AOW student dies in training: Alberta

[flots am]

Swim 80 ft up, or swim 3 or 4 feet to my buddy with a reliable air source.

I think you missed this part: " . . . you and your buddy end the dive and surface, sharing air if necessary."

 

[markmantei]

... and doesn't that just hammer home the point I've been trying to make on this thread? Way too much emphasis on getting people AOW certified, so that they can go diving in more challenging conditions with absolutely no basic rescue skills.

That's bass-ackwards, to my concern. Consider taking a Rescue class ... it's a way better investment than AOW ... and it just might someday save your life ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Agreed Bob, and it is in my future. Also, my OW instructor would agree with you rescue was the only course that was recommended.

 

[coldwatercanada]

"Rescuer's 2 and 3 entered the water specifically for the rescue. I don't believe that gas was a limiting factor. I also am still unclear as to what this has to do with a stage/pony bottle and manual inflation of a BCD."

See again different rumors but from what i heard apparently all rescuers involved with the incident where the pros leading the dive from the store till the victim hit the edge of the lake. In fact the rumor going around was the 7 divers on shore that where up their fun diving, thought it was a rescue class until northwest scuba shore support started making people move cars to make room for EMS

 

[coldwatercanada]

i personally would have dropped the weight and swam him up

 

[markmantei]

See again different rumors but from what i heard apparently all rescuers involved with the incident where the pros leading the dive from the store till the victim hit the edge of the lake. In fact the rumor going around was the 7 divers on shore that where up their fun diving, thought it was a rescue class until northwest scuba shore support started making people move cars to make room for EMS

Sorry on this one. No longer rumor. Rescuers from an AUC event were in the water to recover the diver. Those rescuers were not connected to the dive shop, but were connected to another dive shop from Edmonton.

 

[Crush]

Sorry crush, I didn't mean to imply that you were blaming. That said, let me try to armchair quarterback Asking as a non-rescue certified diver, would it not have been a possiblity, given the diver falling back down, to descend, get the diver back on air, and try to release weight on the bottom before trying to bring the diver to the surface again?

I had thought that the victim may have been a paniced diver, which of course who certainly explain the actions of the buddy.

I was trained (in ACUC basic open-water, I might add) that the rescuer makes the victim slightly positively buoyant and him/herself slightly negatively buoyant and controls the ascent of both divers. That way, if the victim slips from your grasp, they are going up and you are going down. The situation, as described in this thread, would never have occurred with a trained rescue diver. Even with zero air pressure in the victim's tank, the BCD could have been inflated orally and, on the way up, vented occasionally. The only caveat is that the BCD bladder may have ruptured, but this seems to not have been the case. If the BCD bladder had ruptured there should have been lots of buoyancy in the suit if only the weights were disengaged (which would have made for a much more rapid ascent).

 

[markmantei]

Thats the funny thing about rumors i heard this from an AUC member that was up there too. see even they cant get there story straight

I might have to join with John on calling :bs: The AUC event attendee's specifically discussed the events and there was no metion of 200' or a pony bottle. Maybe your source started the B.S. but something doesn't jive.

 

[Crush]

... and doesn't that just hammer home the point I've been trying to make on this thread? Way too much emphasis on getting people AOW certified, so that they can go diving in more challenging conditions with absolutely no basic rescue skills.

Yup, Bob, the same point I tried to make in this thread (post #63), albeit several hours earlier....

 

[TSandM]

And last but not least without knowing the size or build of the buddy trying to bring up the victim you cant judge on the lift he/she had in there bcd. And unless any of you have recovered dead bodies or even blackout victims again . . . at you don't know how much dead weight a person can be.

I'm beginning to wonder whether the person who wrote this even dives.

The human body is very close to neutral in water. Some people are a little negative and some are a little positive . . . but the concept of "dead weight" is not even relevant in scuba rescues, until you are trying to get the person OUT of the water.

Exposure protection is always very positive, which is the main reason why divers wear lead weights. A properly weighted diver is only negative by the usable gas in his tank when he submerges. Therefore, a properly weighted (single tank, wetsuit) diver is very easy to return to the surface. A dry suit diver with a flooded suit may be more difficult, because he has lost a significant amount of the lift from his undergarments, but he should be wearing ditchable weight to compensate for this, or have enough lift in his BCD to deal with it.

The weight of a body is irrelevant in the water. What is relevant is his gear.

And yes, I have Rescue, and have done multiple scenarios of unresponsive diver rescue in my various technical classes. In doubles. Without problems.

 

[String]

Even with nothing in my tank, I can still make a safe and controlled ascent breathing from a buddy's octo, that is after all why he/she is there.

Do you not think its a bad and potentially fatal idea to put 100% trust in your life with some random 3rd party who is a human and cannot be guaranteed to react appropriately in any given situation?
Do you really think a buddy is there to keep YOU safe?
A redundant air source is a far saner idea. And divers that take responsibility for their own safety.