You're Lost At Sea!! What Signal Devices Do You Have To Use - and Why Not?

[cruiser]

whitle = whistle

 

[Thalassamania]

By Hillary Copsey (Contact)


FORT PIERCE — The cheer went up at 9:50 a.m. Saturday.


Since daybreak, Fort Lauderdale firefighters — coworkers of Patrick Scartozzi, the Palm City man lost since a Friday dive off the St. Lucie Inlet — had waited at the U.S. Coast Guard station on Seaway Drive. They coordinated extra search teams to help the Coast Guard and St. Lucie emergency teams find Scartozzi.


And just before 10 a.m., the work paid off.


“They found him,” shouted a U.S. Coast Guard official running from the station. “A helo is taking him to St. Mary’s. He’s alive.”
A Coast Guard helicopter, one of more than half a dozen a
ircrafts and boats searching since yesterday afternoon, found Scartozzi roughly six miles from his dive site and a mile off the Jensen Beach shore. The helicopter was taking the 43-year-old firefighter and paramedic to St. Mary’s Medical Center, the nearest trauma center.


“Yeah!,” the firefighters yelled and smiled, laughed and pumped their fists in the air. Everyone got on their cell phone.


Scartozzi would soon be the phone, too.


His wife Chrissie spoke with him briefly before heading to St. Mary’s, sister-in-law Lisa Simescu said around 10:30 a.m.. She was readying the three Scartozzi children — 16-year-old Patrick Junior and his 12- and 7-year-old sisters — for the trip to the hospital.


“He sounded really, really tired, obviously, but what a great voice to hear,” Simescu said.


Twenty-two hours had passed since Scartozzi, a licensed commercial diver, went into about 95 feet of water at noon Friday for what was supposed to be a 25-minute dive, according to Mike Walker, duty officer at the Coast Guard’s District 7 command center in Miami. Scartozzi, wearing a black wetsuit that made him nearly invisible in the dark water, was separated from his boat and was reported missing just before 1 p.m.
Coast Guard search boats and aircraft were joined late Friday by crews from the Fort Lauderdale Fire and Rescue, eager to find one of their own, said Bob Simac, Fire and Rescue battalion chief. Scartozzi has worked for 11 years with the Fort Lauderdale crews.




“He’s a stand-up guy,” coworker Tom Major said, just after Scartozzi’s rescue was announced. “He’d do anything for anybody else and that’s why everyone’s here.”


Scartozzi also was an experienced diver. Both Scartozzi’s coworkers and family said they were sure, as the search wore on, he was trying to swim to shore against north-moving currents. Many stories of lost divers end in tragedy, but Scartozzi’s family and friends, his sister-in-law said, felt he would be found alive.


“We all knew,” Simescu said. “We all knew, if he got lost, he knew what to do.” 

 

[Diver Dennis]

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[Ken abucs]

I carry DAN's SMB. It includes a storm whistle, a mirror and a cyalume stick. In addition I carry a spool, Dive Alert, flashlight and a flashlight,strobe combo.

https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/catalog/products/641-1000.html
FireFly Plus - Flashlight & Strobe light combination - Flashlights - Strobe Lights

 

[Cajuncru Diver]

Three essentials that I carry are (1) surgical sissors, (2) sharp knife and (3) Lip balm.....
Use the surgical sissors to cut off the wet suit
Use the sharp knife to cut the strap off your fins
Apply generous coating of lip balm----------------------------then
bend over at the waist and kiss your A_ _ good

 

[shadragon]

I get these business card CD-ROMs given to me all the time. They are fairly resilient, shiny and fit into the smallest BC pocket. Perfect for a signal mirror.

 

[D_B]

I get these business card CD-ROMs given to me all the time. They are fairly resilient, shiny and fit into the smallest BC pocket. Perfect for a signal mirror.

and make for a very poor signal device, as has been tested .... just get a mirror

 

[Scubadoo72]

I have a few of the above...light, smb, and knife that can be used for reflection...

However..I would be (almost) best off with a relief valve I think...lol...

 

[DiverBeth]

I keep my storm whistle attached to my smb and accept for when I dive in my usual quarry I always have it with me. I always dive during the day with a small light (I use a bigger light for night) and there's a mirror with my DAN tag which never leaves my BCD.

I've been lucky so far and never needed to use these but I have them.

 

[Scubadaddy]

This is a great thread. I didn't vote as I have yet to be certified and have no real diving experience (yet ) but when I start diving regularly I'll be putting together a safety kit based on the items discussed here.

Thanks to all who have contributed.