Nonbreathing victim + deco stop. How to handle it.

[DiverBuoy]

If the diver has been out beyond 6 minutes ... tie a signal to him inflate his buoyancy control device ... go ahead and do your deco stops and find out if the boat support was able to salvage his organs for another needy party. Of course the lungs might not be any good.

 

[MHK]

jiveturkey once bubbled...
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.

You have correctly distinguished between a planned deco dive and a dive that surpasses your NDL limit by chance.

In the former you should not be doing it without a support team, in which case the support team may potentially surface with the body..

In the latter scenario, I'd surface, assuming you believe heart attack and not Oxygen Toxicity, since if you exceed your computers NDL it's probably not likely that you are bent, and even if you are probably not a serious hit..

Most computer algorithms have so much conservation built in that even if you are at the M-value you're probably still able to ascend.. It's truly a judgment call and is situational and may vary from scenario to scenario so I'm not sure there is a stock answer that will cover all situations.. Understadning the signs and symptoms, and understanding decompression theory is background information that will help make a prudent judgment..

Hope that helps..

Later

Edited to read "planned deco dive" as I believe that was the intended text

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

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

Is that a star trek reference? I seem to remember that the only solution to that particular problem was to blow up the ship. Am I right?

 

[WreckWriter]

Tim Ingersoll once bubbled...
"In a hard ceiling long deco situation its a Kobiashi Maru scenario." Tom

Is that a star trek reference? I seem to remember that the only solution to that particular problem was to blow up the ship. Am I right?

Yea, it is. It was a "no win scenario". Capt. Kirk cheated and won though..... But we can't all be Capt. Kirk.

 

[MikeFerrara]

All they ever said about Kirk's solution was that he reprogramed the computer so that he was able to win a scenario that was designed as a no-win situation.

 

[O-ring]

ff: ff: ff:

Why don't you two take this over to http://singleoverweightgeeksthatspeakklingon.com and don't forget your Vulcan pointy ear tips, Tom!

 

[Spectre]

MikeFerrara once bubbled...
All they ever said about Kirk's solution was that he reprogramed the computer so that he was able to win a scenario that was designed as a no-win situation.

In a lame attempt to bring it back on topic....

Mike, are you suggesting that we re-program our deco computers to get around the deco obligation?

 

[MikeFerrara]

Spectre once bubbled...


In a lame attempt to bring it back on topic....

Mike, are you suggesting that we re-program our deco computers to get around the deco obligation?

Something should be reprogramed I think but I'm not sure it's the computer.

 

[Walter]

I see lots of good ideas and excellent discussion. As mentioned above, in rescue situations you need to be thinking and making decisions to suit your unique situation. There are too many possible situations for anyone to memorize "the solution" to them all. The best rescue dive is the one who prevents accidents.

Actually, I liked Scotty's solution better than Kirk's. After losing several times, Kirk cheated by programing the computer to believe he was unbeatable resulting in the Romulans not attacking and allowing him to escape. A poor solution, at best. Scotty did not reprogram the computer, but instead used a solution the computer accepted. The ironic part is Scotty had already proved his solution would not have actually worked.

 

[WreckWriter]

O-ring once bubbled...
ff: ff: ff:

Why don't you two take this over to http://singleoverweightgeeksthatspeakklingon.com and don't forget your Vulcan pointy ear tips, Tom!

How often do I take things off topic (not counting getting in fights)?

Was my original point not on topic?

Tom