Attacked for your air supply?

[rexman24]

I was just reading some threads about OOA and panic, and started to wonder if anyone has ever heard of or been basically assaulted by another diver in a paniced state and had them physically take or try to take your primary reg away?

if so how did you handle it?

Now that I have thought of this I think I would just grab my secondary and it would not be a problem, but before I wonder how I would have reacted.

I have heard of this happening when someone is drowning, they will basically try to climb on top of a nearby swimmer or would be rescuer and push them under water or pull them down with them and thus create a dangerous scenerio for the other swimmer or rescuer.

 

[spectrum]

A panicked diver will probably go for your primary since it is obviously working and it's very accessible. That's why you want to be proficient at deploying your alternate 2nd stage.

It has not happened to me but it and all of the other potential mayhem was covered in our Rescue Diver class.

Pete

 

[amascuba]

I was just reading some threads about OOA and panic, and started to wonder if anyone has ever heard of or been basically assaulted by another diver in a paniced state and had them physically take or try to take your primary reg away?

if so how did you handle it?

Now that I have thought of this I think I would just grab my secondary and it would not be a problem, but before I wonder how I would have reacted.

You answered your own question.

I have heard of this happening when someone is drowning, they will basically try to climb on top of a nearby swimmer or would be rescuer and push them under water or pull them down with them and thus create a dangerous scenerio for the other swimmer or rescuer.

This is covered in a rescue class. You would basically try to get the panicked diver to calm down, keeping yourself out of their reach. If they don't calm down then you simply wait for them to wear themselves out and then swim in, flip them on their back and do a buddy tow to shore or the boat. If they get a hold of you and try to climb on top of you then you simply descend and move away from them. A panicked diver's not going to follow you underwater.

 

[rexman24]

Yes I guess I was just trying to find out if it really happens or had happened to anyone here and how they handled it/ how it turned out?

 

[fishb0y]

so how did you handle it?

with my trusty USD Vulcan...

 

[rexman24]

That just brought to mind several 007 movies...............

 

[ams511]

Now that I have thought of this I think I would just grab my secondary and it would not be a problem, but before I wonder how I would have reacted.

Are you sure being you need to think about it? As has been posted on SB many times our natural reaction on the surface can injure or kill us underwater. My first reaction to someone pulling the reg out of my mouth is to pull it back. But an underwater fight over a regulator can kill us both. So my learned response is go directly to the octo.

There was a post a few weeks back about a guy playing the victim in a rescue class. He pulls the mask and reg from the student and the student's response was to restrain his hands with him underwater and without a reg in his mouth. The guy could have drown.

 

[mjatkins]

I've only been in the position deal with two divers who ran out of air. One was a fairly inexperienced diver who was in the group I was leading as the DM. We were drift diving and the buddy teams were ascending when they hit 700 psi, this gentelman and his wife were the last two left. His air ran out with his rental guage reading 850 psi. We were in approx 45 feet of water, and he moved toward me and very calmly signaled out of air. He took my octo, we all went up and did a 3 minute SS and surfaced. No drama.

The other time I was a DM intern who was asked to go and be a buddy for a guy who had been a bit of a handful for the DM the day before. We went to "the cathedral" which is a room like swimthrough at about 80 ft. Long story short, we had a plan of not going through the swimthrough if either of us had less than 1500 psi when we got to it. At the entrance I asked him about his air and he lied! He gave me the OK signal and in we went. The group paused in the "room" for a few moments and while there the DM swam over and checked his gauge. The DM signaled to me that my buddy is out of air, and the next thing he is swimming out past me headed for the surface. I grabbed him and slowed him down, pulled out my octo and put it in front of his face. After a second he clued in and put it in his mouth. I have allways been fascinated that with all those people around, his panic made him swim past me and try to get to the surface. We did a SS and surfaced, and as my octo fell out of his mouth, to my surprise he said "cool dive! I saw a shark!" He then went back to the shop and left without tipping anyone. I learned several things that day. :shakehead

Matthew

 

[LIVES4SHARKS]

As a former lifeguard, yes, the victim will try to use you as a buoy and in the process push you under. In diving, I now have switched to a 7 ft hose for my primary and necklace for my back-up. I know that my back-up is within immediate reach with my teeth if necessary and my primary is all ready to go to donate. Nice thing about the long hose, you don't have to be in such close proximity to a OOA diver and can easily move about them to assess the problems before surfacing. Giving someone some space can help some calm down a little better. But remember, to hold onto the hose. In the case of a short hose, hold onto the BC so they don't swim off without you.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I tihink it's far more likely that an OOG diver will panic and bolt for the surface than that they will rip someone else's regulator away.

The point is, maintain your own awareness of what's going on around you and if someone starts to swim toward you in a way that even looks suspicous, get the regulator of YOUR choice out in front of you where it's the first one they can reach ... I guarantee you that if they're not breathing, they'll go for the one that's most easily accessible ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)