Close Call on the SC Coast

[openmindOW]

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Jwc3.

You handled the situation well. Obviously, you are a responsible diver.

At least your buddy ascended on the ascent/descent line. I have been diving off the NC coast when divers have not located the line.

As was noted by another poster, Insta-buddies are a scarey thing. To paraphrase, Forest Gump, "You never know what you are going to get." Clearly, Bob was not ready for the dive. But It doesn't sound like there was anything that might have indicated to the boat crew that the dive was inappropriate for Bob.

I am glad to hear that you will continue diving.

 

[Teamcasa]

So, I have a few questions for ScubaBoard members:

1. Is there anything I should have done differently?

2. How did Bob not get the bends if he came up from 96 feet in about 1 minute?

3. Is it possible that he started having symptoms of the bends later that day or night after we got off the boat?

4. Will breathing Nitrox rather than 100% O2 prevent the bends in this situation?

First thanks for posting.

1. Insist on getting the plan right and insist on agreement.
Many divers don't want to be pushy or show their ignorance so this is clue one that your buddy was not up to speed for this dive.

2. Everybody's physiology is different and their risk of DCS varies a great deal. Shooting up from that depth may bend the heck out of some people and not have any affect of the Bob's of the world.

3. Yes.

4. Breathing Nitrox is better than regular air but 100% O2 is the far better choice. See#3

Bottom line is he was one lucky guy and you were just fortunate not to have anything other than your dive ruined.

Plan and insist on clear what ifs, especially with instant buddies.

 

[Graeme Tolton]

The goal is to get the victim breathing the highest concentration of o2 possible. 32% is good, 100% is better. The higher the concentration, the faster that the nitrogen is off-gassed. Did Bob understand the gravity of the situation, or did he just shrug it off? You may want to consider a redundant air source for these types of dives. However, you did handle the situation as well as you could have.

 

[Web Monkey]

1. Is there anything I should have done differently?

Have a real "lost diver" plan and don't dive with Bob again.

2. How did Bob not get the bends if he came up from 96 feet in about 1 minute?

Either he didn't have a chance to absorb a lot of nitrogen or he got lucky (or symptoms appeared later in the day).

3. Is it possible that he started having symptoms of the bends later that day or night after we got off the boat?

The time for symptoms to appear varies. It's certainly possible something happened to him later, although it's also possible he didn't have any effects.

4. Will breathing Nitrox rather than 100% O2 prevent the bends in this situation?

More O2 is better, although 100% is best. If you don't have any 100% available, but someone has a deco bottle with 80% or 60%, the highest % available should be used. However I don't see why he would have refused 100% O2 if it was available.

FWIW, if I was a crew member, I would have put him on O2 anyway. It's just a couple of bucks worth of gas and can't hurt.

Terry

 

[jwc3]

FWIW, if I was a crew member, I would have put him on O2 anyway. It's just a couple of bucks worth of gas and can't hurt.

The crew offered O² several times, but "Bob" refused it. I think perhaps he was a bit embarrassed and didn't want to call further attention to himself.

 

[Teamcasa]

The crew offered O² several times, but "Bob" refused it. I think perhaps he was a bit embarrassed and didn't want to call further attention to himself.

Well, Bob has already demonstrated his poor decision making skills. Refusing O2 would have been a given.

 

[Web Monkey]

Well, Bob has already demonstrated his poor decision making skills. Refusing O2 would have been a given.

Maybe the O2 bottle on dive boats should be yellow, have a normal regulator and just say: "MOD 12'" so the "Bob"s of the world can look like one of the "cool kids" and say he's "Finishing his deco on the surface."

Terry

 

[jon m]

"Finishing his deco on the surface."
I LIKE IT!!!

 

[wvjohn]

Thanks for the post. I did my first 100+ft dive on the Hebe last year, same boat. It was two great and problem free dives for me, but afterwards I really spent some time thinking about diving that deep and how close to the edge it can be. When I downloaded my dive profiles to my computer, it really struck me that there isn't a whole lot of room for error in dives like that. My computer had gauged on me on the second dive because I forgot to set it to 32% (default is 50%) and I wanted to double check my times, etc. I was ok, but I realized that this type of dive had to be shown a great deal of respect, especially by old geezers like me. I started diving when I was 56, was 58 when I did the Hebe. My training and experience is pretty much identical to yours.

This spring I was down in the Keys for some diving. Was feeling kind of punk generally and got seasick the 1st day. Skipped the second dive on day 2 because I was still a little punk. Day 3 we were supposed to dive the Grove, and I passed. They said there was a lot of current and I decided personally that I should only do that kind of dive if I was feeling A-1. Maybe I'll get another chance, maybe not. But I am sure I made the right decision for me.

btw in terms of your thread the following question occurred to me. This is for the Gurus and Techies : Your buddy was only in the water a short time. What, if any, is the effect of breathing a whole tank in 10 mins vs. breathing a whole tank in 25 mins? In other words, is there a relationship between how much gas you breathe and how much you absorb?

 

[jwc3]

A quick update: I have received an email from "Bob." He said he took the regulator that was free-flowing back to the dive shop where it had been serviced. They gave him a full refund, but he said he will not use that shop again for service.

I told Bob about this thread and encouraged him to post if he had anything else to add.