Cruise Ship Passenger Dies in St.Maarten

[Otter]

Thanks Otter!

I've had buddies float up on me and been able to catch them safely and bring them back down, and - I've had them get away from me entirely. After a slow ascent, skipping the SS, I'd take them back down to 15 feet for 5 or more minutes. I've seen that idea supported and criticized, but as long as we're together - it seems safe and helpful.

Letting a buddy ascend alone tho does create two solo divers. As much as I like to think I'm better off on my own with my pony than most of the buddies I've had, that's just not true.

Its funny, the most often cited reason for it being safer to dive Solo vs. with a buddy is the quality of "the buddy". A lot can and has been said about how you pick your buddy (and there are situations where are choices are somewhat limited -- teaching is an obvious one, assigned buddies are often another cited), so ignoring that for the moment.

I find it interesting/disturbing that for a Sport whose central tenant is that "anyone can call a dive at anytime without fear of ridicule" [which implies to me a team-centric sport], the concept of team risk is ignored. The more experienced diver might be at greater risk (vs. solo) with a novice diver, but the novice diver is certainly at significantly less risk diving with an experienced diver (vs. solo).

One could do the analysis of the (probablity of a failure occuring) x (the probability of that failure being handled successfully by a novice diver) as well as the (probability of the buddy causing/having a problem) x (the probability that the experienced diver wouldn't be able to "protect" him/herself), but my guess is that overall, there is less net risk to the team together than individually and that the increased risk to the experienced diver is not that significant.

It seems like all to often it comes down to "how does it affect ME"

 

[AXL72]

OK....point should be to follow Otter's, Scubadobdoo's, and Divmstr's advice.

One thing will come out of this that will be good, and that is a reminder and call for action to follow the listeds advice.

Slap me if I offend (well not literally) but once you shake a coke bottle and open it just slightly, the bubbles are there. Not sure bringing someone back down to just 15 ft will help if a SS is blown. Shame on me for not citing the references

 

[DandyDon]

Slap me if I offend (well not literally) but once you shake a coke bottle and open it just slightly, the bubbles are there. Not sure bringing someone back down to just 15 ft will help if a SS is blown. Shame on me for not citing the references.

Are you addressing my practice of taking a buddy back down to 15 ft if s/he misses a SS...?

A little different than your analogy. If s/he is exhibiting any symptoms, no - I wouldn't take them back down. I'd activate EMS and render first aid.

A skipped SS with no symptoms, tho, is no bubbles yet. Then, some suggest descending for the SS + 50% more time. Last I heard, Padi didn't, but why not try it in safe conditions? I saw a lady hit the inflator by mistake and turn into a human float bobbing on the surface with a large group off of Utila. The lead Inst sent her back to 15 where I was hanging on a mooring line accompanied by a DM. Got a close up pic, all bug eyed.

 

[Santa]

Hey Don got any links to resources on u.w. recompression?

It's true that Padi advises against it - but if one is days from the closest chamber and there turns out to be no oxygen because whatever and what not - that might change one's outlook some.

 

[DandyDon]

Hey Don got any links to resources on u.w. recompression?

It's true that Padi advises against it - but if one is days from the closest chamber and there turns out to be no oxygen because whatever and what not - that might change one's outlook some.

No, I don't offhand, and - I was speaking of recapturing a Safety Stop Plus, not a miss Deco Stop or DCS Treatment.

I do think some of the leading agencies sugguest re-desceding for SS missed, but it's been a long time since I read that somewhere.

 

[AXL72]

eh, don't recompress me in the water if days out from a chamber. You don't have enough gas to do me like that for days.

Just stab me in the heart with a stingray, instead.

 

[mdmbike to scuba]

Lets just look out for each other and stay close.Prayers for the famliy. Mark

 

[Web Monkey]

Imagine a diver that prepares to surface, but hits the low pressure inflator instead of the purge button on the BCD. How, exactly, is a dive buddy, good or bad, going to change the outcome of this hypothetical situtation?

By being close enough to grab the guy's pull dump.

I'm sure the buddy feels terrible, but being "close enough to help" is what being a buddy is all about.

Accidentally hitting the inflator is a training problem. They feel different, and most importantly they sound different. Anybody who can't immdiately tell what they hit needs to do more pool work before venturing out into the open water.

Terry

 

[ScubaDivaDivemaster]

Sad, too sad. I stick close to my buddy, she's one person I can trust with anything, including my life. Condolences to the family.

C U underwater,
ScubaDivaDivemaster

 

[DandyDon]

Accidentally hitting the inflator is a training problem. They feel different, and most importantly they sound different. Anybody who can't immdiately tell what they hit needs to do more pool work before venturing out into the open water.

I prefer short pulls on the main dump valve, same hose.