Searching for separated buddy

[Willie]

I have read/heard it numerous times - "if you become separated from your buddy, search for 1 minute, then surface and look for buddy." I propose this discussion on the technique of searching for 1 minute.

If water is Cozumel clear, then it seems fairly straight forward.

What if vis is not so good? It seems to me that this falls in the same category as lost while hiking. If everyone continues to move, then there is a good chance you are just moving around each other.

Shouldnt the lead do the looking and the follower stay put at some previous point or at least not stray far from that point? If I were looking for someone, I would first attempt to look where we have been recently - ie. back track. If I got back to the last known place we were together without rendevous, then I would continue to look in the direction we were heading.

Here are some specific examples.

Example 1: On a lake dive at 65' with 2-3' vis, side-by-side I am following. I looked at my SPG briefly and looked up and no buddy in sight.

I knew he was right there a few seconds ago, so rather than 'doing' anything, I waited and watched where he had been. Sure enough his light was pointed away from me, so I couldnt see it. As soon as it swept back toward me, I got it again. In this scenario, if I hadnt seen the light after a brief pause, I would have briefly looked behind me for any sign of the light/buddy and then continued on the original course perhaps with an increase in pace.

What if I were the lead and noticed that my buddy was not there? I think the only thing different might be to slow the pace or stop briefly.

Example 2: You loose each other on descent! Halt or go back to the last known depth? Not sure how doable that is. When I am doing local lake dives, we plan an early rendevous point for safety check, etc. A specific depth on a down line perhaps would work as well. What about in a free descent with no line?

Example 3: You are near the end of your dive, enough depth (lets say 80') and time to be pushing your NDLs, but both have computers and neither has entered deco. You leave the bottom on a controlled ascent to the deep safety stop at say 40'. Somewhere before reaching it you become separated.

Example 4: You are diving a group of three along a wall at around 65' with 3-5' vis, you notice one of the buddies drift off out of sight away from the wall. If you go after the buddy, you loose the lead. What do you do?

Am I boring (or nauseating) everyone yet?

It just seems to me that there is beneficial technique to be learned in this area. Please enlighten me O experienced ones with your wisdom and experience. What other scenarios can you think of?

I suppose the first point I find myself thinking is stop and evaluate the circumstances. If possible, check back briefly where you last had contact, then look in the direction you were headed. It also seems that in reduced vis, the lead should be a designated searcher and the follower a more-or-less stay put person.

I definitely think that a reel & SMB or lift bag would be advisable in open water especially in those scenarios where it is advisable to stick to an ascent plan.

Willie

 

[Cacia]

I was taught to do a square and work outward . I will have to crank up my brain on the scenarios. Also...when I lose someone I don't back track in current but rather try and predict their direction. Often, when a diver is lost, I find my best contribution is to get back to the boat safely and advise the captain which direction to search.

#2..we wait at the bottom at the anchor or mooring line. (standard operating procedure lots of places.)

#3 I do my deep deco while searching, staying put. Turn on my model light/strobe. marker gets shot.

#4 Searching in 3-4 ft viz sounds pretty random and hopeless...I would not do heroics or jeopardize everyone else on these odds of finding the person. marker goes up.

wow, that was fun. I guess the moral of the sory is don't buddy with me on low viz. (that s's okay, I don't blame you) Still, I wish there was a scenario where I could whip out my free diving skills and save somebody trapped in a wreck...wasted talent.

The "ever-expanding square" looks like a maze and the increments depend on the viz. If you find a body, attach your cave line if it has been long enough to know they are dead or you cannot retrieve them. otherwise, especially if it is very cold, plan to start CPR at the surface.

Since I often dive with other solo divers, I admit to not always following the one minute rule on photo dives, especially since there are places I will not surface. (Witches brew, surf slamming in on China Wall, as this is a drift and the boat cannot get in here to pick me up...I need to drift further or I am risking myself.) We lose about three divers (swimmers, surfers,etc) at this spot on the rocks each year. It is more like a "drive by" than a surface friendly spot. You disappear there and you are on your own unless you are one of my kids.

Tomorrow, I am working as a DM, so no camera, and stick to the protocols.

Oh, and first sign of trouble, my surface marker goes up, which attracts the captain and surface crew start watching the area. Sometimes a lost diver will run right into your line.

 

[String]

In low vis there are a few other tricks.

(i) is go slightly shallower so you can see a bigger area below and around, especially bubbles.

(ii) Switch on your torches and strobes etc.

Both these can help a lot.

There are times though when its blatently obvious a 1 minute search is a waste of time.

 

[OE2X]

One of the things that helps in our diving out here in the NW is that many of us use HID lights even on day dives. You can get anywhere between 10' -30' where you can see the other persons light through the murk. Typically what you can do is to slowly move your light back an forth in the general direction of where you think your buddy may have gone.

When you ascend you can turn in a circle with your light pointing outwards. You can achieve this by doing a helicopter kick or by going vertical and then turning.

Inflating an SMB is also an important task. If you lost your buddy, you likely are not coming back up under your boat. Since it is a new spot, if for no other reason you will want to alert anyone on the surface that you are down below.

 

[Darnold9999]

Not sure there is a technique per se and as Catherine says in some places you can't surface so you need a different plan.

Depends on vis, tools at hand, familiarity with buddy, the site, buddy position at last contact (leading following side by side)and I am sure other things I am not thinking of at the moment.

I do have to say that as you say stop, think then act works here too. i.e. is it you that has done something unexpected, if so you need to try and correct, if you are just following the plan assume your buddy has done something odd and give them a few seconds to find you before charging off.

In low vis, if you haven't found your buddy within about 10 - 15 seconds you are unlikely to. Way to many variables in three dimensions - after the first attempt fails you are running on blind luck. Two choices, assume something serious and perhaps use the time to do a pattern search or assume inadvertance and head up.

If I did something that caused the separation, I am going to head up after trying to rectify the issue. If not then I have to assume something has gone wrong so I will search.

Then comes the really hard question. Buddy does not surface after 2 or three minutes, you are beyond any outside assistance and you have lots of air - what next?

I think I am doing a surface search looking for bubbles at this point. In low vis there is no point in going back down unless you have a bubble trail to follow, at least on the surface you can usually see bubbles if they are reasonably close and weather is also reasonable, in high vis you can search from the surface anyway and again bubbles are probably easier to spot than a diver.

Interested in others views on this one.