Safety stop when losing buddy

[TMHeimer]

You got two contradictory recommendations because there is no one correct thing to do.

Rather than trying to memorize the exact behavior you "should" do in every gray area, I think you would be better served by remaining calm, thinking, and responding to your circumstances in a way that you can justify based on your knowledge of all the risks involved.

A safety stop is, by definition, a stop that is not typically required in order to avoid DCS. If, according to your dive table or computer, a stop is recommended, then it would be called a decompression stop not a safety stop. So, when you say "safety stop" it means that your dive table or computer estimates you do not actually need a stop to avoid any ill effects.

With that said, the table or computer does not know exactly how much nitrogen is in your body, because your rate of nitrogen absorption may depend on personal factors that are outside of the computer/table ability to monitor. In addition, everybody's body might be slightly different.

Therefore, the risk of getting DCS as a result of skipping a safety stop increases as you approach the limits specified by your dive table/computer. That is, as your NDL time approaches 0. If you just jumped in and got 21 ft deep after 30 seconds, there's basically zero risk of getting DCS as a result of skipping the safety stop on your way up. On the other hand, if you have 30 seconds of NDL time left, you probably don't want to skip that safety stop.

Yes, we agree and know all of that. Everybody' body is different. Computers know what tables know. Doing or skipping the safety stop still depends on your personal risk decision. What more can be said here?

 

[bomberkenny]

For me, I know everytime I dived with this dive guide, he will tell us to search for one minute and go to the surface without a safety stop as a lost buddy protocol. Of course I would accept if the buddy and I decide to do a safety stop if there's no instruction from the dive guide. Otherwise the instruction from the dive guide would come first.

 

[NAM001]

There is really no solid proof that a safety stop improves safety. It is a recommendation, but any more pressing needs should take precedence. As I would probably not know the reason for loosing the buddy, I could not exclude one of this more pressing problems being the cause. I will thus not do the safety stop, but a straight ascend. If there is a real medical problem, I would with the safety stop waste 3 minutes of a window of opportunity that is known to often be only a few minutes long, for a reduction in my own risk that is if it exists at all so small that no one has ever been able to prove it.

Your point has a lot of validity. YOu guys get separated the buddy does not know..... you head up and spend 3-5 at 20 ft. those minutes can allow your buddy to open range to a point that you can not see bubbles from your bobbing position. You have to get up there soon while there are bubbles close enough to see.

 

[NAM001]

For me, I know everytime I dived with this dive guide, he will tell us to search for one minute and go to the surface without a safety stop as a lost buddy protocol. Of course I would accept if the buddy and I decide to do a safety stop if there's no instruction from the dive guide. Otherwise the instruction from the dive guide would come first.

Again that compounds your ability to find the lost buddy. time 0 you loose him time 3 you are at 20 ft time 6 you get to eh surface. 6 minutes have passed and he is 100 yards away from you. with any sea state you cant see bubbles more than a few yards away as it is. You are better off calling out Jim bob and him saying is that you? In that case you could then say NO.

 

[Bert van den Berg]

A lot can happen in the three minutes of a non-required "safety stop". I suppose my actions would depend a lot on who the missing dive partner was. Before you get agro at my calous sounding response, I am 100% more likely to risk my life to help save the life of my wife or children than I am to do so to save a stranger - sorry!

 

[Dominik_E]

Missing a safety stop is NOT "risking your life". Not at all. It is not even proven that it puts you at any additional risk, however small.

 

[BlueTrin]

A lot can happen in the three minutes of a non-required "safety stop". I suppose my actions would depend a lot on who the missing dive partner was. Before you get agro at my calous sounding response, I am 100% more likely to risk my life to help save the life of my wife or children than I am to do so to save a stranger - sorry!

I don’t think anybody would say that it is abnormal ?

However if you do not want to raise any eyebrows revert the way you say it: I am more willing to put myself at risk for my wife

Or

I would go beyond what’s expected to help a family member

That means nearly the same thing and I don’t think anybody expect you to take large risks for a stranger ?

 

[Dominik_E]

But folks as said, this is completely besides the point here. Missing a safety stop on a normal dive carries no measurable additional risk.

 

[Sam Miller III]

The "safety stop " is a recent -perhaps as recent as 30 years - requirement of recreational diving. Prior to that time in dive history it was never rise faster that your smallest bubbles.

Then some researchers, in a Scandinavian country - Denmark ? Sweden ? - one of those countries where every one is blonde hair and blue eyed did some earth shaking diving research. They discovered there was an abnormal amount of gas retention after a normal dive that era when the diver ascended according to normal procedures of "never rise faster that your smallest bubbles"

This was creating a abnormal death of boney body structures. generally the long bones and was given the title of "Aseptic Osseo Necrosis"- which translated from scientific medical lingo to human conversation as follows
Aseptic - absence of infections organism
Osseo - bone
Necrosis - death
"Aseptic Osseo Necrosis"

So it was determined that divers should stop momnenarlly underrate to out (or Off ) gas accumulated diving gases.

This lead to the mandatory safety stop, which has been an accepted diving practice for several dive generations . - possibly about 25 to 30 years

So if a "safety stop" is missed do to any number of reasons no harm done, but repetitive misses could have long term effects-- the dreaded Aseptic Osseo Necrosis...

Sam Miller.111

 

[kablooey]

The "safety stop " is a recent -perhaps as recent as 30 years - ...
Sam Miller.111

Gotta love Sam!
Thirty years is "recent".

K.