Diver surfaced down current, out of reach, in serious trouble

[DandyDon]

Several of our Singles Dive Group were finishing up our dives on the Duane off of Key Largo Saturday when another diver from our boat appeared on the next mooring ball. I'd just reboarded and started picking up on the commotion. A couple on a private boat at the ball shouted that he was maybe not concious, frothing blood from his mouth. The couple couldn't get him aboard, and our skipper said he could not reach him without abandoning divers still under, but the arriving Dual Porpoise volunteered to take the emergency.

The older couple had boarded to dive together as they do half a dozen times a year with Tavernier Dive Center, but the lady succumbed to seasickness and dozed off, and we thought the fellow just teamed up with another pair. He was solo, though, and apparently incurred an out of air challenge for some reason. Oxygen was provided, the Coast Guard was alerted by radio and cell-phone, and the Emergency Medical System activated to coordinate the quickest help possible Having so little we could do, we returned to shore as soon as we retrieved our divers, so the wife could leave for the hospital.

We all wrote out our statements for the Coast Guard, but what do you do when you drive by the scene of a bad accident after all help that could be given is finished? You drive away carefully, and we all decided to return to sea to dive even more carefully. Before the dive day was finished, we were delighted to hear that the old diver had revived well, did not require chamber treatment as he’d apparently suffered but a pulmonary rather than an arterial gas embolism, and was even up to arguing on whether he had to spend the night at the hospital.

 

[whitedragon13]

Scary! I just returned from Guam where my buddy rocketed to the surface from 70' at the end of a long dive at 100'.

In your case, it seems odd the skipper didn't have a contingency plan on how to rescue someone without abandoning the divers still in the water. My standards are pretty high; I think I'd have to scratch that boat off my list.

I also don't recommend reading "Shadow Divers" before doing a deep, night, wreck dive. It messes with your head.

 

[luvspoodles]

Scary! I just returned from Guam where my buddy rocketed to the surface from 70' at the end of a long dive at 100'.

In your case, it seems odd the skipper didn't have a contingency plan on how to rescue someone without abandoning the divers still in the water. My standards are pretty high; I think I'd have to scratch that boat off my list.

I also don't recommend reading "Shadow Divers" before doing a deep, night, wreck dive. It messes with your head.

I have to ask...how and why did your buddy rocket up?

 

[TomvdH]

Scary! I just returned from Guam where my buddy rocketed to the surface from 70' at the end of a long dive at 100'.

In your case, it seems odd the skipper didn't have a contingency plan on how to rescue someone without abandoning the divers still in the water. My standards are pretty high; I think I'd have to scratch that boat off my list.

I also don't recommend reading "Shadow Divers" before doing a deep, night, wreck dive. It messes with your head.

If a skipper still had divers down, and he had no alternative smaller craft (like a Zodiak) to offer assistance with, and there was another vessel (Dual Porpoise) in the area which could and did offer immediate and acceptable assistance (to include O2 and radio communications), then I am not sure what more would one could expect of the skipper of the first boat?

 

[whitedragon13]

If a skipper still had divers down, and he had no alternative smaller craft (like a Zodiak) to offer assistance with, and there was another vessel (Dual Porpoise) in the area which could and did offer immediate and acceptable assistance (to include O2 and radio communications), then I am not sure what more would one could expect of the skipper of the first boat?

I'm just trying to say the skipper SHOULD have an alternative plan. At least some way to recall the divers below expeditiously. For example, hammering on the hull 3 times. From the original post, it didn't appear the skipper had a contingency plan. If the other boat hadn't been there, what was the course of action? To wait for all the divers to return while the injured diver drifted away? A good alternative would be to tie a bunch of lifejackets to the anchor line, and go for the injured diver. I always try to have a plan for the worst case scenario "just in case."

 

[padiscubapro]

I'm just trying to say the skipper SHOULD have an alternative plan. At least some way to recall the divers below expeditiously. For example, hammering on the hull 3 times. From the original post, it didn't appear the skipper had a contingency plan. If the other boat hadn't been there, what was the course of action? To wait for all the divers to return while the injured diver drifted away? A good alternative would be to tie a bunch of lifejackets to the anchor line, and go for the injured diver. I always try to have a plan for the worst case scenario "just in case."

You can't assume divers can be immediately recalled.. I have done dives with some of the operators (in florida)that didn't mind a diver going into deco even if others were reacreational divers as long as the run times were kept reasonable.

If the boat is on a mooring I see no problem in the boat moving, If not the boat should have a way to disconnect the anchor line and connect it to some type of surface float so that any divers that are still below can still use the anchor line as an ascent platform.

The duane can have ripping currents so only experienced divers should be brought to that wreck.. They should be able to complete their dive without the boat being stuck in place..

 

[whitedragon13]

You can't assume divers can be immediately recalled.. I have done dives with some of the operators (in florida)that didn't mind a diver going into deco even if others were reacreational divers as long as the run times were kept reasonable.

If the boat is on a mooring I see no problem in the boat moving, If not the boat should have a way to disconnect the anchor line and connect it to some type of surface float so that any divers that are still below can still use the anchor line as an ascent platform.

The duane can have ripping currents so only experienced divers should be brought to that wreck.. They should be able to complete their dive without the boat being stuck in place..

I didn't say "immediately recalled" I said "expeditiously"...I'm an air traffic controller and the two words have vastly different meanings to me. What I meant was that the skipper should have a way to get the divers headed back to the boat, ending their dive, but not skipping deco/safety stops.

You and I agree on the method for a boat to leave divers underwater.

Luvspoodles...sorry I didn't answer your question. I was in Guam alone, so I got saddled with an unknown buddy (a local diver who had been to the Tokai before). She was overweighted and had her BC inflated at the bottom. She forgot to deflate the BC on the way up, the air expanded, and she lost control. When she tried to vent air, she grabbed her flashlight instead of the BC and up she went.

 

[CBulla]

I didn't say "immediately recalled" I said "expeditiously"...I'm an air traffic controller and the two words have vastly different meanings to me. What I meant was that the skipper should have a way to get the divers headed back to the boat, ending their dive, but not skipping deco/safety stops.

That would be a tough thing in FL east coast dives. Its not uncommon to have 2-5 groups of 2 or more divers drift diving the reefs together but spread out That would be a LOT of retrieval! It's easier to have USCG zip a chopper out and get the person than to try and get all those people out of the water and their gear to make it safe for expedient travel to the nearest dock. Thats the only contingecy I think I know of for almost any dive boat around the state.

Luvspoodles...sorry I didn't answer your question. I was in Guam alone, so I got saddled with an unknown buddy (a local diver who had been to the Tokai before). She was overweighted and had her BC inflated at the bottom. She forgot to deflate the BC on the way up, the air expanded, and she lost control. When she tried to vent air, she grabbed her flashlight instead of the BC and up she went.

What was her condition after that ascent? From a buddies perspective that had to be scarey to see. One can only speculate as to what might have happened had you had a problem.. seems as if she was awefully unfamiliar with her gear.

 

[DandyDon]

I've seen retrieval boats/zodiacs on South Calf boats, but not around the Florida Keys, or North Carolina, Brockville ONT, Roatan, Cozumel, etc.

The general approach - by instruction and implication - is usually:

(1) You'd better be qualified for this diving, but if you lose grip of the line or surface down current, get buoyant and pop your sausage so we can find you later - unless another boat picks you up.

(2) If an emergency happens, and another boat can get to you sooner - as happened in this case, then faster is better. The diver in this case was ashore before the Coast Guard could even arrive.

(3) In an emergency, if there's not another boat to grab you, then divers will be left in the water as needed so the injured diver can be retrieved and transported, with the floating divers to be retrieved by other boats around responding to the call for help.

She forgot to deflate the BC on the way up, the air expanded, and she lost control. When she tried to vent air, she grabbed her flashlight instead of the BC and up she went.

Or they grab their snorkel! :11: How all too common is this?

 

[diverbrian]

I've seen retrieval boats/zodiacs on South Calf boats, but not around the Florida Keys, or North Carolina, Brockville ONT, Roatan, Cozumel, etc.

The general approach - by instruction and implication - is usually:

(1) You'd better be qualified for this diving, but if you lose grip of the line or surface down current, get buoyant and pop your sausage so we can find you later - unless another boat picks you up.

(2) If an emergency happens, and another boat can get to you sooner - as happened in this case, then faster is better. The diver in this case was ashore before the Coast Guard could even arrive.

(3) In an emergency, if there's not another boat to grab you, then divers will be left in the water as needed so the injured diver can be retrieved and transported, with the floating divers to be retrieved by other boats around responding to the call for help.

As in this case, many times in high traffic area there will be another boat around. I was on one boat in Alpena, MI were one of our divers came up prematurely (new to drysuits and it didn't vent for him. He drifted up and couldn't get back down in a heavy surface current. Buddy was diving a wetsuit and wasn't familar with situations that sometimes arise with drysuits.) to have another boat pick him up. He got back to the shore faster than we did with no problems (the private boat that picked him up was far faster than our dive boat) as he wasn't down long enough to even need O2.

It sounds like the boats involved handled everything fine. Even with a plan, if the other boat was closer and had the same capabilities for first aid, why not let them handle it? I have been on the drift dives in Fl like Colin refers to. Awful difficult for all of the groups to hear a recall signal.

It sounds like the plan wouldn't be any different than if the mooring breaks. This is another thing that happens every once in a while up here.