Post-rescue depression???

[Keith.M]

Wow. What an ordeal and yes, thanks for all divers on the rescue.

Did you drop her weights? Try to manually inflate her wing?

Dragging her without fins had to be extremely stressful.

Good job!

 

[toddthecat]

I must say it is nice to see so many people on SB being supportive. It takes a lot to be able to come out and talk about a personal stress like that. It's very cool that the OP told his story and that there is a supportive network that responded. This is why I love SB

 

[tracydr]

Wow. What an ordeal and yes, thanks for all divers on the rescue.

Did you drop her weights? Try to manually inflate her wing?

Dragging her without fins had to be extremely stressful.

Good job!

I doubt she had weights diving with steel doubles.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Why drag her around letting her head go under? Why not blow 4 breaths of air in her BC? OR... turn her air on, inflate the BC and stick a reg in her mouth?

 

[Tigerman]

Why drag her around letting her head go under? Why not blow 4 breaths of air in her BC? OR... turn her air on, inflate the BC and stick a reg in her mouth?

Theres almost always something that could be done different or better when you look at a situation from the calm of your armchair with a resting heart rate rather than being in the thick of it with adrenaline pumping and having to make split second decisions without being a professional. Lets not forget the main thing here though - not one, but TWO people where picked up by an ambulance, alive rather than a hearse..
Doing SOMETHING is always right, doing nothing not so much.

In most threads in the near misses and a&i forums I would be all for ruthless disecting of the incidents (I started a couple myself), this one however i feel is a bit different in the fact that its more a direct question about the effects you may experience AFTER the event in question, which rarely is adressed at all and often are forgotten by the bystanders and even the professionals who take over after joe schmoe has kept the victim in shape till they get there..

 

[Crass3000]

Why drag her around letting her head go under? Why not blow 4 breaths of air in her BC? OR... turn her air on, inflate the BC and stick a reg in her mouth?

Sorry... I got her to shore ALIVE. I thought that would be good enough but obviously not for you. I had no buoyancy for me and certainly not for her. I could barely hold her up from sinking. Try swimming with a couple big bricks superman. I had no scuba gear on. I had no idea what was wrong. In hindsight I should have tried harder to find her inflator (as you mention) but I couldn't while keeping her from sinking. She had problems with air and I'm not familiar with manifolds so I probably would have ended up killing her. It would have been pretty hard to blow up her BC while we were both underwater and she was taking in water. I'm not stupid. I did what needed to be done. Thanks arm chair quarterback. I bet you play fantasy football too. I just lost a little respect for you.

And sorry... 4 mouthfuls of air wasn't going to keep this brick from sinking. I could have done anything you thought of while she sucked in water.

I guess ultimately maybe that's what bothers me. You hit a nerve. I know what to do but it just wasn't possible without her being under and taking in water. I'm OK with how I handled it in the end. She's alive and was pretty OK when I got her to shore. I have taken rescue. I was just not strong enough to do anything else. I challenge you to hold up steel doubles just out of the gate and a backplate and get them to shore where there is no air in the wing. Just try it with somebody with a regulator in a safe situation.

 

[flots am]

Sorry... I got her to shore ALIVE. . . .And sorry... 4 mouthfuls of air wasn't going to keep this brick from sinking.

Actually, it should. An inflated BC should keep any diver on the surface unless they have a death wish and are overweighted with non-ditchable weight.

In any case, people wearing exposure suits are floaty. Without any exposure protection, people are generally neutral or a little positive, so if there aren't any weights to ditch, just ditch everything.

A BP/W ditches more or less like a standard BC. Just flip open any buckles you find at the waist and pull off any shoulder straps.

Aside from anything else, removing the gear makes the victim a lot easier to get to shore.

I'm impressed you could get any movement at all out of a diver and a set of doubles with no fins.

She had problems with air and I'm not familiar with manifolds so I probably would have ended up killing her. I

If you ever have that again, just turn on all the valves you can find. They all turn on and off in the same direction yours do (counter-clockwise is open)

flots.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Two years ago I wrote and published a paper on PTSD in recreational rescues. It is included in the rescue class I teach, can be found on my blog page at www.udmaquatics.com, and is free for the asking for anyone.

A dive rescue, even with a positive outcome, is a traumatic event. It is something that anyone can experience at any time. Most divers are woefully unprepared for it and especially it's aftermath. If it affects your life for any length of time that is not normal for you, it's time to seek help. Professional help of some kind. If it's mild talking to a minister or priest may help. It may require a session or two with a therapist. If it is still a problem or severe they, if they know what they are doing, will not try to help if they have no formal training in dealing with it. They will help locate someone who does.

And it can get worse. It can crop up at any time. It can seriously affect all aspects of your life. It not something to take lightly. What my paper is about is recognizing symptoms, some general coping skills, and where to find help.

And this is why we still teach basic rescue skills in the OW class, and in mine, assisting someone in doubles is covered. It is also the reason the first class one should do.after open water is rescue. As soon as possible. Screw AOW or "Adventure Diver". Rescue needs to come first and this subject needs to be addressed in detail.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Sorry... I got her to shore ALIVE. I thought that would be good enough but obviously not for you. I had no buoyancy for me and certainly not for her. I could barely hold her up from sinking. Try swimming with a couple big bricks superman. I had no scuba gear on. I had no idea what was wrong. In hindsight I should have tried harder to find her inflator (as you mention) but I couldn't while keeping her from sinking. She had problems with air and I'm not familiar with manifolds so I probably would have ended up killing her. It would have been pretty hard to blow up her BC while we were both underwater and she was taking in water. I'm not stupid. I did what needed to be done. Thanks arm chair quarterback. I bet you play fantasy football too. I just lost a little respect for you.

And sorry... 4 mouthfuls of air wasn't going to keep this brick from sinking. I could have done anything you thought of while she sucked in water.

I guess ultimately maybe that's what bothers me. You hit a nerve. I know what to do but it just wasn't possible without her being under and taking in water. I'm OK with how I handled it in the end. She's alive and was pretty OK when I got her to shore. I have taken rescue. I was just not strong enough to do anything else. I challenge you to hold up steel doubles just out of the gate and a backplate and get them to shore where there is no air in the wing. Just try it with somebody with a regulator in a safe situation.

The most basic lesson from basic scuba is to :Establish positive buoyancy on the surface" I think it pertains to both you and the victim. If you have no gear, you should have instantly, immediately and without hesitation pressed her inflate button. If that did not work, then inflate it orally. Once you have them safely on the surface, the true emergency is pretty much over. There is no need to over exert yourself trying to fight a sinking diver.

I'm sorry you feel bad about this incident, but the fact remains that if the diver was a little bit heavier, you would not have been able to support her enough to do the rescue...

 

[mrokern]

This reminds me very strongly of what I teach during my firearm training courses. Whether it be for law enforcement or for regular folks on the street, adrenaline doesn't lend itself to thinking critically about fine motor skills...especially on unfamiliar equipment.

It's easy to sit here and talk about finding valves and inflators, but I've seen police officers so amped up on adrenaline that they can't remember how to work a pair of handcuffs.

They lived. You did well.