PEDiver
Contributor
I make it a point to only dive with people I know/trust. In other words, rule #1...
What do you do when donating to a panicked diver who initiates a buoyant ascent?
- Thread starter steinbil
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In my case above he later claimed he wasn't getting air and his bc was inflating....
Nope, first cold water dives and he freaked out...
Nope, first cold water dives and he freaked out...
Remember, and I'm not speaking as an instructor/pro (they have a different responsibility), the first "rule" is to not become a victim too. Help if you can....
PEDiver
Contributor
Since I haven‘t experienced a panicked or OOG buddy before, I always pictured donating, making contact, reassuring, trying to calm them down, and maybe holding them down if they swim for the surface. I never considered that they might actually have gas to inflate the BC, how quickly that would escalate, and how to respond until I heard this story. It’s definitely been an eye-opener, and good to at least have thought it through, since I plan on at least trying to donate to any OOG diver I see underwater, buddy or not. It feels like an obligation, like sailors helping out other sailors in need on the ocean.
It's not that much of a big deal. The inflator can't fill the bcd that fast and you don't shoot up instantaneously either.
Pay attention to what your buddy is doing and how comfortable you're feeling before and during the dive. People don't really get scared or panic out of nowhere. There are always signs when people are getting nervous.
I'd recommend taking a rescue class. I took one last year, and I'm no rescue diver now, but two things that the class really hammered in are 1) don't become a victim. That is covered pretty well in this thread already. Do not physically engage a panicked diver, but try to calm them down and provide assistance from at least 6 feet / 2 meters away, and orient your feet towards them so that you can quickly swim backwards when they come for you.
And 2) in-water rescue of a panicked diver is basically hand-to-hand combat. Ideally you do not physically engage at all with a panicked diver, but if you do, you must do whatever you can to gain control over the situation, because their actions can seriously harm or kill you. Grab their right wrist with your right hand, pull hard to spin them around, and grab their 1st stage with your left hand. That will keep their face and arms away from you. If they need it, get them a working reg with your right hand. Then put their the 1st stage to your right hand, and get control of their inflator with your left hand. Fan your fins out to slow the ascent.
We practiced this in class, and the spin maneuver was surprisingly effective. I'm somewhat confident that it would work, even if the victim outweighs me by 100 lbs / 45 kg. I have less confidence that I would be able to maintain control of the situation from there, but it's a start.
Edit to add: to directly answer the OP, in this situation I would try to yank the reg out of their mouth and let them go. If I couldn't do that, I would dump my inflator, fan my fins out, and keep breathing. I say this, of course, while sitting dry and on my couch on a sunny day with a cup of tea. Real-life, who the hell knows what would happen, but that would be my aspirational plan.
And 2) in-water rescue of a panicked diver is basically hand-to-hand combat. Ideally you do not physically engage at all with a panicked diver, but if you do, you must do whatever you can to gain control over the situation, because their actions can seriously harm or kill you. Grab their right wrist with your right hand, pull hard to spin them around, and grab their 1st stage with your left hand. That will keep their face and arms away from you. If they need it, get them a working reg with your right hand. Then put their the 1st stage to your right hand, and get control of their inflator with your left hand. Fan your fins out to slow the ascent.
We practiced this in class, and the spin maneuver was surprisingly effective. I'm somewhat confident that it would work, even if the victim outweighs me by 100 lbs / 45 kg. I have less confidence that I would be able to maintain control of the situation from there, but it's a start.
Edit to add: to directly answer the OP, in this situation I would try to yank the reg out of their mouth and let them go. If I couldn't do that, I would dump my inflator, fan my fins out, and keep breathing. I say this, of course, while sitting dry and on my couch on a sunny day with a cup of tea. Real-life, who the hell knows what would happen, but that would be my aspirational plan.
This. Done it at least three times.
But I was the instructor, and the panic diver was a student, so I was forced to stay with them and control the ascent for ensuring it was safe.
In one of these cases the problem started during the mask evacuation exercise.
The student removed the mask and the sudden flooding of nostrils triggered the neonatal mammalian reflex, which causes the epiglottis to close. So he was unable to breath anymore, spitted his perfectly working reg, grabbed my one, but when he realised that he was yet unable to breath, he panicked and sprinted towards the surface.
I grabbed his harness and ascended with him.
He was not exhaling, as the glottis was closed.
So I inserted two fingers in his mouth and forced the glottis to open, getting good bubbling.
Everything was fine in the end...
If I had left him going free, he had very easily ruptured his lungs.
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