of air situations with new divers. They tend to get engrossed with their surroundings that they forget to manage (check frequently) their air.

Suck a a bottle dry a time or two and that should cure that.k:

 

[pisoiu]

IMHO, free flowing is most likely to appear, but I would not call it an emergency. Most of the times it can be easily stopped.

 

[mi000ke]

Very dependant of where you dive and the type of diving you do.

Good point. I was thinking non-cave, not-tech, non-nitrox - pretty much "simple" (if there is such a thing) open water diving in warmer climates - reefs, wrecks, etc. up to about 100 feet in water temps above say 60 degrees.

 

[Mike.D]

For most new divers I think the simple mistake of getting lost underwater/swept away by current when boat diving can end up as an real emergency for a diver who isn't well prepared skill and equipment wise. So keep practicing basic skills to avoid it! (navigation and deploying dsmb/smbs)


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[Steve_C]

1. Free flowing regulator - will occur at some point

2. Mouthpiece come off. Has happened to me and have seen with another diver. Not serious if you know what to do.

3a Air not connected to BCD
3b Air not on

Have seen both 3s happen. In fact 3a happened last week to our guide in the Caymans. Have seen 3b with another diver and discovered 3b with my gear supposedly ready in Cancun but corrected.

You will do something dumb at some point. Distractions happen, like suddenly getting a new buddy while you are setting up. 3. is easy to prevent. The last thing I do before stepping off the boat is to give a puff of air to my BCD. Even for a hot drop I give a puff of air and then release it. Then I take a couple breaths while looking at my SPG. If as in cancun, the air was partially on you will see the needle move.

If your air is connected to BCD and the air is on, other things are fairly easy to handle.

4. Air supply particularly if on a deeper dive. I find that at 100 ft I need to make a point of concentrating a bit to keep track of air and NDL.

5. Finding your self either solo or with buddy and "lost". This is only an emergency situation if you get nervous. Then SAC rate goes up and chance of panic or making a bad decision goes up.

 

[lemke]

Disorientation, out of air, hypothermia, fatigue, equalization problems, forgetting to ascend at a reasonable rate...

 

[tbone1004]

well nitrox makes things safer as long as you aren't violating MOD which is rather difficult with most mixes. 32% will take you all the way to the limits of recreational diving, so it makes it safer.

As far as most common "emergency" situations, but depends on your definition of emergency.
Regulator failures, first stage will blow due to improper maintenance of the HP seat resulting in total loss of deliverable air to the diver. That's bad. Not terribly common, but it is the most common of the catastrophic regulator failures. Most others are just a nuisance, that is the standard freeflowing second stage whether violent or leaking. Having a cheap $15 IP gauge and checking it before each big dive trip all but guarantees you to not encounter this failure in the water. They plug into your inflator hose, you breathe off of the second stages like you are supposed to during prechecks and make sure the IP locks up. If it is creeping you need a rebuild.

Other than that there aren't any "common" emergency situations that are universal, it all depends on where you are diving. New England diving if you're staying local are a combination of entanglements and currents being most problematic. In NC off the coast we don't have any real common emergency situations, but the most common source of annoyance is divers not paying attention to their pressure gauges and then they see 500, freak out, and then they cause emergencies for themselves. Those are self induced emergencies and they are probably the most common "emergency" out there.

 

[scoobydrew]

Working on a dive boat in warm waters, the most common issue I see is people running out of air. People don't check their gauges which, when you think about it is pretty remarkable. Sometimes people do not want to be the first person to call half a tank so don't and then of course do not have enough air to get back to the boat.