Cave diver drowns - Jackson Blue Springs, Florida

[KevinNM]

That doesn't sound wildly different from what I was taught in GUE fundies. I was told to present the reg calmly right in front of the OOG diver, easy to see and grab, and to grab their elbow/arm to reassure them and as GI3 said in the DIR tapes "take control of the situation". Obviously no aggressive moves, and there wasn't much emphasis on defending/turning them around, but to stabilize and make sure the OOG diver is ok and calm.

I’ve taken both and Edd puts a lot more focus on how dangerous this can be and on how to not get killed doing this. IIRC he’s had some bad experiences with rescues.

 

[Endler's]

I think he meant "handed off your 2nd stage [regulator]...".

Thank you @stuartv, the alternate second stage regulator is indeed what I was referring to.

 

[steinbil]

I was taught to go negative, swim under or past and come up and control them by grabbing their first stage and lock legs on either side of their tank. They can't take your air source that way. I'd stay well clear of a panicked person's hands.

I'm not completely sure we're talking about the same scenario here, but if that's your response to a diver signaling OOG, I think you might be making a bad situation worse.

First of all, not donating as soon as possible would surely increase the panic of the OOG diver and escalate the situation. Secondly, if a panicked diver comes towards you for a regulator, and sees you head down, why would he not just follow you down, grab your tanks, grab a hose? I doubt he would just let you swim beneath him, essentially offering your back to him.

In my mind, although to be fair I haven't experienced having to donate, the best course of action is:

1. Dive with people who won't suddenly run out of gas
2. With good awareness you will see a situation develop and intervene before you reach the critical panic stage
3. If caught unaware by a distressed OOG diver, give them an easy gas source, donate a reg you know works (your primary) extended as far away from your body as possible, and as close to their face as possible. I would think they would go for the accessible reg first, not you. Hopefully quick access to gas will calm them down, you're in a position to monitor their state of mind, and can possible make evasive action if needed.

 

[boulderjohn]

I was taught to go negative, swim under or past and come up and control them by grabbing their first stage and lock legs on either side of their tank. They can't take your air source that way. I'd stay well clear of a panicked person's hands.

I'm not completely sure we're talking about the same scenario here, but if that's your response to a diver signaling OOG, I think you might be making a bad situation worse.

I believe Steeleyes may have misremembered part of the rescue class. In the class, you are taught that one method of dealing with a panicked diver on the surface is to go beneath, come up from behind, and take control as described. A panicked diver on the surface is not looking for an air source. What you are supposed to do once you are in that position is grab the inflator house and make the panicked diver buoyant. A panicked diver will likely calm down as soon as buoyancy is achieved.

That's the theory anyway. I have never seen a panicked diver on the surface, and I don't know anyone else who has, either. In the only cases I have heard of, a panicked diver under water gets calm pretty quickly after reaching the surface. The concern in this thread is the panicked OOA diver under water.

 

[RedSeaDiver2]

Does anyone know how the dive buddy from that day is doing? Hopefully DAN or another organisation organised some counselling for him and someone has explained that leaving the stuck diver was the right thing to do.

Anyone know if NSS-CDS is doing an investigation of the incident to see what can be learnt from it?