What to do if . . .

[TheRedHead]

Procedures for going back to finish omitted decompression are taught in every "technical" class that I know of. Yes, it's prudent. However, the difference is that at those levels you are planning dives that involve manitory staged decompression and there is always a chance that you'll have to skip some deco. I could be caused by currents, having to help another diver and who knows what else.

I haven't had any training that involved surfacing to retreive gas for an omitted deco stop. All the training I've had so far involved alternate plans for omitted deco (using your own gas) and sharing air on a stage bottle using buddy breathing. I haven't gotten that far I suppose.

No one has really debated the pros and cons of surfacing to retrieve more air and descending again vs. surfacing and going on O2. Thalassamania voiced a preference for the former and several people chose the latter. But I think the OOP's original question was which is better?

 

[BarryNL]

I think the consensus here is getting back in the water will do nothing for you.

Well, it will but it's not recommended unless you're in the middle of nowhere without any hope of getting to a chamber.

Commercial divers do this all the time: surface, get out of their gear and then do their decompression in a chamber on deck.

 

[Wijbrandus]

The OP is not a commercial diver, nor is he a tech diver. The OP has accumulated at most 500 dives over 40 years, with only an OW certification level - based on his public profile.

I'm not saying the OP is an idiot, he's very likely an experienced diver, but would you really put such a person back in the water to complete a deco obligation after everything else that had to go wrong to earn that obligation in the first place? I certainly wouldn't do it if it I were the victim in that situation.

I think sitting on the boat with 02 is the way to go considering the source.

 

[Diver Dennis]

I've heard of Navy divers doing the same thing Barry and there is a thread here somewhere about running over to a chamber on deck and whether the time it takes is still a risk for DCS.
Coming to the surface for a few seconds and yelling to the crew that you need another tank and then dropping to deco depth again seems like a viable alternative for some of the posters here. This assumes your buddy is in the same situation and almost out of air. Would this not be a better alternative than taking your chances on deck?

 

[Thalassamania]

I haven't had any training that involved surfacing to retrieve gas for an omitted deco stop. All the training I've had so far involved alternate plans for omitted deco (using your own gas) and sharing air on a stage bottle-using buddy breathing. I haven't gotten that far I suppose.

No one has really debated the pros and cons of surfacing to retrieve more air and descending again vs. surfacing and going on O2. Thalassamania voiced a preference for the former and several people chose the latter. But I think the OOP's original question was which is better?

You pays your money, you takes your chances. AVOID THE SITUATION IN THE FIRST PLACE and the discussion is moot. I choose the former (and I've never actually had to do it) because, face it ... the Navy has oxygen on site, has always had oxygen on site and they choose the former.

But the comments of not making a Manchurian Fire Drill worse make some sense to me. I'm not accustomed to stepping out of the water into a mass of confusion, rather into a well-oiled, well-disciplined situation that would not be confused by a request for a cylinder and regulator, (in a hurry, if you'd be so kind). That might throw a commercial dive boat or private craft into a tizzy (remember the situation in Blue Water White Death where Peter Lake threw the cylinders over the side with no regulators?) and the argument/discussion could waste the most valuable oxygen time that you have.

 

[Thalassamania]

running over to a chamber on deck

That's called Surface Decompression (SurD) or Decanting and has been a common practice in the military and commercial worlds.

 

[Diver Dennis]

Thanks Thal. I agree that the situation should never happen in the first place and if you and your buddy both end up in this situation, you both better get some situational awareness training.

 

[TheRedHead]

Thanks Thal. I agree that the situation should never happen in the first place and if you and your buddy both end up in this situation, you both better get some situational awareness training.

Dennis, I think PADI has that class: DSAT Dumb Situational Awareness Training.

 

[Thalassamania]

Teamwork needs to extend beyond the immediate divers. The team includes all the surface personnel and they need to be the ones who are ready to respond in a thought out and drilled fashion. In my world there would likely be a designated Operation Diving Supervisor who'd make the decision. We routinely hang a bottle off the boat, not to substitute for deco gas that the divers should be carrying, but to avoid this question.

 

[Diver Dennis]

Dennis, I think PADI has that class: DSAT Dumb Situational Awareness Training.