Most Basic Errors Caused Death

[Web Monkey]

It's reasonably easy to see where a new diver could get interested in something and just forget to do routine tasks like check gauges.

I wonder how many of these OOA deaths and near-deaths could be prevented by using a computer that would make a really annoying racket when the RBT reaches 0?

Maybe it's time to start phasing out analog gauges, or at least have shops strongly recommend them for new divers.

Even if the diver ignored the warning, at least his buddy would know something was wrong and go grab him.

Terry

One odd part of that:
AFAIK the training and certainly the training i experienced put big emphasis on this aspect.

As others have said though, a pony wont help you if you hold your breath. Again, one of the first things taught is NEVER hold your breath.

Agency is irrelevent here, they all teach that. The diver sadly ignored/forgot his training.

 

[verona]

I wonder how many of these OOA deaths and near-deaths could be prevented by using a computer that would make a really annoying racket when the RBT reaches 0?

Maybe it's time to start phasing out analog gauges, or at least have shops strongly recommend them for new divers.

Even if the diver ignored the warning, at least his buddy would know something was wrong and go grab him.

Terry

I recently got an AI computer (uwatec smart). One of the reasons was in case somehow I got too low on air and didn't realise it. I never have until now (knock on wood) but I did have one time when I was badly narced and I couldn't remember most of the dive. This worried me afterwards in terms of if I would have been paying attention to gauges and if I would have been able to react if I had run low. Not that an audible alarm might make any difference but as you say maybe a buddy would notice

 

[flw]

I recently got an AI computer (uwatec smart). One of the reasons was in case somehow I got too low on air and didn't realise it. I never have until now (knock on wood) but I did have one time when I was badly narced and I couldn't remember most of the dive. This worried me afterwards in terms of if I would have been paying attention to gauges and if I would have been able to react if I had run low. Not that an audible alarm might make any difference but as you say maybe a buddy would notice

If your diving style involves not paying enough attention to gauges to accidentally run out, and the recommended panacea is a computerised alarm to tell you once you are imminently going to run out, then perhaps it is time to reconsider monitoring practise.
If narcosis is an issue, then simply dive shallower or use a different gas so it doesn't happen - an alarm isn't going to help a fuddled brain - from your name I'd guess your from the Moray Firth somewhere, where many of the interesting wrecks are deeper, and are much more enjoyable with a bit of He.

 

[SeaHound]

Can lung expansion/rupture cause death? I mean the way I understood it, lung is made up of millions of small air bags and even if you do ascend holding your breath, you need to have a LOT of air in your lungs to burst ALL those millions or airpockets.

 

[The Kraken]

All it takes is the rupture of a few for you to drown in you own blood.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Can lung expansion/rupture cause death? I mean the way I understood it, lung is made up of millions of small air bags and even if you do ascend holding your breath, you need to have a LOT of air in your lungs to burst ALL those millions or airpockets.

The damage to the lung itself is only part of the problem. The other problem is that the air that escapes the lungs is going to go someplace and it can do all sorts of nasty stuff from colapsing a lung to blocking blood flow to critical places like the brain essentially causing a stroke. It doesn't take much air in the wrong place to make you dead...like right now.

 

[Hoppy]

You essentially bleed to death internally and drown.

Not a pleasant way to go my friend.

 

[MikeFerrara]

It's reasonably easy to see where a new diver could get interested in something and just forget to do routine tasks like check gauges.

I wonder how many of these OOA deaths and near-deaths could be prevented by using a computer that would make a really annoying racket when the RBT reaches 0?

Maybe it's time to start phasing out analog gauges, or at least have shops strongly recommend them for new divers.

Even if the diver ignored the warning, at least his buddy would know something was wrong and go grab him.

Terry

Of course by the time the RBT reaches zero it's a little late.

Ending the dive cleanly requires you to not only know how much gas you have left but some prior knowledge about where you want to go next and for how long and how much gas that'll take. Then you can plan ahead to have enough gas to make the kind of ascent that you want.

Looking at a gauge should just confirm what you already know. A computer can't do that for you.

 

[Web Monkey]

Of course by the time the RBT reaches zero it's a little late.

Ending the dive cleanly requires you to not only know how much gas you have left but some prior knowledge about where you want to go next and for how long and how much gas that'll take. Then you can plan ahead to have enough gas to make the kind of ascent that you want.

Looking at a gauge should just confirm what you already know. A computer can't do that for you.

Not sure about the others, but the Smart-Com considers RBT to be the Remaining Bottom Time before you need to start your ascent, so an RBT of 0 means you have to start ascenting now in order tomake a normal ascent and still have your reserve when you reach the surface.

It warns when you get close to 0. Once you hit 0 it gets really noisy. Even if the diver is ignoring it, I would hope his buddy would notice.

At that point, "where you want to go" is to the surface. It calculates RBT based on depth, air consumption rate and a normal ascent, and allows for a user-configured reserve (typically 500-700 lbs) so even if the user wasn't paying attention, it would still be possible for his buddy to drag him back to the surface, even if it was at a little more than the recommended acent rate.

Then you can plan ahead to have enough gas to make the kind of ascent that you want.

Assuming you're willing to make a direct ascent (you're not in an overhead environment), the computer keeps track of how much air it takes to return to the surface. An RBT of 0 is just that; it means you have to start your ascent now.

It's not a substitute for gas management, but would be a second chance at not dying if your buddy noticed that your computer wouldn't shut up.

Terry

 

[String]

I havent found a computer yet i can hear the alarm on underwater wearing a thick hood anyway.

The "noisey computer" is just a case of papering over the cracks anyway regarding skills (or lack of)