Emergency situations training

[esskar]

hi,

hopefully, being out of air hopefully will never happen to me or any other diver but when it happens i want to be "prepared". I did buddy-breathing during OW and my refersher some month ago, and i probably will do it during the rescue cource i going to take soon.
But will this be enough to react right in an emergency situation? probably not! so, i would like to practice that (and other situations more often). Any hints/tipps on that?

 

[300bar]

A good recue course will set you on the right track.

 

[DennisH]

I like to practice skills at the end of most dives, while doing a safety stop. Why not practice sharing air on your safety stop, or removing and replacing your mask?

Just make sure you tell your dive buddy in advance what you plan to do!

 

[flw]

Rescue course is definitely worth doing. Simplest thing to do other than that is just to practise skills at the beginning or end of every dive so it simply becomes second nature to share air/turn regs on/off - make sure to do it on the seabed and midwater in low vis/cold/zero vis etc etc etc - try and do it midwater on a safety stop, progress to amusing yourself on a deco stop.
I've had to share due once or twice, no panic, I just didn't want a long surface swim - using someone else's back up or main reg avoided that - I have deliberately done an entire dive when we used each others gas supply - play around, make it fun - so if you have to do it for real it's no big deal

 

[Arizona]

Think about alternate air source breathing as opposed to buddy breathing. This would be your better option when assisting or needing assistance in a low or out of air situation. Always manage your air and dive with a buddy. Agree when to turn the dive and stay within your limits. Keep your equipment in good order. If you don't own your regs this would be a very good idea.

Good luck with your rescue course.

 

[H2Andy]

doing rescue skills every dive pays off in keeping those motor skills fresh

in cave diving, divers will often do an air-share drill at the beginning of a dive, just to keep sharp

the more you practice something, the readier you'll be when the time comes to do it

 

[Garrobo]

Last year I hired a DM to go with me on her days off for two dive days to practice CEA's, low air and out of air situations while the rest of the divers buzzed around the reefs looking at stuff. Cost about $150 extra but was well worth it.

 

[ivobj]

do it every dive, each dive choose a diferent skill to work on, in all conditions (cold, warm, low viz, etc), not only air sharing (same reg and donating backup or primary if you use long hose), but also other stuff like taking mask out, deploying SMB (keeping your buoyancy), orientation with and without compass, buddy check at the begining of the dive, lost buddy protocol, on so on.

 

[TSandM]

As people are saying, the best way to keep these skills sharp and smooth is to practice them. Practicing at the end of a dive is one way, but if you're boat diving and ascending in midwater, it's a challenge to do things like air-sharing and mask skills and keep your buoyancy perfect. Sometimes I prefer to do them at the very beginning of a dive, near the bottom, where having a visual reference helps and you aren't very nitrogen loaded, so if you have a bit of a buoyancy "oops", it's not so bad.

Once you get reasonable facile, you can make a game of it, and agree with your buddy that an OOA drill is fair game anywhere in the dive. We do this, and particularly if a buddy seems to be getting inattentive, it's a great way to remind them they're part of the team.

 

[Dtaine]

As others have said regularly practicing skills can help. However, if another diver runs OOA and wants your air I wouldn't expect a calm signal from them, instead there's a good chance they'll just take the second stage you're breathing from.

when it happens i want to be "prepared"

If you're prepared for each dive then you'll never run OOA. It doesn't mean you won't get mauled by someone else who does though.

Best of luck with the rescue course.