promocop
Contributor
my two cents. I've taken the rescue class, and reading thru some of these posts helps me remember what I was taught.! Thanks
What should be done with unconcious diver at depth?
- Thread starter xjeslesx
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
It's a shame that we live in such a litigious society, isn't it? People have greater concern of being sued than a fellow diver's peril.
Bottom line - don't become a victim, don't make the situation worse, and do the best you can to help within your training.
Bottom line - don't become a victim, don't make the situation worse, and do the best you can to help within your training.
After reading through this thread I find some of the posts a little out there, with statements thats if you don't know what you are doing you will both die. In NAUI we teach rescue of an unconscious diver with in water rescue breathing to every OW student and it is not very hard most students get it after a brief explanation and demo with no problem. This is a simple skill and the risk of hurting oneself while doing it is almost nil. There was a very good description of one method that works very well already in this thread.
If we are talking about recreational divers with no deco this is a simple call, get the unconscious diver to the surface. Unconscious on the bottom= dead, you can not do any further harm to the victim, so there should not be any fear of not doing the ascent picture perfect. By the time you mark the victim ascend find help and get back to him- he will be most likely dead. An unconscious diver has one chance - that someone gets them to the surface quickly where proper aid can be given.
Basic steps-
1. Make contact, check for responsiveness
2. Make the victim buoyant slightly, by their BC or drop weights (if at any time the victim makes your ascent out of control, let them go and follow them at a safe speed and continue the rescue from the surface)
3. Holding the reg in place ascend at a safe rate
4. At surface establish buoyancy for victim (first) and then yourself.
5. Initiate rescue breathing, call for help
6. Tow victim to shore/boat
They can cure DCS and even embolisms if medical help is given they can not cure drowning. The only chance an unconscious diver has is on the surface. The simple rule to protect oneself is if the ascent becomes to quick let go!
Now a rescue course will help you with some of the what if questions that occur in every rescue scenario - no one has all the answers, because no one has seen all the possible things that could happen. Rescue is a course every diver should take but every diver should understand how to help their buddy if the worst happens
If we are talking about recreational divers with no deco this is a simple call, get the unconscious diver to the surface. Unconscious on the bottom= dead, you can not do any further harm to the victim, so there should not be any fear of not doing the ascent picture perfect. By the time you mark the victim ascend find help and get back to him- he will be most likely dead. An unconscious diver has one chance - that someone gets them to the surface quickly where proper aid can be given.
Basic steps-
1. Make contact, check for responsiveness
2. Make the victim buoyant slightly, by their BC or drop weights (if at any time the victim makes your ascent out of control, let them go and follow them at a safe speed and continue the rescue from the surface)
3. Holding the reg in place ascend at a safe rate
4. At surface establish buoyancy for victim (first) and then yourself.
5. Initiate rescue breathing, call for help
6. Tow victim to shore/boat
They can cure DCS and even embolisms if medical help is given they can not cure drowning. The only chance an unconscious diver has is on the surface. The simple rule to protect oneself is if the ascent becomes to quick let go!
Now a rescue course will help you with some of the what if questions that occur in every rescue scenario - no one has all the answers, because no one has seen all the possible things that could happen. Rescue is a course every diver should take but every diver should understand how to help their buddy if the worst happens
well if you are in australia on your honeymoon, and want to collect insurance, you apparently just leave her there.
otherwise take a rescue class, they specifically address this situation
otherwise take a rescue class, they specifically address this situation
reefseal
Contributor
Reminds me of an old joke.. Police show up to door of spouse to respond to call about missing diver. The Police say we have bad new and good news about your husband. The Police proceed to tell the woman that her husband was found unconcious on the bottom of the ocean and drowned. The wife says, that's terrible, what could possibly the good news? Well, they found a bunch of good keeper sized crabs and lobsters all over him. We're going to throw him back out tomorrow and hope to get some more.
Great description Japan Diver!
I would add:
2a: If you ever have to let someone go, if possible, orient their body horizontally in the water column with stomach up. Stomach up helps their head fall back and keep their airway open to avoid embolism; Horizontal somewhat helps slow the ascent and avoid DCS.
3a: As you ascend holding the reg in place, keep the victim's head tilted back so the airway stays open. If the head is drooped forward and the airway becomes closed, expanding air might not be able to escape which could cause an embolism.
I would add:
2a: If you ever have to let someone go, if possible, orient their body horizontally in the water column with stomach up. Stomach up helps their head fall back and keep their airway open to avoid embolism; Horizontal somewhat helps slow the ascent and avoid DCS.
3a: As you ascend holding the reg in place, keep the victim's head tilted back so the airway stays open. If the head is drooped forward and the airway becomes closed, expanding air might not be able to escape which could cause an embolism.
canasm00
Registered
My two and a half cents.
Say you are flying from NY to LA, and in the middle of the flight you find out that both pilots are unconscious and you ask in a piloting forum what steps to follow to bring the situation to good end. And when all the experienced pilots try to explain to you that its not as easy as to follow steps one, two and three, you get pissed and call them elitists!!!
Is this for real!?!?!?!
Going back to the piloting situation, you realize that whatever you learn in an internet forum in and evening or two of dedicated and serious studding will only allow you to do, at best, a controlled crash of the plane, but it will by no mean make you a proficient pilot or be able to land a 747 in the middle of I-95 unscathed!!!!
Improvising (with the one, two and three steps from an internet forum) rescuing an unconscious diver is at best a tinge better than letting him/her die, but no more. Sorry, that is the way it is with critical situations with many variables and unpredictables as the one you described. You need knowledge and training.
Say you are flying from NY to LA, and in the middle of the flight you find out that both pilots are unconscious and you ask in a piloting forum what steps to follow to bring the situation to good end. And when all the experienced pilots try to explain to you that its not as easy as to follow steps one, two and three, you get pissed and call them elitists!!!
Is this for real!?!?!?!
Going back to the piloting situation, you realize that whatever you learn in an internet forum in and evening or two of dedicated and serious studding will only allow you to do, at best, a controlled crash of the plane, but it will by no mean make you a proficient pilot or be able to land a 747 in the middle of I-95 unscathed!!!!
Improvising (with the one, two and three steps from an internet forum) rescuing an unconscious diver is at best a tinge better than letting him/her die, but no more. Sorry, that is the way it is with critical situations with many variables and unpredictables as the one you described. You need knowledge and training.
Similar threads
