CESA - why? I'll never run low on air!

[H2Andy]

again?

can't we pick on Thas or something?

 

[limeyx]

You're on a site with the crewed boat anchored above.
You are at 100'
You've been there for 20 minutes.
You have plenty of gas.
Your team is nearby.
You have an injury. (this is a single, unforeseeable event - not a "poor planning" event or a "chain of events")
You have 60 seconds of useful consciousness.
What's your plan.
Mine's a CESA, on the surface with 10 seconds to say "help."
Rick

if I have enough consciousness to do a CESA, I have enough to swim toward my team, vigorously signaling them with my light, *especially* if i think i might lose consciousness because they are the people that are going to try to keep a reg in my mouth to keep me breathing on the way up.

way better than trying to ascend from 100 feet to the surface in 60 seconds ...sounds like a "inflate BC and hope I wake up in the chamber" rather than a CESA anyway.

 

[limeyx]

Precisely.
...
My properly trained and disciplined buddy will be right on my tail to help if I don't make it, right?
Rick

Depends if he can find you. Say he takes 20 seconds to notice you aren't behind him, and the vis is 15 feet or worse.

By the time your buddy manages to get to you, you could have drowned on the surface as your face flops into the water.

Give me the services of a good buddy any time.

I think teaching a CESA even it is a "building block" as some have said is not useful because it instills the thought into a lot ofpeople heads that "oh, I can always do a CESA if I mess up" when that should be only the "OMG" option when there is absolutely nothing else that will work, and the other choice is drowning.

 

[airsix]

Wow! I'm a newbie, but sometimes the visibilty on scubaboard is so good you can see right through some posters. :11:

High-five.

-Ben M.

 

[DeepBound]

Your buddy calls the dive due to reaching agreed-upon gas pressure and you head back towards the upline. As you reach the upline, your wing suddenly fails and you drop down 30ft to the bottom while attempting to correct it. Your buddy follows you down to help you but you've become tangled in a fishnet. Your buddy tries to get you untangled but because of the increased depth and stress he's using up his gas quickly. He decides to save his own life he has to ascend to get help.

Your buddy is ascending, and as you continue to try to get out of the net, yoru regulator gets snagged and you can't reach it anymore. You cut off your own gear, and its all tangled in the fishnet, and you're down to 200psi by now. You're wearing a weight belt, but pick up a rock to add to your weight to make up for the removed gear.

What option do you have now, besides CESA?

 

[PerroneFord]

PerroneFord,
That's how I (try) to do it but it takes practice - for example the tide is running a little bit. You keep in front of the diver and watch him but at the same time you don't want to get too close - stay away from that line etc. Stick in poor vis and you really have a test of buoyancy control ie not too close but close enough to assist. It's hard and at that point losing your buddy can happen so the other sucker might end up having to put up another DSMB because he's lost his buddy, needs to ascend because of lost diver protocol , takes a minute to take out the spool from the pocket , another minute to put up the DSMB so you end up with 2 DSMbs (2 solo events) drifting a bit away at the surface.

Happened to me a week or so - I told you I was crap ! Forgot the other minute to look around 360 degrees up and down.

Crap?? Sounds like you're pretty darn ok to me! We ALL struggle with this stuff man. It's not easy. I have good days and bad. Some days I can hover 6" off the silt and do whatever I want. Some days, like last Sunday, I couldn't stay within 5ft of my target depth, and actually corked. First time I'd done that in over a year. It's a constant struggle. As the diving season ramps up, and I get more practice, I get more consistent. I'm getting 2-4 dives a month right now, in a couple months it'll be 2-4 dives a week.

If you ever get a chance, take a GUE Fundamentals or the NAUI equivalent course. I think you'll find it worthwhile and fun. And you get to work through stuff like your bag shooting. Which you get to do in a team of 3-5. FUN stuff! Trying to stay out of everyone's way is a hoot!

 

[BKP]

Good thread. Question to all (except Steve R... wouldn't want to get his panties in a knot...):
How would you define the situation if it wasn't your incapacity...? You're at 100 feet, and your spouse/buddy goes into sudden distress (choking, seizing, passing out, unable to breathe, etc.). Is a CESA (as defined by Rick, with gas) now warranted?

 

[GreenDiverDown]

You're at 100 feet, and your spouse/buddy goes into sudden distress (choking, seizing, passing out, unable to breathe, etc.). Is a CESA (as defined by Rick, with gas) now warranted?

I suppose that would depend on your relationship with your spouse. :14:

 

[Heffey]

Good thread. Question to all (except Steve R... wouldn't want to get his panties in a knot...):
How would you define the situation if it wasn't your incapacity...? You're at 100 feet, and your spouse/buddy goes into sudden distress (choking, seizing, passing out, unable to breathe, etc.). Is a CESA (as defined by Rick, with gas) now warranted?

No, a good buddy wouldn’t choke, seize or pass out unless the two of you had practiced it before.

 

[BKP]

I suppose that would depend on your relationship with your spouse. :14:

Good point... good thing Lynn Turner, the anti-freeze killer, doesn't dive...