Missed Safety Stop. Go Back Down?

[aquacat8]

Maybe it’s OK if your name is MIKE NELSON

 

[boulderjohn]

I believe Navy divers (and others) can do this safely, as they have the knowledge and equipment to do the procedure.

As is mentioned in the DAN video, the procedure for returning to do a missed safety stop if a diver accidentally blows past that stop and reaches the surface is to 1) redescend (you may have to dump air from the BCD) to 15 feet and 2) wait there for a while.

The equipment required is whatever you had when you accidentally blew past the safety stop.

I can't begin to guess how many times I have seen this done. It is not rocket surgery.

 

[aquacat8]

@boulderjohn I hope you wouldn’t operate on a rocket without anesthetic

 

[BoltSnap]

I had to blow my SS recently and had to come up to the surface to see how far and who was the bastard who was using dynamite for fishing while we were underwater. I came up to the surface saw their boat about a mile way from we were and then I went down to do the SS and swim back to shore underwater. I see many other scenarios for not keeping your SS initially, run away buoyancy issues, etc. What DAN says sounds reasonable as long as the diver is able to make proper judgement call on if they have the the gas to do it and if the water conditions are safe enough to do it.

 

[Steve_C]

Personally, I've yet to see a diver complete a full safety stop. Can you believe it?

Where do you dive. Off the NC coast doing full safety stops is standard. Even in the Keys I have seen a number of folks doing full safety stops. I always do. I kind of like hanging there watching the underwater world go by.

 

[TMHeimer]

As is mentioned in the DAN video, the procedure for returning to do a missed safety stop if a diver accidentally blows past that stop and reaches the surface is to 1) redescend (you may have to dump air from the BCD) to 15 feet and 2) wait there for a while.

The equipment required is whatever you had when you accidentally blew past the safety stop.

I can't begin to guess how many times I have seen this done. It is not rocket surgery.

That's what I figured way back then. I guess PADI materials convinced me otherwise.

 

[Steve_C]

The cited example as noted was extremely bad judgement. I think it is irrelevant to somebody who has plenty of air in their tank, and is not in a stressed situation.

 

[ystrout]

For everyone saying they wouldn't go back down, can you explain why?

Let's say you have 25%-33% of your air left, what would be the problem? How is it dangerous to go back down to 15 feet for a few minutes?

Say I was on a 2 or 3 dive day and was nearing my NDL with sufficient air, I would absolutely go back down for a few minutes to reduce my chances of DCS and think it would be stupid not to.

 

[TMHeimer]

That's what I figured way back then. I guess PADI materials convinced me otherwise.

2003 Deep Manual, pages 39/40. But I tend to agree with John and you guys that it isn't rocket science. Of course you could go back down if you have enough air to do so. If you have to switch out to a new tank and do this and that (like the manual says) all within 5 minutes then you just wouldn't do it. I guess we all pretty much question PADI's advice to forget going back down.

 

[george_austin]

Skip it. If you do encounter a DCS issue, isn’t it better to be topside? We’re talking about an optional safety stop, not a series of planned decompression stops in deep water