Steelyeyes
Contributor
Right after I got my DM cert myself and three buddies got in a bit of trouble with heavy surge. One guy got pushed completely to the surface, smashed into the lava by a wave, and then pulled out to sea by the backwash between wave sets. After the three of us rescued ourselves and just as one was headed to a phone to call the Coast Guard we saw our buddy floating 400 yards off shore in a pretty heavy sea state (it was like a pond when we entered the water). Chuck and I were in the best physical and mental condition so we stripped to snorkel gear and entered the water. We left our buddy Mike on shore with eyes on the victim and he steered us to him as we swam out.
Pat was conscious with a head and leg injury, dry tank, broken relief valve on his BC, and still wearing weights when we found him. The only air his BC was holding was a bubble above the relief valve. We dropped his weights and stripped his gear. Chuck grabbed Pat in a cross chest tow and I dragged his gear back. Other than vomiting from swallowing a decent amount of sea water while being pummeled he was in decent shape. We took him in for a medical evaluation right away. They treated his cuts and released him. He thanked us for saving him and complained about us ditching his rented weight belt.
My GF is a relatively new diver with AOW certification. Back when I got my DM in 1981 the rescue training was pretty rudimentary. It seemed prudent for us to take the Rescue Diver course together and we just finished it in early December 2016. Recovering an inert diver from the bottom and then giving rescue breaths while towing them and stripping their gear while everyone was wearing dry suits was one of the hardest and most eye opening things I've ever done.
Pat was conscious with a head and leg injury, dry tank, broken relief valve on his BC, and still wearing weights when we found him. The only air his BC was holding was a bubble above the relief valve. We dropped his weights and stripped his gear. Chuck grabbed Pat in a cross chest tow and I dragged his gear back. Other than vomiting from swallowing a decent amount of sea water while being pummeled he was in decent shape. We took him in for a medical evaluation right away. They treated his cuts and released him. He thanked us for saving him and complained about us ditching his rented weight belt.
My GF is a relatively new diver with AOW certification. Back when I got my DM in 1981 the rescue training was pretty rudimentary. It seemed prudent for us to take the Rescue Diver course together and we just finished it in early December 2016. Recovering an inert diver from the bottom and then giving rescue breaths while towing them and stripping their gear while everyone was wearing dry suits was one of the hardest and most eye opening things I've ever done.