Buddy Separation - Safety Stop??

[NJMike]

Reading this (and other) threads is like a taking a class all by itself! I think a lot can be learned from reading (and listening) to what is said.

I knew before I started this thread that I was "entry level". But what I didn't know is how much I didn't know...

 

[jeckyll]

....
I knew before I started this thread that I was "entry level". But what I didn't know is how much I didn't know...

I'm constantly amazed by how much I don't know

Someone once said that becoming an experience diver means that now you know what you don't know

 

[Meng_Tze]

Look at the old pre-doppler USN table limits. Those were 60 feet per minute ascent, straight to the surface.

Are you not willing to accept even the risk of the old USN tables to improve your chances of assisting someone?

I will do whatever it takes to help someone, but not at the definate expense of myself. If I feel comfortable skipping deco or jumping back in and finishing deco, then I will. If this is not possible, or my obligation is too great, I will not. Besides, can surface support help two divers in problems?

Someone else mentione tellind the wife aqndf children of the victim. Well I will tell them I tried my best, did what I could, but it did not work. And I will tell her this without anurisms in my brain, a shot spinal cord or any long term DCS related ailness.

Dont get me wrong, in rec dives there would probably not be an issue. In tech dives, the understanding is that buddies will help needed, up to a point.

 

[WarrenZ]

I have it worked out with my usual buddy that if we get separated we will look for 1 min go up, do the stop just like any other dive, and wait for the other to come up. The first one up just has to look for the others bubbles and can swim over and meet the other person.

I have found my buddies by listening for their bubbles on every occasion except for one.

 

[plot]

I have found my buddies by listening for their bubbles on every occasion except for one.

This statement makes it sound like you lose your buddy on every other dive... :ermm:

 

[prthd9]

Within the NDLs a slow ascent will probably not get you bent. There is another way to look at this if you surface and get bent and hurt yourself you can not help your buddy. Its a judgement call......pure and simple. If you do surface early and fear your will get bent and you do find your buddy is safe you can descend to 15 ft and conduct a safety stop.

 

[NJMike]

I thought the standard rule was to NEVER go back into the water if you think you have DCS? I thought I read this in the AOW book.

 

[Luc Dupas]

My wife and I were discussing our buddy separation plan for an upcoming dive; search for your buddy for 1 minute and if unable to locate, execute a controlled ascent and head for the surface. A debate began about whether or not a safety stop should be executed before surfacing.

Our standard procedure for a within NDL dive is 30sec look around/search for your buddy, if you don't see/find your buddy simply ascent at a decent ascent rate all the way to the surface and wait/look for your buddy there. Normally your buddy should also surface within a few minutes time, you can check/discuss what the underlying reason for the separation was, check if there are any serious problems, and if not, you simply submerge again to either continue your dive as originally planned, or to finalize the dive by means of an extended safety stop and very slow final ascent to the surface. You do NOT waste precious time by doing an unnecessary (!) "safety stop" of 3 or 5min while you buddy might be in deep **** at the surface waiting for your help!!! A "safery stop" (we're not talking about a required deco stop in case of deco dives) is an optional thing which you do carry out if the circumstances are OK... and in case your buddy is lost you do not know if (s)he is having a real problem or not.
Even if you're diving beyond the NDL limits we do surface, unless we're stuck with really extreme deco stops of course which would result in an almost 100% sure DCS hit if you would break them, try to reunite, check for the problem and depending on the situation (e.g. if the shore or boat is nearby or not, with plenty of O2 supply and helping hands and the means for if needed fast transportation to a recompression centre, etc. etc. etc.) and if the buddys problem is solved or not we can consider within max. 5 minutes delay after breaking the deco stops to resubmerge to max. required deco depth and carry out all required deco stops again and adding 50% to the original deco times. But in case of deco dives it strongly depends on the situation but the general principle is that one should help/assist the buddy unless (!) your own safety really is compromised extensively!

 

[Charlie99]

I thought the standard rule was to NEVER go back into the water if you think you have DCS? I thought I read this in the AOW book.

He was advocating going back down as a precautionary measure, even though not showing any symptoms of DCS.

And on a dive with mandatory decompression there is a difference between returning to depth after blowing past a stop (omitted decompression procedure) vs. returning to the water to fix DCS (in water recompression).

The difference is in whether not not the diver has DCS symptoms.

If in doubt, stay on the surface.

 

[WarrenZ]

This statement makes it sound like you lose your buddy on every other dive... :ermm:

I normally dive in low vis conditions with buddy's who are comfortable with not being right beside me. I have only had to surface to find a buddy who got really lost 2 or 3 times. Usually listening for their bubbles or just coming up about 10 - 20 feet and finding their bubble trail helps locate them.

There is a way to avoid buddy separation all together: Dont take a buddy use the pony bottle as a buddy.