Surface support from a private boat.

[Storker]

We made a point of designing an easy ladder for the boat to deal with potential injuries, is wide and sits in an angle to facilitate going up.

I use and prefer a "Christmas tree" style ladder. It can be climbed almost as easily with fins on, so I don't doff my fins before climbing aboard. In the incident you're describing, it seems as if the victim suffered some kind of medical event and became incapacitated. Keeping one's BCD - and drysuit if applicable - inflated all the time when on the surface would at least prevent one from sinking and allow the boat tender to hook a line in the body and tow it to port (I'm only slightly joking here).

 

[Johnoly]

...What else can be done that is practical. If it isn't practical then it won't be done regularly.

On my boat I have a rope attached so I can take off my gear and clip it to that line, board, and then bring the gear aboard. ...

I couldn't tell from @Bob DBF 's post HOW his rope was attached to the boat.
But we cleat off a rope at the mid-boat cleat,,,let it droop down 2ft below the waterline and then it's reattached at the rear cleat. The rope can't get near the prop(if we forget to flip it up), it's all on the side of the boat. Boat pulls up to the side of the divers, they clip off bug bags, scooters, guns, etc and the topside guy hauls it over the gunnel and unclips the item. Nothing is dropped accidentally. Since the line is just 'drooping' and isn't long enough to tangle the props (no loose end), even it you forget it while underway it's doesn't do anything but splash. We typically leave the line attached all day long and just flip it up while moving and lay it behind the tanks so it's out of the way. The 'droop' lets the 2/3/4 divers grab it and hand stuff up while staying away from the pitching ladder in rough seas. Very simple easy system to prevent lost/dropped gear/fish/bags/cameras/whole BCD sets, and it's cheap and easy to solve a problem.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I couldn't tell from @Bob DBF 's post HOW his rope was attached to the boat.
But we cleat off a rope at the mid-boat cleat,,,let it droop down 2ft below the waterline and then it's reattached at the rear cleat. The rope can't get near the prop(if we forget to flip it up), it's all on the side of the boat. Boat pulls up to the side of the divers, they clip off bug bags, scooters, guns, etc and the topside guy hauls it over the gunnel and unclips the item. Nothing is dropped accidentally. Since the line is just 'drooping' and isn't long enough to tangle the props (no loose end), even it you forget it while underway it's doesn't do anything but splash. We typically leave the line attached all day long and just flip it up while moving and lay it behind the tanks so it's out of the way. The 'droop' lets the 2/3/4 divers grab it and hand stuff up while staying away from the pitching ladder in rough seas. Very simple easy system to prevent lost/dropped gear/fish/bags/cameras/whole BCD sets, and it's cheap and easy to solve a problem.

That's what I'm used to seeing and I've seen it on both sides of the world. Also very handy when more than one or two divers are waiting to board, especially with current.

 

[Ana]

When we had the boat in the panhandle, diving off Panama City Beach we always left the boat and dove together. A good anchor with lots of chain and plenty of scope in the line makes it safe. Up there our diving was also more localized, a bridge span, wreck or just a pile of construction debris. Maybe after a storm you hear of a tiny patch of live bottom was uncovered . Anyway up there, just like @MaxBottomtime we were always a minute or two from the boat. Did that for about 4-5 years but I got my fill of that section of the Gulf, was good for spearfishing but way too colorless for me.
Here in South Florida you can move 1-2 miles on a strong current day, the theory of starting the dive against the current and the 2nd half of the dive just drift back doesn't work very good.
Down here the boat traffic can be intense at times.... Many factors that made us decide against leaving the boat.

I use and prefer a "Christmas tree" style ladder. It can be climbed almost as easily with fins on, so I don't doff my fins before climbing aboard. In the incident you're describing, it seems as if the victim suffered some kind of medical event and became incapacitated. Keeping one's BCD - and drysuit if applicable - inflated all the time when on the surface would at least prevent one from sinking and allow the boat tender to hook a line in the body and tow it to port (I'm only slightly joking here).

I agree it would be a medical issue, and I'm looking for a last 'hail Mary" kind of chance.
Again thinking my last action would be to save a pair of fins seems so futile. I hope to have the presence of mind to ignore the fins or any piece of gear and ask for help somehow. And I also emphasize this to my husband because sometimes he forgets he's not 30 anymore,. Not very competitive guy, but sometimes the reality of age are almost surprising for both of us.
Also the recovery of the body if that was your time to go is an issue. No joke.
It may be a bit dark, but with this guy during mini season, the recovery was less than great. Not 100% of the details between what I hear in the radio and the news later on. Seems some unrelated divers found him either they drift to him or the other way around, but they didn't actually brought the body up, couple hours later I think BSO got the buddy.

I just soon get my husband's body right of way and end the false hopes.

On an even different note...if you end up next to a body during your dive. Can you just bring him up ? Better question shouldn't you? I think I would rather do that than letting the buddy keep drifting, I think I'd have nightmares if o let go.

 

[johndiver999]

If a diver sinks and dies while waiting to climb the ladder, there is probably not a whole lot that can be done without a dedicated safety diver who is fully dressed on the stern. That is impractical in recreational diving. A rope to hold onto along the side of the boat (as described above) is very beneficial and practical and has essentially zero negative aspects and it could help if a diver lost their fins, lost their air supply and lost their buoyancy.

Having a pair of fins available at the stern for a "hero" to don and shoot down 25 feet to recover a sinking and incapacitated diver might work, but that would seem like a long shot.

If I found a body on the bottom, i would bring it up unless it had been down a long time and was tucked into a wreck or some other location that would be easy to reacquire for the recovery diver(s).

 

[Bob DBF]

Again thinking my last action would be to save a pair of fins seems so futile. I hope to have the presence of mind to ignore the fins or any piece of gear and ask for help somehow.

If you even know you haveing a medical event.

Two of three friends, all my junior, were tired, they thought because of the work they were doing at the time. One, after resting a bit, still felt tired, found his blood pressure cuff, thought it was defective because the pulse was way too high, went to a neighbor who was in the medical field who checked his pulse and took him to the ER. He said he had felt worse with the flu. The second kept feeling worse until his wife called 911. Both said their docs told them that at any time during the event they could have had a stroke or complete heart failure and died. The third was cleared by his doctor and Cardioligist to resume martial arts training. He seemed fine, then collapsed before training began. A nurse, a paramedic, and Vietnam Army paramedic on the scene treated him untill the ambulance came a few minutes later, if the doctor could be believed, he was dead before he hit the ground.

The short version is that one can go from feeling tired to dead in the time it takes to snap ones fingers. There may be no telltale chest pain, not to mention that women can have different symptoms than men.

How will one be sure to know the difference when it counts?

Having a pair of fins available at the stern for a "hero" to don and shoot down 25 feet to recover a sinking and incapacitated diver might

The DM's on my favorite SoCal dive boat have their mask and fins handy and an old steel 72 on an old plastic backpack at the stern. They wear a light wetsuit with the top pulled down to the waist, and can be geared up and in the water in seconds.


Bob

Life is a crapshoot, and the house always wins.

 

[Ana]

Life is a crapshoot, and the house always wins.

That's the reality, and for the most part I have internalize that fact.
Somehow this past Tuesday I fooled myself into finding a way to turn the table.

Just finished a super peaceful dive at the same spot where it happened. I just looked and looked at all the beauty and wished to remember it whenever my life turns to $hit.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

The DM's on my favorite SoCal dive boat have their mask and fins handy and an old steel 72 on an old plastic backpack at the stern. They wear a light wetsuit with the top pulled down to the waist, and can be geared up and in the water in seconds.

When I worked as a DM on SoCal boats, I did the same thing. I was on a boat at the oil rigs last year when an elderly woman had trouble swimming back to the ladder to get her camera. I grabbed it and swam it to her. She then began swimming parallel to the rig rather than toward it. There was a pretty good current so I kept watching her to make sure she made it to the rig before descending. She dropped fifty feet away from the rig instead.

I kicked as hard as I could to catch up with her with no luck. She was sinking faster than I could kick to catch her. I was breathing nitrox and didn't want to go much deeper so as I saw her sink below 150 feet I thought for sure I was witnessing a drowning. She finally landed on a leg of the rig before swimming along as if nothing happened. I watched her ascend and she seemed fine so I continued my dive.

When I got back on the boat I learned that she surfaced out of air away from the boat. She didn't respond to verbal commands so the Captain stripped and jumped in to rescue her. She rested in the V-berth during the ride home.

She made the first dive and seemed completely fine. The current was too much for her husband and Merry as well, so they sat out the second dive.

 

[CamC]

I use and prefer a "Christmas tree" style ladder. It can be climbed almost as easily with fins on, so I don't doff my fins before climbing aboard.

Oh yes. I just wish these fin ladders were mandatory, they make getting back on board that much quicker, easier, and safer. Fins aside, it never ceases to amaze me how many people I see going up any kind of ladder with their mask off and reg dangling.

 

[Storker]

it never ceases to amaze me how many people I see going up any kind of ladder with their mask off and reg dangling

I've had an incident or two where I was very happy to wear my mask and keeping my reg in my mouth. What was a moderate annoyance could easily have been more than a bit problematic if I'd had my mask around my neck (or on my forehead, or on the back of my head) and my reg dangling.

I happen to believe that it's good form to keep your mask on and your reg in your mouth until you're standing on dry land or deck.