When An Incident Is Only That

[Bob DBF]

It's good that your buddy is near for a tank valve that is not open, but when alone, (your buddy is too far away to help) which is probably the case for many divers, and you cannot reach the valve, simply remove your BC, with the regulator in your mouth, turn it 90 degrees and open the valve. It is not a difficult skill and can come in handy.

I don't need to remove the BC, I pop the waist an crotch straps and slide the unit up my back 'till I can reach the valve. Getting old and loosing range of motion is a pita. The big trick is practicing before you need to actually use the evolution.


Bob

 

[RayfromTX]

"simply remove the bc". When you have no air coming out of your reg, on empty lungs. Sounds like a fun challenge indeed.

It is part of open water training and we do it infrequently. My wife has done it a few times when things needed to be sorted out. My dive master has done it a few times to check for leaks from his valve or yoke. If I point one out to him, he'll quickly check to see the rate of the leak and put it back on and continue. If we do it often and routinely, is it not just a set of motions that we do without it even consuming out thought processes? We're new but this stuff get's routine fairly quickly if you dive much.

 

[Storker]

"simply remove the bc". When you have no air coming out of your reg, on empty lungs. Sounds like a fun challenge indeed.

It also makes for a rather interesting experience if you're using a drysuit with thick undergarments, or a thick wetsuit, and have most or all of your weight in the BCD's weight pockets and/or fixed to your backplate.

 

[RayfromTX]

It also makes for a rather interesting experience if you're using a drysuit with thick undergarments, or a thick wetsuit, and have most or all of your weight in the BCD's weight pockets and/or fixed to your backplate.

Ah yes, that would be a different animal from doing it in a 3mm.

 

[Patoux01]

If we do it often and routinely, is it not just a set of motions that we do without it even consuming out thought processes? We're new but this stuff get's routine fairly quickly if you dive much.

When you realize your reg is not working, you don't have your lungs full, and you can't just keep breathing on it. That's a major difference. How long can you hold your breath with full lungs? 30seconds? 1 minute? Now try with empty lungs. Add to that that you'll probably have a "oh ****" moment, and suddenly going through removing a BC can seem a lot less viable.
YMMV...

 

[RayfromTX]

If you know the problem is solved by turning the valve, getting to it even if it means slipping off your rig, will usually be the shortest path to air. In this situation a cracked open valve still gives air but at a slow rate. Overexertion or panic will make this more of a problem.

 

[Marie13]

Seriously?!?!? Wow! I know that I'd make it clear to leave my gear alone.

That's when you slap their hand away. I don't tolerate people screwing with my gear.

 

[Storker]

Ah yes, that would be a different animal from doing it in a 3mm.

Quite.

In my current DS, with my favorite undersuit, I carry a total of about 14.5kg weight. About 7.5 kg on my belt, about 7kg on my back. And my tank is some 3-6kg negative depending on whether it's full or empty. If I de-kit under water, I'll be some 10-15kg/15-30# positive, and my rig will be about as negative. That stunt isn't something I'd like to pull unless I really, really, really needed to.

The alternative (carrying all my weight on my belt) isn't particularly attractive either. So I think I have a pretty darned good reason to prefer my buddy to stay pretty close to me all of the time...

 

[RayfromTX]

The devil is in the details.

 

[fsardone]

I attended a workshop for instructors at our dive shop a few years ago. It was conducted by a representative from the insurance agency, and it talked about the difference between an incident and an emergency. In our general scuba language, we tend to use the word "emergency" in discussing what they would not consider to be an emergency, and the point of the workshop was to suggest we both think about and teach a difference.

• An "event" or an "incident" during a scuba dive is something that is unanticipated and is usually not what is supposed to happen.
• An "emergency" occurs when we respond inappropriately to an event or incident.

The OP described a situation in which the diver responded appropriately to an incident. As a consequence, there was no emergency.

I respectfully disagree.
An emergency is an unusual circumstance that, if not handled correctly might lead to an incident.

Quoting from emergency response plan definition in Health and Safety: carefully thought-out emergency response plan (i.e., a contingency plan) can help to prevent an emergency situation from becoming a catastrophe.

From Aviation Language: you have an emergency when something goes wrong, you have an incident when you failed to prevent an emergency to evolve in a full blown incident. You have Emergency Checklists which guide you in solving emergencies and save the day. You do not have incident checklist (the emergency response team - the crash team - has those).

So for example: Engine Fire during Take off roll:
Abort t/o
Throttles ... idle outboard
Brakes ..... Apply
Hook ........ down 100ft before cable engagement
when stopped
Throttles ..... inboard HP Shut
LP Cock ...... shut
Fire Buttons ..... press
Emergency ground egress

This should prevents an Incident (aircraft destroyed by fire and crew roasted to crispy well done).

If as it happened, I loose my decompression oxygen, I will switch back to back gas, and if available, after analysing the situation use a better gas (EAN50 if available) otherwise I will complete deco on back gas ... avoiding bolting to surface when I still have 25 minutes of deco at 6 meters.

In my flying and diving life I had multiple emergencies but (touch wood) no incidents.
I believe they had it the wrong way around.

Kind regards