SCUBASailor
Contributor
Sounds like they would have become Darwin Award winners if you hadn't been there. Puzzling, to be sure.
New/Inexperienced Diver Out of Air
- Thread starter Bogie
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
cdoc
Registered
Is it possible that their tanks were not full to begin with?
Seems hard to kill off a tank that fast even as a Hoover.
I have seen folks go in with 1500psi for shallow dock work or some other simple thing and wonder if these guys dove on half full tanks?
Seems hard to kill off a tank that fast even as a Hoover.
I have seen folks go in with 1500psi for shallow dock work or some other simple thing and wonder if these guys dove on half full tanks?
DevonDiver
N/A
Sounds like dive 2 of the average OW class.... that's why some instructors get antsy about safety and following safe dive practices.
Good job at intervening and keeping these people safe. Sounds like their entry-level training was ineffective.
To this day, I cannot fathom why students would accept low quality training that obviously didn't give them proficiency. To much emphasis on getting a certification, and not on getting skills.
Good job at intervening and keeping these people safe. Sounds like their entry-level training was ineffective.
To this day, I cannot fathom why students would accept low quality training that obviously didn't give them proficiency. To much emphasis on getting a certification, and not on getting skills.
I too congratulate you on a job well done. Not only for the OOA rescue but being the kind of diver and dive professional willing to offer his knowledge, experience and support to a pair of newbie/visitors on their first Ca. dive.
As to the safety stop, the first 33 fsw is where the biggest pressure change takes place so the recommendation is to always do the safety stop PROVIDED air supply is available. 2 newbie divers breathing off the same tank with one OOA trying to do a safety stop is a recipe for 2 OOA experiences. In this case, bypass the safety stop, get to the surface & get positively buoyant ASAP. A minor DCS problem can be treated on the surface by medical professionals. A drowning is handled by the medical examiner's office. While both medical professionals, an office visit to the doctor is the more pleasant of the two.
As to the safety stop, the first 33 fsw is where the biggest pressure change takes place so the recommendation is to always do the safety stop PROVIDED air supply is available. 2 newbie divers breathing off the same tank with one OOA trying to do a safety stop is a recipe for 2 OOA experiences. In this case, bypass the safety stop, get to the surface & get positively buoyant ASAP. A minor DCS problem can be treated on the surface by medical professionals. A drowning is handled by the medical examiner's office. While both medical professionals, an office visit to the doctor is the more pleasant of the two.
cdoc
Registered
Another thought was that they may have blown through a lot of gas inflating/deflating BCs due to improper weighting.
Glad it was a good ouitcome though.
Glad it was a good ouitcome though.
soltari675
Contributor
Perhaps you saved their lives that day. Imagine if you had NOT come along and asked to dive with them. They would have done all of that, with nobody there to help them. He would have run out of air, likely ran his buddy out of air during a safety stop, and assuming they made it to the surface, would they have ever dumped weights or inflated their BC's? Sounds like probably not. So one or both would have likely drowned. Good work saving them. I have to agree, be more aggressive with checking gauges, especially if you notice they will be a problem or they are new. I am a very new diver, and I don't take offense or mind at all when my buddies ask me my pressure. I just show them my computer. It makes me feel better they WANT to know.
Similar threads
