lost diver?

[SailNaked]

No not really. I was supervising a new OW team doing their navigation. first diver was fine. went out 180 degrees I counted the distance then turned him and went straight back to the platform.
second diver was a mess, turning 360 degrees going up and down before the start, then he takes off, (he had my compass so I did not know the direction at the time but it was correct). then after a short distance I caught him and told him to head back, in about 6 ft of vis in the time it took me to look at his buddy he was gone.

so his buddy and I surface to look for bubbles and to secure the buddy. no bubbles except near the platform. ok we swim to the platform I leave the buddy on the surface and go look for the missing diver. Not there :shocked2: :depressed: I asked the DM to come up with me so I could let him know what is up, I am on my first OW assist and this seems not good to me.

We surface I inform him what is up, and then about 30-60 sec later we notice a diver in the middle of the lake (small). looks like our missing diver and we swim to him, he is fine and was lost.

I accept total responsibility for this, I failed my duty to supervise these divers. I do not intend to let this happen again. so here is the open discussion part. so in low vis, should I only take one diver at a time? should I stay with the one with the compass and just expect the buddy to follow? if they swim at an unsafe speed to the surface should I expect the buddy and I to follow? should I have my hand on a diver that has little buoyancy control in low vis? how do you control two divers in 6 ft vis?

were there other noticeable errors on my part in this story?

 

[Peter Guy]

I'm more than a bit confused here as to:

a. Your status (profile says "rescue diver"); and

b. The dive (class?) you were "supervising."

IF the two were certified divers, in what capacity were you "supervising" them?

What was the role of the (other?) DM?

Re having divers split and get lost in bad viz/silt -- it happens (see prior posts re my experiences). You just need to try to control things as much as possible.

In a nav exercise, there are two theories that, quite frankly, I'm still assessing:

a. Keep the buddy pair together and have them dive (navigate) as buddies -- which can create some problems as you found out; or

b. Go one-on-one which allows for "better control" but worse real life experience. (Hey, they need to be able to navigate AND keep buddy contact, correct?)

I have questions, but, for the moment, no good answers.

 

[Joe-Diver]

I'm not clear either on what you were doing, how and in what capacity.

For the Open Water class, here's how I conduct the Nav out/back:

Buddy pair - 1 diver navs and counts kick cycles. Buddy holds tank valve and is responsible for depth control and not running into anything. They won't separate this way. DM goes with them while we wait on the platform for them to come back. (hopefully) Then they switch roles and do it again.

For Underwater Navigator:

I only go with them on Dive1 so we can do the 100' swim together and get an average of kick cycles and time. For the rest of Dive1, 2 and 3, I supervise from the dock so I can watch their bubble trail for the out/back, natural nav, square and give them feedback on where they went wrong. DM goes with them, or not since they are certified divers. For Dive2 (Nav Finder come home) and Dive3 (Nav Course) I again supervise from the dock so I can see the bubble trail on the surface.

 

[SailNaked]

I changed my Profile, I'm DMC. Was first class, all the rest was awesome, I forgot how awkward new divers can be in the water, a real honor to be able to be there in the class. We have not debriefed the class yet (tomorrow).
My original thought was to have the buddy pair watch out for each other and I watch out for them. however the diver with the compass was ultra focused on following his path and never looked around. I had that "oh cr@p" moment when his buddy was looking at me with "Uh now what?"

 

[TSandM]

I've had the same experience when diving with two newer divers in low viz (not a a class). This is where focused, high intensity lights are worth their weight in gold. You can chase the errant diver while flashing the one behind, and signal the one behind to catch up; you can stop the errant diver and use the light to reestablish communication with the one behind.

The key is never letting them get very far away from you, so you have to be alert to stop any deviations before they get big enough that the viz bites you.

Trying to do this without a light was a nightmare.

 

[joolz]

I'll preface these comments by saying that I think this is something every DM/instructor experiences at least once and usually more, so don't beat yourself up over it. Welcome to the world of DM-ing

Now on to what went wrong:

I changed my Profile, I'm DMC.

As a DMC, you're not insured to accompany students if the instructor can't see you. This is his/her error, not yours. The DM or instructor should have been doing this skill.

Was first class, all the rest was awesome,

You don't say if this is a PADI or NAUI class, but if it's PADI then you shouldn't be doing nav on dive 1 -- it's a flexible skill that can only be done on 2, 3 or 4 (I don't know what the NAUI standard is). The logic behind this is that new students can take some time to adjust to the new environment, so we try not to task load on the first dive. Nav should always be mastered first on the surface.

My original thought was to have the buddy pair watch out for each other and I watch out for them. however the diver with the compass was ultra focused on following his path and never looked around.

This is how I usually do it if there's an even number of students in the class. If a student isn't paying attention to his buddy, you need to be positioned in a way that you can grab on to him before he had a chance to take off. I had to learn this the hard way.

he had my compass so I did not know the direction at the time but it was correct

This was your biggest problem. If you don't know where you are, you're not in a position to correct a student if they go off in the wrong direction. I always take my own compass heading and let the student take theirs. If they're clearly about to head off in the wrong direction, I'll stop them and let them know they need to correct their heading. I also had to learn this the hard way.

we swim to the platform I leave the buddy on the surface and go look for the missing diver.

Buddy separation procedures should be briefed thoroughly prior to the dive (by the instructor, not the DMC). A student should never be left unattended in the water, even on the surface...although leaving them on the "platform" doesn't sound like a big deal. Those minutes while you're waiting for the missing student to surface are always highly stressful. I think every DM and instructor can relate. Fortunately your student remembered the separation procedure...eventually

so in low vis, should I only take one diver at a time?

You can do it that way if you want to, although the benefit of doing it in buddy teams gets them used to working as a pair (e.g. one paying attention to direction while the other pays attention to kick cycles and depth). The one who bolted clearly doesn't grasp the concept of being a "buddy"

should I stay with the one with the compass and just expect the buddy to follow?

You need to position yourself so that you can take control if you need to. This means you have to be somewhere that you can see them both. If visibility doesn't permit this, then consider one at a time.

if they swim at an unsafe speed to the surface should I expect the buddy and I to follow?

You need to be close enough to stop the unsafe ascent. With new divers, the optimal vantage point is often slightly above them so you can block their ascent or correct buoyancy problems as they occur.

should I have my hand on a diver that has little buoyancy control in low vis?

Holding on to a diver for an entire dive doesn't really help them learn how to control their own buoyancy, although if you know they're having trouble, you can be close enough to lend them a hand as required.

how do you control two divers in 6 ft vis?

You need a lot of physical control in low visibility. This doesn't mean you need to hang on to both of them the whole time, but if you notice one is ditching his buddy, you can grab on to him and give him the "stay close to your buddy" signal -- and do this as many times as it takes to get the message across. You can also get them to hang on to each other so they don't get separated. The one counting kick cycles can just hold on to the navigator's arm or a d-ring

As TSandM said, a good dive light is a lifesaver in low visibility, since sometimes this is the only part of you that anybody can see. When separated, most students would have enough sense to swim towards the light when it's the only thing they can see in the murk.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

This is where a lack of stressing just what a dive buddy is becomes very clear. It starts with the very first pool session. It behooves the instructor to set buddy teams from day one and insisting that they operate as such for every session. It also demonstrates that they have not been drilled properly in the one buddy protocol I really stress with my students- The slowest diver sets the pace.

Having them work as a team means they need to know what the team is. That means defining responsibilities, discussing positioning, and the importance of introducing another item critical to successful buddy pairs- buoyancy control, again another first night on scuba item for me when teaching. If you drill them in proper buddy protocol and procedures in the pool and they have it down then the chance of incidents like this happening are greatly reduced.

For example on a nav portion swim designate one person to watch the compass and the other to monitor depth, natural features, time, kicks, etc. While you follow or swim just above them(my preferred vantage point). Insist that it is not a race. Have them swim slowly and relaxed maintaining constant contact( elbows touching, the person monitoring depth, etc reaching and touching the other) and an important thing I've found is to flash the ok. New divers (myself included back then) have the mistaken belief that if they take their eyes off the compass for a second they'll get lost. It's not true. Looking up and seeing where you're going for a second or glancing at the dive buddy for an ok or depth check will not wind them up in Timbuktu. Stress this to them. I've found it relaxes them. And they should have their own compass to use. I'm surprised it wasn't on the console of their gear or included in the rental package for checkouts.

Again try to get them to relax, slow down, and take it easy. But alot of this will be tough if they have not gotten the basics down in the pool first. You can't run if you never learned to walk and you can't throw people together in OW and expect them to function as a team if they've never been required to do it up to that point.

 

[Crowley]

Some good advice above

I'd also like to add that sometimes - stuff like this happens. We were all inexperienced at some point, at everything, and therefore we make mistakes. Even if we don't make mistakes (as people, instructors, DMT/C DM, whatever), other people will - it's part of life.

I've had divers surface without notifying me - from a 30 metre wreck dive in one case - and there is a moment of panic when you realise the diver is not there. We briefed the standard procedure which is to look around or wait for the missing diver(s) for one minute before surfacing, safety stop included... which means five or 6 minutes of worrying before you know if the diver has remembered the briefing and surfaced themselves. Ja - I was willing to miss a safety stop for that. Fortunately, we all reunited at the surface and went oon to enjoy a great afternoon dive together.

A Joolz said, don't beat yourself up about it - it happens - learn from it (as you appear to be doing) and move forward. Most people, fortunately, are quite sensible about being lost - they head for the fresh air - but I understand how worrying it can be while you wait. I've skipped a couple of "mandatory" safety stops whilst guiding dives.

Take it easy - and safe diving,

C.