Fatality in the Vandenberg Wreck, Key West Florida

[BlueTrin]

As someone who doesn't drink alcohol, how would I know what "buzzed" feels like? I've been down to 43m twice and didn't feel any different. Since I had never been down that deep before, I was pretty focused on following the guide and not doing anything stupid, so maybe I was too focused to notice?

I know that, for myself, I get slightly fixated on things I want to do and I am less focused on other things including my buddy.

I also get slower when I need to think and I forget a few details about the dive.

 

[Centrals]

This seems like a good rule of thumb. I may steal it. I know some people advocate no instabuddies ever, but I wouldn't get to dive much if I did that.

In SE Asia most if not all dives is guided.
I was watching couple of strangers set up equipment not too long ago and was then asked by the dm to buddy with them. I flatly refused the suggestion and told the dm that I would just follow him.

 

[hroark2112]

I've been pretty deep inside the Vandenberg. Found a weight pocket around 120' inside what looked like an elevator shaft. It was a huge pain to carry around 9 extra pounds of weight for the next hour or so.

That being said, if you & your buddy agree to end the dive together, you end the dive together. I don't know what happened here, I can only hope it never happens again.

 

[dmaziuk]

I know that, for myself, I get slightly fixated on things I want to do and I am less focused on other things including my buddy.

I get that a lot when I dive with the camera. And at any depth too.

 

[Protondecay123]

Most important thing you learn in a rescue diver course is not to become a second victim. If the situation is thus then it's time to bail.

better one casualty than two

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[kafkaland]

There are a few things one can do when the buddy appears to be narced and not paying attention to a thumb signal. Quickly sweeping the beam of the dive light across his face is one way to get his attention that might cut through the fog of narcosis for a moment, just long enough for him to register that something is wrong. You can also get right into his face and give him the thumb. The higher intensity of the signal might do the trick. But if everything fails, at some point you have to take care of yourself and do what you have to do to get safely back to the surface.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

The whole purpose of the buddy system to lend assistance. If we’re just going to abandon each other at the first sign of trouble, what’s the point?

Grab him by the tank valve and drag him up...

 

[Slate]

The whole purpose of the buddy system to lend assistance. If we’re just going to abandon each other at the first sign of trouble, what’s the point?

Grab him by the tank valve and drag him up...

You're advocating a wrestling match, inside a wreck, in 110 feet of water, with an instabuddy you've known for less than a couple of hours. Do I have that right?

The deceased diver abandoned the surviving buddy. When that happens, there is no point in the buddy system, it's completely broken down and it's every diver for himself.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

No, you don’t have it right...

This is one of the scenarios that comes up in cave training, btw. Divers are expected to make a best effort to get their buddy out of a cave in this exact scenario. And, maybe that happened in this case, I don’t know.

It would probably only be necessary to get him up 20 feet to get some relief. Narcosis typically starts to kick in at 4 ATA.

Not saying the effort would have been successful, but I don’t agree with not doing everything possible just because it’s an insta-buddy and a wreck. I don’t like the PADI position of abandonment, until every effort has been made.

I wouldn’t want to come back from a dive with no buddy and a bunch of gas left.

I saw a diver narced out of his mind at 120ft on a wreck once. His instructor just swam up beside him, didn’t wrestle with him, just stayed with him, and kept pulling him higher as he swam. It took him a few minutes to get him up where he started recovering.

 

[Slate]

Well sure, if it has a happy ending, then one guy saves the day, and one guy learned a hard lesson and no one got hurt. I'm trying to picture myself with a rapidly dwindling gas supply, watching an instabuddy flip me off and disappear inside a wreck at 110' - and I don't know where you get the idea that the surviving buddy had a "bunch of gas left" because he already motioned to call the dive.

I think it would be a hard call for me- or anyone- to go after him at that point. But your mileage may vary. Somebody's gotta be a hero. It just wouldn't be me.