Scubapro Hydrospro - ‘unconscious’ diver rolling face down on a rescue scenario

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Did you ditch the lead?

Made no difference. First the waves were crashing down on me from all directions. And I have honed weight placement so my center of gravity is neutral. With little/no air in my bladder I can hover in any position, including head down vertical and horizontal on my back.

Having all the buoyancy on my back and none in front continuously wanted to push me face down. In calm water it's not a problem, I can float on my back. In that water I couldn't control position at all and had to continually, forcefully roll onto my back to get my face up for a breath and was immediately forced face down again. Lead had nothing to do with it.
 
Made no difference. First the waves were crashing down on me from all directions. And I have honed weight placement so my center of gravity is neutral. With little/no air in my bladder I can hover in any position, including head down vertical and horizontal on my back.

Having all the buoyancy on my back and none in front continuously wanted to push me face down. In calm water it's not a problem, I can float on my back. In that water I couldn't control position at all and had to continually, forcefully roll onto my back to get my face up for a breath and was immediately forced face down again. Lead had nothing to do with it.
So no?
 
In a situation, this case just a rescue simulation, I find the ‘unconscious’ diver, wearing this BCD, constantly rolling face down. Any tips or advice for suitable techniques with this BCD or maybe other back inflate BCD if anyone else ever had the same issue?
Thanks for any tips and happy new year

By any chance did you ditch the weights? Or, at least give them to the instructor or an assistant to prevent losing them? This can help, especially if a diver is using a lot of weight.
 
Having all the buoyancy on my back and none in front continuously wanted to push me face down. In calm water it's not a problem, I can float on my back. In that water I couldn't control position at all and had to continually, forcefully roll onto my back to get my face up for a breath and was immediately forced face down again.

Why not flip the BC then? -- You know how to wear a backpack on your front I assume. I haven't it myself but aside from keeping a hand on the 1st stage so it doesn't punch you in the face with every wave, I can't think of any obvious problems.
 
With "Do-Si-Do"?

When you give breaths, one hand pinches the nose and the other, the one holding the victim by do-si-do pushes up on the head to make it easier for the rescuer to give the breaths without the rescuer needing to "climb" up to give the breaths. BC is a major drag and causes rescuer exhaustion especially with the tank and other danglies on.

Note: Many are advising not to bother with the breaths and just to get the victim towed out of the water to safety faster.

Sorry, there is a culture gap here. I have no idea what Do-Si-Do is and google tells me it is a dance thing which doesn’t help me.

As I said there are many techniques. We close the mouth and give the breath into the casualty’s nose. They get rotated, so while it is an effort it is not like lifting them or trying to get above them.

Current U.K. guidance is only one minute of rescue breaths if you have to tow them, then tow without rescue breaths, then dekit them before landing. Mostly though you expect a boat so continue RB while waiting.
 
In that situation, depending on distance from shore and the person's type of suit, it may be best to remove and abandon the BCD. A diver in full neoprene should float rather well. A dry-suit of course is a different matter but inflating the suit instead of the BCD would help.

When in open water we practice this as part of our DM course here but always have another diver beside us to collect stripped gear before it sinks.

I agree. In a real situation I would probably do that. In this particular case it would’ve also been problematic, the ‘rescuee’ being twice my weight and size, wearing just a skin suit and having very low body fat= sinking like a rock. I guess this is kind of the unluckiest scenario though.

Still this makes me thoughtful. In a real life situation if it just happens that I’m the only available rescuer and the person in need happens to be a block of muscle wearing nothing buoyant and with back inflate BCD, in a relatively rough conditions or a long tow away from the shore or boat... a different BCD could make a difference.
I wear Hydrospro as well and I love it underwater (it’s my first wing), but I have some doubts of it on the surface and in the training situations. Still partly lack of practice for sure.
 
I agree. In a real situation I would probably do that. In this particular case it would’ve also been problematic, the ‘rescuee’ being twice my weight and size, wearing just a skin suit and having very low body fat= sinking like a rock. I guess this is kind of the unluckiest scenario though.

Still this makes me thoughtful. In a real life situation if it just happens that I’m the only available rescuer and the person in need happens to be a block of muscle wearing nothing buoyant and with back inflate BCD, in a relatively rough conditions or a long tow away from the shore or boat... a different BCD could make a difference.
I wear Hydrospro as well and I love it underwater (it’s my first wing), but I have some doubts of it on the surface and in the training situations. Still partly lack of practice for sure.

That does sound like a perfect storm... and something an evil instructor would do to their DMC's lol. I had a similar size difference 'rescuing' a DM we affectionately call Thor. Swam his 6'4 over-weighted body from 35' down with no inflation lol (my mistake... first bottom retrieval on my Rescue course and I didn't think to orally inflate either of us when I realized both his and my own inflation hoses had been disconnected when I wasn't looking). I'll never forget that again though :wink:

I definitely have different gear for DM work. I travel with a small travel harness/wing (Outlaw) and short hose reg set. My backup SPG is a little button gauge routed over my right shoulder, second stage on a necklace to keep it neat when I'm walking to or on the boat etc. All tailored to me and my diving style.

When I'm with students I use a more standard looking BCD with plenty of lift, pockets for extra weight and a long hose swap for the octo. I try to make my gear more like theirs so they look at me and recognize what I have. Also I like to model proper routing, stowing and clipping of a standard set of hoses and gauges for them. Added benefit is my travel gear stays out of the pool and chlorine.
 
Why not flip the BC then? -- You know how to wear a backpack on your front I assume. I haven't it myself but aside from keeping a hand on the 1st stage so it doesn't punch you in the face with every wave, I can't think of any obvious problems.

Pardon me but that sounds like a monumentally stupid option. In 4-5 foot waves that are choppy and coming from every direction, taking the harnes off and putting it on backwards would be 1. difficult, 2 impossible to secure, 3 it would be easy to lose the rig altogether, and 4 as you stated, a risk of getting bashed in the face repeatedly. Why would I do that if I had a snorkel vest under the harness to orally inflate? Much simpler, much safer and has no downside.
 
Isn't it frightening how when being bashed around and out of breath
so little air, is being delivered, from a perfectly functioning regulator.
 
We have a few Zeagle BCs and don't seem to have that issue, provided that integrated weights are utilized. I have attempted that "mob informant floater" on a few occasions and typically remain close to vertical with a steel tank (which may be an advantage); but, definitely, not face down at any time . . .

I have the Litehawk travel BC that back inflate and I noticed that until I got my weight in the shoulder pouch dialed in it had a tendency to do the face forward bit more frequently on the surface. Now that I have an idea of how much weight I need in my shoulders to get my trim dialed in it is much better behaved on the surface now as well.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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