Nonbreathing victim + deco stop. How to handle it.

[jiveturkey]

I just finished reading my rescue diver manual and I've had a few scenarios I'm unsure about. Since my instructor isn't within chatting distance, I'll ask you guys for the time being. Let's say you're diving and for some reason, you've passed the nondeco limit for your dive and a diver stops breathing. I'm asking this question in this way because if you're within the non deco time zone you can forefit the safety stop for an emergency. Right?

Anyway, maybe this diver has a heart attack. You wouldn't really be able to tell at depth, all you know is that he has stopped responding and he isn't breathing. Now, you require a decompression stop to prevent DCI but you know this guy needs to get to the surface asap. Do you keep him there while you do your required stop (which may very well mean he will drown) or do you take the chance and bring him up to the surface and risk injuring yourself? I know the first rule of rescue diving in to ensure your own safety but maybe there's a way out of this situation.

 

[WreckWriter]

There's no way out of it. You have to make the call. Consider a few factors: Is there support on the boat? How big is your deco obligation?

Tom

 

[MadReefer]

Hyperbaric Chamber.


That scanerio is is exactly why My Family has the best insurance we could find. Too long / too far down and any emergency, whether breathing or not, will ruin you.

Make the accent, call for Dive EMS and get your airlift on to the nearest Recompression chamber.
God Bless anyone in this situation.

Mad

 

[O-ring]

WreckWriter once bubbled...
There's no way out of it. You have to make the call. Consider a few factors: Is there support on the boat? How big is your deco obligation?

Tom

If there is adequate support on the boat, I would deliver the diver to surface support and immediately go back down and repeat my stops until my gas ran out. We don't do much over a 10-30 minute deco right now anyway, so I would feel comfortable doing that and risking the hit.

If there was no surface support, and we were on one of our standard rec depth deco dives (let's say with a 20 minute obligation from a dive to 130'), I would blow the stops and get my buddy to the surface.

What are your thoughts on a significant hang though? Let's say a dive to 250 fsw for 30 minutes on 15/55 using 50/50 and 100% as deco gasses. Maybe a 110 minute deco obligation...what would you do then? That's where the call gets really tough, IMHO. I'm curious to hear what people doing those types of dives think..

 

[SDAnderson]

There is no way out of the situation.

It's important to differentiate between a safety stop and a decompression stop. Blow off the safety stop and head for the surface, like you said. Decompression stops are a different thing - and why I'm not certain this is a Basic Scuba thread.

There's a big difference between a dive where you end up with a few minutes of deco obligation on backgas and a rigorously planned technical dive where you may owe hours of deco on high O2 gases. I'd take a minor hit (especially if diving somewhere near a chamber) but taking a major hit is probably going to kill the victim (if he's not already dead) and qualifies as a really hard decision. There are a host of other considerations: are there support divers available, what kind of margins are built into your plan, how well-equipped is the boat for first aid, are you prepared for an open water recompression hang, how long until help can be reached, is the victim your ex-wife's attorney, etc.

Recreational divers can (and often do) get hurt when they make a mistake. Technical divers can (and often do) get killed when they make a mistake.

Good question, though no easy solution.

Steven

 

[O-ring]

It's important to differentiate between a safety stop and a decompression stop.

I didn't read the original post closely enough and this is a recreational thread...I would blow off the safety stop and deliver the diver to the surface...I would not go back down, but would stay topside and help. IMHO, chances are you will not get bent by blowing off a safety stop if your dive was within NDLs.

 

[Uncle Pug]

jiveturkey once bubbled...
Let's say you're diving and for some reason, you've passed the nondeco limit for your dive and a diver stops breathing.

Soooo.... you just happen to pass into a decompression obligation....

Hmmm.... well....

1. Make sure you don't.
2. If you are trained and have planned your deco dive you will already have taken into account that scenario and have the solution planned as well.

 

[jiveturkey]

Acutally, I'm talking about a situation where you are required to do a decompression stop. Although I've nevered passed the NDL, I know that it does happen in some situations. I'm not really talking about spending an hour gassing off but rather if you stray into a decompression dive. That decompression time is an important variable in this question so I guess it really depends on how long you are required to do your stop for.

 

[O-ring]

Uncle Pug once bubbled...

Soooo.... you just happen to pass into a decompression obligation....

Hmmm.... well....

1. Make sure you don't.
2. If you are trained and have planned your deco dive you will already have taken into account that scenario and have the solution planned as well.

That makes sense to me...plan your dive and dive your plan takes care of #1, but what would you guys plan in that scenario? I know you are an unusually tight dive team, but what is your contingency plan for a significant deco obligation and one member of the team in an unconscious non-breathing state?

I know there are some "experimental" in-water ventilation techniques out there (I obviously haven't tried any of them), but what would you do?

 

[WreckWriter]

O-ring once bubbled...

I didn't read the original post closely enough and this is a recreational thread...I would blow off the safety stop and deliver the diver to the surface...I would not go back down, but would stay topside and help. IMHO, chances are you will not get bent by blowing off a safety stop if your dive was within NDLs.

The wording wasn't very clear as to wether it was safety stop or required stop. I also did not check which forum this was in.

In a safety stop or minimal deco its a no-brainer and O-Ring's answer here is the correct one.

In a hard ceiling long deco situation its a Kobiashi Maru scenario.

Tom