Rescuing unconscious diver question

[The Chairman]

Y'all DO check for water in the mask first, right?

 

[Charlie99]

In rescue I was to "dump" my bcd completely initially and use the victims excusively for the ascent - thus no problem with 2 inflators... But I know what you're saying.

That's a good technique for a properly weighted diver in Maui --- dumping your BCD completely doesn't leave you so negative that the ascent is difficult. If, however, you are overweighted, or have lots of lead for a double 7mm wetsuit, then you'll need to put a lot of air into the victim's BCD to make the two of you together neutral. The victim's floatation will be pulling upward strongly, making it harder to maintain contact.

If you start your ascent with both you and the victim close to neutral then a couple pauses at say 30' and 15' to play with inflators shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[El Orans]

Y'all DO check for water in the mask first, right?

Eh, no.

Just get the victim to the surface ASAP.

Don't even think about using his BCD to go up. Since he's down there chances are there won't be any gas available. Use your own.

 

[The Chairman]

It's a matter of Boyle's law, El Orans. As you ascend, any water in the mask will be forced into the nasal passages by the expanding air. Once in the nasal passages, they will dump the water on the pharynx resulting in a pharygiospasm. It's impossible to ventilate such a victim.

If you take the mask off, Boyles law will cause the air in the lungs to expand CLEARING those same passages. Either way, once on the surface the mask will have to be removed in order to ventilate the victim.

 

[El Orans]

Looks like I'll have to do Rescue again (seeing what my instructor didn't tell me).

But then, since El Zee was on the boat during one of your AOW class dives on Bonaire, she's thinking NAUI for her Rescue Diver course. Guess who the preferred instructor would be?

 

[kidspot]

So you're saying that if there is any water in their mask at depth, the mask should be removed before beginning the ascent? I've never heard that before, though from what you say it makes sense.

 

[jeckyll]

NetDoc: Checking the mask or removing it under water was not mentioned in my rescue class. What you say makes sense and I'm not sure why it was not touched on...

 

[The Chairman]

As a NAUI instructor, I get to teach this skill to EVERY SINGLE OPEN WATER STUDENT as well as a Panicked Diver on the surface. What good is a buddy, if they can't help you out? I even force my SDI students to learn the techniques.

Rescue Diver gets this and much, much more and it is intense. You should eat your wheaties to accomplish it. During rescue diver, we discover how rescuing a dry suit diver is far more problematic. Now you have THREE volumes of air to concern yourself with.

But the basic drill is to GET THE DIVER TO THE SURFACE as you can not ventilate on them on the bottom. We do not do this at 30 fpm either.

 

[MB]

Checking the mask or removing it under water was not mentioned in my rescue class. What you say makes sense and I'm not sure why it was not touched on...

Sooo many instructors simply parrot the one method they were drilled on, and never stop to consider the reasons behind the lessons - or the fact that there are different methods depending on conditions (wetsuit thickness, depth, amount of N2 in the rescuer). My observation is that most instructors have never even thought about the mask check. Things change as new information (and logic) becomes available, and if instructors don't constantly engage in continuing ed themselves, its just a matter of time before their next students know more than they do.

 

[The Chairman]

BTW,

I learned about the mask check in my INSTRUCTOR'S Course from MB. I found that my Rescue course did little to prepare me for a real rescue. I will not do my students the same dis-service.