Who has performed a rescue?

[Miyaru]

Couple of years ago I was leading a group of divers. A big group of stingrays just passed us, I was on the lookout for nests of triggerfish in the sand. As we approached a little rock on the sandy bottom, my buddy next to me descended a little bit, hovering just above the sand. She was about to take a picture of a lionfish hovering above that rock.
Part of the camera rig probably touched the sand. Completely invisible under the sand, two stingrays were sleeping. All of a sudden there was a sand cloud and two tails whipped up. The first one passed my mask really close, the other one whipped into the side of my buddy.

The stingrays didn't even swim away. My buddy was clearly in agony, frantically thumbing up and kicking in circles, as if to fin away from the pain. Although I tried to slow down the ascent, we reached the surface in half a minute from a depth of 17m.

What I learned in the rescue course, was not applicable here. Because the barb was just under her bcd in her back, I could not inflate her bcd and keep her floating that way. So I just unclipped the entire jacket and let it go (later recovered by the boatcrew). She already took off her own mask. I only waved my arms two times at the boat and it turned immediately. Luckily we had a captain and crew that were always on the lookout. Getting the wounded diver onboard was also something done by several assisting crewmembers. So not something I had to do by myself.

Once on the boat, everything went fairly fast. The rest of the group just surfaced, the captain had already contacted the base for evacuation, and I could focus on her injury, starting with all the hot water we had on the boat in an attempt to neutralize the venom.
What you see in the photo below is the stingray barb, about a third is still sticking out of her side/back. The wetsuit has been cut away around the wound.

It was surgically removed later in a hospital, and a couple of weeks later she was diving again. Fortunately the quick ascent (34m/min) didn't affect either of us, maybe because we were only 15 minutes down there when this happened.

 

[tilikum]

5 years ago I rescued two kids caught in a rip current in La Jolla, CA. I was on a boogie board and fished them both as they were going under. The lifeguards were still 100 yds away when I grabbed them.

 

[Uber Dave]

In regards fisheaters response I have had my own experiences with rescues and I found most divers that need rescuing don't panic they just shut down. The mask comes off and the regulator gets spit out and a glaze come over their eyes. I'm guessing when initial panic sets in they shallow breath and they build up CO2 and when I get to them they are unresponsive to commands. Very strange!

 

[LiteHedded]

i've tried once to give a panicking out of gas diver a regulator but she refused. i followed her to the surface where thankfully she made it.

I've performed more body recoveries than rescues unfortunately

 

[kablooey]

• On an instructional staff as a working Divemaster for fifteen years.
• Assisted in dozens of OW, AOW, and Rescue classes.
• Led the shop's beach diving excursions for four years.
• Oversaw hundreds of dives involving surf entries and exits.
• Working Divermaster on dozens of 6-pack charter boat trips.

And I never had to rescue someone.

Not even once.
I've pulled a few tired divers out of the surf, but never anything serious.
Patched a few scratches, but bandaid and hugs stuff only.
Incredibly, no one even lost a piece of gear on my watch.

Lucky?
I think so.

 

[Rhone Man]

Couple of years ago I was leading a group of divers. A big group of stingrays just passed us, I was on the lookout for nests of triggerfish in the sand. As we approached a little rock on the sandy bottom, my buddy next to me descended a little bit, hovering just above the sand. She was about to take a picture of a lionfish hovering above that rock.
Part of the camera rig probably touched the sand. Completely invisible under the sand, two stingrays were sleeping. All of a sudden there was a sand cloud and two tails whipped up. The first one passed my mask really close, the other one whipped into the side of my buddy.

The stingrays didn't even swim away. My buddy was clearly in agony, frantically thumbing up and kicking in circles, as if to fin away from the pain. Although I tried to slow down the ascent, we reached the surface in half a minute from a depth of 17m.

What I learned in the rescue course, was not applicable here. Because the barb was just under her bcd in her back, I could not inflate her bcd and keep her floating that way. So I just unclipped the entire jacket and let it go (later recovered by the boatcrew). She already took of her own mask. I only waved my arms two times at the boat and it turned immediately. Luckily we had a captain and crew that were always on the lookout. Getting the wounded diver onboard was also something done by several assisting crewmembers. So not something I had to do by myself.

Once on the boat, everything went fairly fast. The rest of the group just surfaced, the captain had already contacted the base for evacuation, and I could focus on her injury, starting with all the hot water we had on the boat in an attempt to neutralize the venom.
What you see in the photo below is the stingray barb, about a third is still sticking out of her side/back. The wetsuit has been cut away around the wound.View attachment 389851
It was surgically removed later in a hospital, and a couple of weeks later she was diving again. Fortunately the quick ascent (34m/min) didn't affect either of us, maybe because we were only 15 minutes down there when this happened.

Great story. That is literally the first time I have ever heard of someone getting "stung" by a stingray. Other than Steve Irwin.

 

[KevinG58]

.... it's very unlikely I'll ever be involved with one. The only time I've even seen CPR (diving related or not) is on TV and I'm almost 63.

As often as I heard "stop drop and roll" as a child, I expected to deal with a lot more people on fire than I have (zero). Nothing wrong with being prepared though ;-)

 

[maj2]

I have seen a few panicked diver rescues. In each case, however, another diver was closer in order to provide assistance. All were O/W students, and interestingly, their actual instructors were never there for the rescue. In each case, it was an instructor from another LDS and class that performed the rescue and then handed off to the victim's instructor once they eventually showed up...

The only time that I have used skills from my Rescue class was in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. My wife and I were having fun in the surf when she became overwhelmed by a wave and needed assistance. I lifted her a bit out of the water (more than equivalent to inflating one's BCD) and got her to shallower water where she quickly recovered.

 

[clownfishsydney]

Great story. That is literally the first time I have ever heard of someone getting "stung" by a stingray. Other than Steve Irwin.

Extremely common, although Steve was the only one I have heard of who got hit by anything other than a small stingray. Many people in Australia and the South Pacific have died from stings from small stingrays. They die from loss of blood, hit in the lower leg, normally because they were very isolated from first aid.

As to rescues, unfortunately I have been present when a friend was recovered from the water and despite our attempts, died at the scene. I have also rescued a panicked diver a few metres from the shore, but that is it as far as I can recall.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I recovered a friend from the bottom, whose head had been split by the props of a boat exposing his brain. Not a good day. We knew he was “too over due” to expect a good outcome when we began the search and I told the others I am not doing CPR on a dead guy before we splashed. I think they thought it rude. I was upset bringing him up and looking down into his skull on the ascent, but I was much more freaked out by a close call which occurred several years earlier..

I was a DM on a boat in Florida and it was a rough day and we had a “kid” DM trainee with us and just two women customers. The one women had trouble with her gear so she didn’t gear up – so the three of us dove.

A drift dive in 75 feet of water. We jump in and she begins to swim down head first, moving smartly. I am taking a more casual approach and just sinking butt first, holding a floatline and watching her. Not really paying attention to the DM trainee.

We have been sinking descending for maybe 30-45 seconds and she is at a depth of maybe 50 feet. I am just 8 or 10 feet above her and I see her starting to sweep her head back and forth in a somewhat nervous manner. I think, “oh crap, she is looking for me, doesn’t see me and is getting scared”.

I have been watching her intently. So I immediately flip over, swim down alongside her and gently touch her shoulder so as to avoid startling her. It takes me literally 5 or 7 seconds to flip and spin and dive to a position next to her. I am in sink mode, negatively buoyant and relaxed.

She looks over to me and spits her reg.

I am 2 feet from her face and immediately remove the reg from my mouth and push it to her lips, she rejects it pushing it away with her hands. She is kicking wildly and waiving her arms.. total panic.

I instantly grab the reg and shove it to her lips.. she rejects it again. And we continue to sink toward the bottom in 75-80. I dropped the dive hook as some point, probably right away, thinking the trainee would grab it – which he did.

So now I am at a loss, what to do.. we are deep, sinking and she won’t take a reg that I know is working perfectly. I might have offered it to her a third time.

She was a small, young women and I have a strong upper body. I grabbed her with one hand by the back of the head and pressed my regulator onto her lips – hard and I floored the purge button. I could not see her face at all - it was completely obstructed by a huge cloud of bubbles and I am completely freaked out. There was nothing she could do to refuse or oppose my actions.

So I have both hands fully occupied and we are both heavy.. I start kicking like a mad man.. determined to get her to the surface ASAP.. with or without an air embolism. I am dragging her by her chin and the back of the head. I swim for a short duration, maybe 10-15 seconds 30-40 feet and realize I have a problem.

I was so relaxed and rested when the initial problem occurred, that I never secured my own regulator.

I am somewhat of a freediver and those (dangerous) instincts kicked in I guess. So this whole time, I have simply been holding my breath – I had zero urge to secure a breathing source for myself – I was completely concentrating on the victim, Suddenly I feel a pain and fullness in my chest, so I exhale and drop the hand from her head for a moment and get my octo in my mouth and resume the sprint to the surface.

I just keep the reg blasting fully and swim with 100% effort. It is weird how your mind works in a real emergency, because all I could think about was how pissed the captain was going to be when I hit the surface and start screaming “HELP!”. We hit the surface, we have been down maybe 75 seconds.

The boat is driving away and quickly turns and I grab her inflator and press it… NOTHING. I inflate my Bc and I am holding her and almost too scared to look for a bloody froth from her mouth. The boat arrives super fast and as we shove and pull her somewhat limp body onto the platform, I reach up and turn her air on.. thinking it might help a little with the lawsuit if she dies. I know he buddy doesn’t notice.

Once on board, the captain immediately checked her air – finding it on and I had to tell her (the captain) that it had been off and I turned it on while she was on the platform getting out.

We get her on the boat, pick up the DM trainee who ascended soon after and the victim is FINE.

In fact, I am worse than her. I am shaking from adrenaline and doing everything I can to not cry like a baby. I have some mild lung/chest pain and a weird cough for a day or so. I think I over pressurized my lungs.

We were done for the day.

On the way in, we got to talk and I asked what happened? She had been certified OW the week before and had bought all new gear for this weekend. She had a brand new 3500 psi tank. Somehow her tank was turned off on the boat, not by me – probably by her.

So she entered the water with the SPG reading 3500 and did a great duck dive and was swimming down. She said she was doing great and reg was working perfectly for about 4 breaths. When I noticed her head going side to side, she said she was getting zero air and did not believe it was happening. She said she told herself the gear is all brand new and the tank is full and she deluded herself into thinking that she just needed to suck on the reg, rather than look for help. Thinking it is new – it couldn’t fail.

Even though she exhibited only a few moments of nervous behavior, she said by the time I tapped her shoulder, she said she was just so freaked out that she could not use a regulator.

I got to dive with her the next weekend and she was happy and confident and I had to tell her (and her husband) that she came pretty close to getting killed. She said that a few years prior, she was in an auto accident and drove her car off a cliff and through a guard rail and the cops and EMS were amazed that she was not killed.. said she was not even hurt from the fall and roll. Seemed like a nice girl.

Before this incident, I helped pull a diver from the ocean and did CPR on him while hundreds of people (including his sister and buddy) watched. He died and was only like 18 yrs old. That was not a good day. I have done at least one other memorable rescue and many "assists" here and there.