San Diego accident

[lamont]

Assuming that the diver that wasn't OOA was low on air how would you guys have approached the situation? Done a controlled ascent air sharing as long as the tank lasted and then do a controlled emergency ascent exhaling all the way?

Edit: For novice divers like myself, it would be EXTREMELY helpful to hear how you guys would approach the problem instead of the passive aggressiveness going on here.

If your buddy is very low on air (and imminently about to run out) then you should definitely start air sharing, or at least start preparing to share air. Letting them run completely out of gas makes the air share an immediate emergency, where if anything goes slightly wrong it can quickly turn fatal. If the diver is just somewhat low then its a judgment call. It may be better to focus on getting the LOA diver to the surface rather than wasting more time at depth dealing with a regulator exchange.

Of course, you should practice your OOAs to the point where an immediate air-sharing emergency isn't going to turn fatal and air sharing is easy. That will give you more options.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

If you run out of air for any reason other than equipment failure,you loose the privledge of being my dive buddy pretty much forever in my book.

Whew - that's so good to know. I was just about to sign up for being your dive buddy. Good thing you warned me. Saved us both a headache.

 

[TSandM]

What a fabulous job done by the female diver!

Stories like this just make me want to thank the instructors and buddies over the last few years who have made me practice emergency procedures until they're virtually a yawn, and to thank NWGratefulDiver, who taught the gas management seminar that first opened my eyes to the idea that there's more to planning than "back on the boat with 500 psi".

It may be that more education wouldn't have affected this diver -- You can't make people take note and be careful. But I can't help but feel that more time spent on gas planning would at least give people the tools to know how much time they'd be likely to be able to spend underwater before they would very PROBABLY be getting low on gas.

 

[Tricia]

After reflection and a chat with Don I want to let everybody know everything what I know, but more clearly articulated:

****
The root cause of this is obviously a poorly trained diver that swam happliy along until he was licking aluminum from his tank, he then went crazy and did his best to violate every rule in the book for a LOA/OOA ascent (Other than taking her octo). After getting her octo he grabbed her in a death grip and swam up as fast as he could for the surface, she realized that she was being overpowered and focused on her survival by making as sure as possible that she was exhaling as she ascended. Once on the surface he fainted (Thank-god IMO), she saved his life by ditching weights, orally inflating his BC, and holding his head out of the water (she had plenty of air for both to do a normal ascent), but the lifeguards were called and both divers got a chamber ride as a precaution, but there was no deco obligation. So as I see it the problems here relate to poor training + panic. I guess I was quite fortunate to get trained by a genuine dive nazi, but it has served me well over the years.

WOW! I am TOTALLY in AWE of that woman! As I understand it from a previous post, she was not a very experienced diver. But to act that calmly is very impressive. And frankly, to continue to take care of such a stupid SOB after arriving on the surface... OK, yeah, I know we're obligated to do it, but if I could have, I would have punched the idiot in the face.

Hats off to this woman (and her instructor): this is the dive buddy you want to have!! :cheerleader:

Trish

 

[Rick Inman]

After getting her octo he grabbed her in a death grip and swam up as fast as he could for the surface, she realized that she was being overpowered and focused on her survival by making as sure as possible that she was exhaling as she ascended. Once on the surface he fainted (Thank-god IMO), she saved his life by ditching weights, orally inflating his BC, and holding his head out of the water (she had plenty of air for both to do a normal ascent),...

People can talk, train, talk, post on the internet...but until it really hits the fan, no one can really predict how a person will react during an emergency. These two divers were tested, and the woman proved she had the stuff.

My hope is that the woman isn't put off to diving after this frightening experience. If, somehow, she reads this thread, I just want to say, very fine job!!! You done good!!

 

[mr.rongilbert]

People can talk, train, talk, post on the internet...but until it really hits the fan, no one can really predict how a person will react during an emergency. These two divers were tested, and the woman proved she had the stuff.

My hope is that the woman isn't put off to diving after this frightening experience. If, somehow, she reads this thread, I just want to say, very fine job!!! You done good!!

Well said - Ditto!

 

[Missdirected]

If your buddy is very low on air (and imminently about to run out) then you should definitely start air sharing, or at least start preparing to share air. Letting them run completely out of gas makes the air share an immediate emergency, where if anything goes slightly wrong it can quickly turn fatal. If the diver is just somewhat low then its a judgment call. It may be better to focus on getting the LOA diver to the surface rather than wasting more time at depth dealing with a regulator exchange.

Of course, you should practice your OOAs to the point where an immediate air-sharing emergency isn't going to turn fatal and air sharing is easy. That will give you more options.

Lamont, I think he was asking what if you have the one diver that is already OOA and the buddy is LOA, what would you do in that situation?

 

[Missdirected]

Hats off to this woman (and her instructor): this is the dive buddy you want to have!! :cheerleader:

Agreed, she should be proud of herself.

 

[Oside Jimc]

WOWI would have punched the idiot in the face.

Or just handed him my weightbelt

Hats off to this woman (and her instructor): this is the dive buddy you want to have!! :cheerleader:

Yes indeed, SHE got it right.

But this all said I am still bugged by the number of thread we see here where panic resulted in a diver death, so it's a given that we have OW & AOW which just teach the basics. And rescue diver is a useful class without a doubt, wht haven't any of the better agencies came up with a "self-rescue diver" class to teach divers the skills to handle the masive task overload of a real emergency? Not to harp but when I was certified my instructor spent his days teaching aircrews how to survive the un-survivable (OK, your helicpoter just crashed, upsidedown, at night, what are you going to do?), and this was done in a manner that was safe to the student.

 

[wardric]

If the woman in question reads this thread:

Good job and congrats, you did an awesome job.

oh, and sorry so many here called you a screw up at the beginning of this thread. Dont worry. they were just speculating...