missed safety stops

[Dr Deco]

Dear Readers:

Remember that “safety stops” to not prevent DCS completely - - but they do help. They are a small price to pay in time. This time allows the tissue bubbles to shrink before the final ascent.

Prevention of DCS is a real advantage to you and your pocketbook. Do not ever forget that treatment is very costly, very time consuming, and quite often not 100% effective.:yelling:


If I were in a wheel chair with a central nervous system hit, I would hate to think that I tried to save a few minutes and neglected a stop.

Dr Deco

 

[Butch103]

I guess we should all remember and listen to Dr. Deco. He hammers the point home with a 10lb sledge in his last statement. We all should have learnt about safety stops in OW and this should have been pounded into us in AOW. I do not think this is emphasized enough.

 

[Madder_Than_Hell]

I want to know how many people do a safety stop while spearfishing? I try to do one every time, but when there are bleeding fish on a stringer attached to you, and several large barracuda or possible a large bull shark circling. That's when I think the safest thing to do is get on the boat as soon as possible.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Originally posted by Madder_Than_Hell
when there are bleeding fish on a stringer attached to you,

M_T_H,
May I suggest "our" method (not DIR)?
For many years, when spearfishing we have clipped the stringer off to the downline or the anchorline - we even drop a line for that purpose when tied to a rig. Sometimes we use a stringer alone, sometimes a mesh bag (which tends to discourage Barracuda). In any event, we can do our ascents without having to concern ourselves with being bothered by sharks or 'cuda, and then haul the fish up later. You may think you'd lose a lot of fish to the predators this way, but surprisingly the incidence of thievery is very low. I think I can count on one hand the number of stringers we've lost over the last three decades - and the peace of mind of not having the bait tied to me is sure worth that.
Rick

 

[DMJOE]

As a DM, and very active assisting with OW, AOW, Rescue, and DM sourses, I make it a point to stress the importance of performing saftey stops on every dive. I do this with the idea that prevention/caution is a key factor in safe diving habits.

With OW and AOW courses, I , along with the instructors make it very clear that we will perform at a minimum a 3 minute safety stop. Granted, here we are lucky to have some great sea life to check out at 15 feet, so the safety stop is not as boring as hanging on a line under a dive boat.. but it drives the point across to the new students all the same.

I feel that we as Divers, (responsible ones that is) should lead by example, and take the lead in promoting safe diving.

Just my .02 cents...

 

[Kane(adian)]

Originally posted by joewr
Batman's costume...I like the ears and mask, especially! Not to mention the great car. And the Batcave! And a butler speaking of butlers, you two probably would could probably handle that job!

Joewr--Super Hero to the Masses

Joewr, You just like the ears, because you can play your infamous 'human torpedo spearfishing' game. I imagine that it looks interesting, with you swimming around with your catch attached to those pointy ears.

 

[joewr]

that there was somebody out there who would understand me!

Joewr

(By the way, my father was born in Winnepeg, Sask.,but escaped to California whilst young. Never-the-less, I learned to drink my tea with sugar and milk, anyhow!)