Weight belt ditch?
Perhapps it would help to review why we taught this in the first place. The buoyed emergency ascent is/was taught for OOA emergencies at depths too great for an ESA to be safely performed
I had to go back to some notes I made at an(1990's) Underwater Canada Conference.
The Lecturer was Dr. George Harper, MD, diver and Chief Coroner for Bruce County, Tobermory Hyperbaric Treatment Center, Ontario Canada.
(from my notes)
1) There is not enough oxygen in a diver's lungs, including the air becoming available from an empty tank during the ascent from depth around 100 feet to support a swimming ascent.
2) The swimming diver will black out due to dropping PO2 in the lungs, due to the diver using the O2 to swim to surface, and dropping ambient pressure.
3) There is however sufficent oxygen to maintain conciousness for a diver to perform a buoyed ascent.
A diver propperly trimmed (neutrally buoyant), just needs to drop his weight belt to become positively buoyant and ascend.
Yes, he will exceed the recommended safe ascent rate of 30 fpm.
Yes, he may suffer DCS, however that's treatable.
Exhaling during the ascent, keeping the regulator in his mouth, so it is clear and periodic inhales will deliver some air to the diver and reduce the risks of embolism and black out.
I do not believe these principles have changed for "SPORT" divers.
Mike D
Perhapps it would help to review why we taught this in the first place. The buoyed emergency ascent is/was taught for OOA emergencies at depths too great for an ESA to be safely performed
I had to go back to some notes I made at an(1990's) Underwater Canada Conference.
The Lecturer was Dr. George Harper, MD, diver and Chief Coroner for Bruce County, Tobermory Hyperbaric Treatment Center, Ontario Canada.
(from my notes)
1) There is not enough oxygen in a diver's lungs, including the air becoming available from an empty tank during the ascent from depth around 100 feet to support a swimming ascent.
2) The swimming diver will black out due to dropping PO2 in the lungs, due to the diver using the O2 to swim to surface, and dropping ambient pressure.
3) There is however sufficent oxygen to maintain conciousness for a diver to perform a buoyed ascent.
A diver propperly trimmed (neutrally buoyant), just needs to drop his weight belt to become positively buoyant and ascend.
Yes, he will exceed the recommended safe ascent rate of 30 fpm.
Yes, he may suffer DCS, however that's treatable.
Exhaling during the ascent, keeping the regulator in his mouth, so it is clear and periodic inhales will deliver some air to the diver and reduce the risks of embolism and black out.
I do not believe these principles have changed for "SPORT" divers.
Mike D