How does a diver get left behind?

[Wookie]

It just occurred to me that a memorable incident on ScubaBoard included a skipper's decision not to leave divers behind when he had to have been sorely tempted to do so. The incident took place on a drift dive in Cozumel, with the boat following the bubbles of the divers. Had he left them, they would have surfaced with the DM's DSMB, within sight of the shore, and with the potential to be picked up by another boat alerted by radio.

Why would he had left? Well, he had two groups--the DM and paying customers as well as a group constituted by his boss (the shop owner), her boyfriend, and a DM (fellow employee). That group had attempted a bounce dive to 300 feet, and it had not gone well. The boss and the DM were in obvious early stages of bad DCS and needed to get to the chamber as soon as possible. The skipper wold not leave his divers, though, and eventually the owner died of DCS, and the last I heard, the DM will never walk again.

I had divers in Deco on a planned deco dive, and divers who had aborted their deco because one of the 3 had a heart attack and died on the way up. Now, I sent the tender to the victim of the heart attack. I got the report back that the person was unresponsive 20 feet down. I had divers in deco under the boat. I had a deckhand in the tender, and one on the big boat.

My choice was to (of course) call the Coast Guard, because I needed more help than I had with 5 staff and 2 boats, and take care of the divers who were in deco. Of my (now 3) victims, one recovered with nothing more than observation, one got to go to the chamber, and one stayed dead. Cause of death ruled by the coroner, heart attack. 12 divers who weren't abandoned, all healthy.

Sometimes it's about cutting your losses.

To the person who asked about head counts. I can hardly get folks to sit still for the safety briefing, much less when they need to pee after a dive, and it may take 25 or more minutes for all to come up from a dive. I don't find head counts effective. Peoples names don't change, but many (by the end of the season) all look the same to me. Better to find them, ask their name, check them onboard than to try to herd the cats all in one place. That applies to boats with 12 or more divers, BTW. Smaller boats with fewer divers are far easier to manage.

 

[drbill]

When I "worked" as marine biologist on a local dive boat, it had the capacity to take over 30 divers. Given that maximum capacity, it was not uncommon to have more than one person with the same name. In those cases, the roll call referenced either the first initial of the last name or the last name. It was done with visual confirmation of the diver being present and not someone else responding for them. Even though I was quasi-crew and dove solo, my name was always placed on the roster and I was checked in and out (or is it out and in?) like anyone else.

Even so, I was "left behind" once. It wasn't serious, nor was it the captain or DM's fault. A stiff current kicked up unexpectedly and the boat dragged anchor. When I surfaced as the last diver in the water, it was nowhere to be seen (but I was only 20-25 yards from shore). The boat had drifted around a point so I couldn't see it even though it was about 1/4 mile away and they were there to pick me up quickly.

 

[gr8jab]

You all are freaking me out! I guess I've been fat-dumb-happy, and never worried about being left behind. I didn't know it was so common. On my last wreck dive in moderate current, the captain said "If you get loose in the current, I'll come get you, but only after everyone else is aboard, which could be a while". I'm not feeling so warm and fuzzy about that anymore.

Why isn't this discussed in OW or AOW? Are they afraid of scaring away customers?

I was on the fence about buying a Nautilus Lifeline. I'm now sure I will buy. (this is not a PLB thread, so don't start in).

Duane Safety Stop Gaggle

 

[Diving Dubai]

@gr8jab

It's good to be concerned for sure, but its a rarity. A Lifeline is good for sure. I live in a region where it doesn't work. As I've said on othe rthreads I take precautions to be seen and heard if I get swept away from the boat or it from me.

A large DSMB that can easily be seen, waved and gives additional flotation.
An Airhorn on my LP inflator - to draw attention.
A torch and mirror (old CD)
I have a strobe too.

I firmly believe I'm responsible for boats being able to find me if the worst happens.

 

[KevinNM]

On my last wreck dive in moderate current, the captain said "If you get loose in the current, I'll come get you, but only after everyone else is aboard, which could be a while". I'm not feeling so warm and fuzzy about that anymore.

You don't have to do every dive. If you don't feel comfortable, don't go. It's better to be standing on the boat looking at the water wishing you were diving than in the water wishing you hadn't gone diving. On my last wreck dive opportunity, which I did not do, the DMs briefing said was "Do not let go of the line. If you do, you will be swept away. We'll try to chase you, but I strongly suggest that you do NOT let go of the line." I think 3 people of 20some on-board did that dive.

 

[meagicano]

I know of one occasion where a diver sent a bag up in the middle of the channel in the narrows and a laker was approaching. Maritime law was followed and the laker went full stop. Apparently the lecture from the Coast Guard ( which were on scene by the time the diver surfaced) and the following fine stung a little, better than a I laker on top of you though.

I always thought this was a St. Lawrence scuba urban legend, designed to scare people away from making a panicked decision to pop up in the channel...

 

[Trace Malinowski]

I always thought this was a St. Lawrence scuba urban legend, designed to scare people away from making a panicked decision to pop up in the channel...

Oh, no. The USCG was none too happy that we surfaced far from our flag close to the channel during my GUE Tech 1 class a decade ago. We were told we would have had a hefty fine if we had popped our bag in the channel. The USCG escorted us back to our starting point.

 

[Neilwood]

I had divers in Deco on a planned deco dive, and divers who had aborted their deco because one of the 3 had a heart attack and died on the way up. Now, I sent the tender to the victim of the heart attack. I got the report back that the person was unresponsive 20 feet down. I had divers in deco under the boat. I had a deckhand in the tender, and one on the big boat.

My choice was to (of course) call the Coast Guard, because I needed more help than I had with 5 staff and 2 boats, and take care of the divers who were in deco. Of my (now 3) victims, one recovered with nothing more than observation, one got to go to the chamber, and one stayed dead. Cause of death ruled by the coroner, heart attack. 12 divers who weren't abandoned, all healthy.

Sometimes it's about cutting your losses.

To the person who asked about head counts. I can hardly get folks to sit still for the safety briefing, much less when they need to pee after a dive, and it may take 25 or more minutes for all to come up from a dive. I don't find head counts effective. Peoples names don't change, but many (by the end of the season) all look the same to me. Better to find them, ask their name, check them onboard than to try to herd the cats all in one place. That applies to boats with 12 or more divers, BTW. Smaller boats with fewer divers are far easier to manage.

The typical no win situation but imho in the event of an inquest, you would be able to prove your reasoning. Better to protect the masses than the few. The diver with a heart attack was beyond help, the two divers who had aborted the deco could be managed with O2, monitoring and a trip to the chamber whereas the other divers below if required to abort the deco could have created far larger issues such as an unmanageable amount of divers displaying DCS symptoms.
I am guessing the remaining time on deco would have been fairly manageable ie below 20-30mins so abandoning them would have had little positive effect on the 2 survivor group.

This thread is a good reminder to me as someone who hasn't done any boat diving (but is planning a liveaboard vacation later in the year) to pay attention to the procedures for roll call/checking in

 

[The Chairman]

Frank's Spree is the safest boat I've ever been on. It's pretty fun too.

So what do I do when I'm on other boats... ones that I might not trust as much? If I get separated from the group, I shoot my sausage from depth. I don't dive in the SL Seaway, so I have no restrictions. It has worked on at least one occasion when I was diving off of Florida's panhandle. It was a deep reef, my buddy and I are pretty good on gas and so we were pushing our NDL. When we got back to the anchor, we couldn't find it. We swept back and forth on the reef to no avail. I shot my sausage at 40 ft. According to one of the passengers, the boat was underway when one of them spotted my sausage and told the crew. Of course, the crew said they were actively searching for us, but the passengers did not believe that.

It's my opinion that a deployed sausage on many of the abandonments would have prevented them from happening. I also own a Nautilus LifeLine now. They work worldwide.

 

[Littlerayray]

My club has a procedure where all divers sign in and the dm asks for your starting pressure and time before the dive and after you have to verbally tell them and this is done as soon as you exit the water and right before entering this ensures that everyone is back on board before the boat moves it also gives them an a proximate time as to when you should surface