To grab or not to grab...

[CuriousMe]

We were doing an 85 foot drift, wall dive (it was actually a maximum depth of 85 feet, but averaged about 55 feet). My boat buddy was short on air, and the DM's buddy was short on air....the DM told all thre of us to start our ascent, do our safety stop at 15 feet, then ascend.

My buddy and I stopped between 20 and 15 feet....but the DM's buddy (who was a very new diver) went right on past us at a pretty fast rate. It was obvious he was really positive...he seemed to be trying to dump air....I think it was a question of to little to late. He was just under the surface...I was closest to him to him and ascended just so I could reach his fin, yanked him down and kept him with me.....he was fine with it, as he didn't seem to be able to get down (once on the boat we talked about a few things that could have first prevented the situation, then how he could have dealt with it)....but someone mentioned to me afterword that once someone is within 5 feet of the surface they shouldn't go back down for a safety stop....so should I have left him alone?

Just wondering how bad I messed up.

Peace,
Cathie

 

[nickjb]

Sounds like you did a good job.

The PADI OW manual says you shouldn't go back down for a missed stop. I think this is more because you cannot receive medical help if required. This person was still in the water, albeit a little shallow and if they had a slightly rapid ascent then a safety stop was required. Talking to them about it afterwards was a nice touch. well done.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

I think you did ok, but I also think you got a little lucky. You properly surmised what was going on and were able to give assistance. Thats good. If it had been something else you could have compounded the problem and possibly have ended up with a panicked diver on your hands. Considering you grabbed a fin he probably could have easily kicked away from you.


Just my two bits worth.

TwoBit

 

[Dr Deco]

Dear CuriousMe:

Repressurization

There is nothing inherently wrong with repressurization (= reentering the water) of a diver with respect to decompression sickness. There even exists a technique called surface decompression that is practiced by commercial and military divers. It involves oxygen breathing in the water, surfacing, and then quickly entering a deck decompression chamber to complete the decompression on the ship. This is considered safer than hanging for long durations in the open sea.

Missed Stops

I am not sure of the reason for the injunction against missed stops. I suspect that it concerns the fact that DCS is not a definite fact if you exceed the tables. It is a progression that is nitrogen-dose dependent. In their haste to “save themselves,” opportunities for errors are many.

It was not very long ago that a Southern California diver missed a stop, hurriedly assembled her equipment, and reentered the water to “correct this deficiency.” I understand that others told her to simple wait and see if anything developed.

Her fear of a problem led to haste that resulted in her drowning death. It was quite sad.

Dr Deco :doctor: