covediver
Contributor
Was this a trick question that was posed to you? The reason I ask is it seems that you cannot properly respond without putting yourself in danger, the first thing a rescuer is told to avoid. My response would be follow them up at a safe distance and ascent rate and be prepared to render assistance immediately upon surfacing.
A diver is full panic is a dangerous marine organism. If they want to get to the surface, not much is going to stop them and anything or anyone that does try to stop them does so at great peril to themselves. Stoping is the one thing that this diver does not want to do or even be slowed down. And the idea of throwing a well placed punch or kick under these circumstances is probably not realistic given the equipment we are all wearing, the animation of the victim, and the slowness that our punches move through the water. While many of us, including myself, hypothesize that it is easy to slow or stop a full on paniced diver, I would venture to say none of us really have had the experience. (I have stopped distressed divers, but never seen anyone in a full on panic, except as a lifeguard.) About as close as I came was when I did an underwater self defense course last Spring and it was an eye opener as far as everything that I thought I knew about assisting a paniced diver underwater.
A diver is full panic is a dangerous marine organism. If they want to get to the surface, not much is going to stop them and anything or anyone that does try to stop them does so at great peril to themselves. Stoping is the one thing that this diver does not want to do or even be slowed down. And the idea of throwing a well placed punch or kick under these circumstances is probably not realistic given the equipment we are all wearing, the animation of the victim, and the slowness that our punches move through the water. While many of us, including myself, hypothesize that it is easy to slow or stop a full on paniced diver, I would venture to say none of us really have had the experience. (I have stopped distressed divers, but never seen anyone in a full on panic, except as a lifeguard.) About as close as I came was when I did an underwater self defense course last Spring and it was an eye opener as far as everything that I thought I knew about assisting a paniced diver underwater.