SoccerJeni
Scuba Baby
* What would you do if you lost sight of your buddy underwater and couldn't find him/her?
This has happened to me, thankfully everything ended up fine. I know the rule I was taught was to look for someone for 1 minute, and then surface. When it happened to me it was a guided dive with 3 guides (10 other divers). In the pre-dive plan we were told you do not need to worry about anyone you came with, if they run low on air, one of the guides will take them back to the dock. The seperation happened on Dive #2 that day, and it was at the part of the dive we had carefully discussed because we knew my buddy was anxious about this part. She and I were sticking very close to each other (I could touch her at all times) and it was very scary for me to look to my right and she was no where to be seen. I must also mention that this separation happened at the same time as we ran into another group of divers and there was a lot of confusion.
Now the rule is, look for 1 minutes then surface. But, here's what I actually did: when we ran into the other group of divers (we were at the back of the group so I couldn't tell where my leader and group was), I paused and looked from side to side trying to determine which way my group went. I looked to my right and my buddy was gone. I had been looking over at her every few minutes, and we were less than a foot apart. So, how the heck did I lose her so fast? I kept looking around me seeing many other divers and 1 of them looked like they could have been her. That person looked really confused and was acting strange, and I couldn't tell where they were trying to go. I looked behind me again and saw the guide we had been planning with ahead of time. He was headed to the left, so I followed him and met up with the rest of the group. At that time the main guide has us surface. All 3 of our guides were there and 2 divers were gone, one being my friend. One of the guides went to find the other group to see if our 2 divers went with them. After waiting about 5 minutes on the surface a boat came by and said our 2 divers were at the dock. My buddy was fine and did not panic, but had lost buoyancy and surfaced.
BUT, what if she did panic, and was on the bottom? I do not know if I handled this right or wrong. It was different since the guides were suggesting they would take responsibility for divers if they had trouble or were low on air. But, I guess I'd like to think if we were on a dive on our own in a different environment I would have looked for 1 minute and then surfaced.
* What would you do if you're in a buddy team of 3 divers and one buddy went left while the other went right?
My thoughts are that I would follow the diver that I was closest to, get their attention and direct us towards finding the 3rd diver.
* What would you do if you're in a buddy team of 5 divers and, all of a sudden, you only counted 3 other divers in your field of view?
Hum...I am thinking I would get the attention of all 3 divers, somehow signal we were missing one, then look around us as a group (staying together) for one minute then surface. I wonder if it would be beneficial to have some type of tank banger for this type of situations too?
* What would you do if you're diving in two buddy pairs and you lost sight of the other buddy pair?
I've never thought of this situation. I would hope it would be something that we all as a group would have discussed before the dive, whether we would try to stay together as a large group. If we did want to stay together as a large group, I would assume the same rules apply, look for 1 minute and surface.
* What would you do if you got a leg cramp but your buddy didn't notice and left you behind?
This is where I'm guessing some type of tank banger would be beneficial. I would first try to get their attention with a tank banger (which looks like I will need to get now). I'm thinking the text book answer is: If they did not respond I would work out the cramp, assuming this is less than one minute I would swim out in the direction they went, look for the 1 minute then surface.
Now...what would I really see myself doing??? I would get the heck over my cramp, and try to kick with one leg to catch my buddy. If the pain got too bad before I got to them, I would quit trying to catch them, work out the cramp, then follow the rest of what I said in the paragraph above. I'm sure this sounds dumb, but I''m just being honest and could see me pushing myself if I was actually in the situation.
Now, I'd like to hear about another scenario:
What would you do if you lost your buddy, looked for one minute, then surfaced but you wait for a while and your buddy doesn't come up for a long time? How long would you wait on the surface for your buddy before doing something and what would you do?
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