Ice Diving Emergencies

[oldflounder]

I am trying to imagine all the emergencies under the ice that can occur that would require immediate withdrawal or at least communication of such issue to the tender.
Has anyone developed an expanded list of rope signals?

So far I have [freeflow, OOA, snagged line, entangled, silt-out/blackout, line separation from diver, medical problem, cramps from the cold water.]

Can you add others to the list? Thank you for your response.

[FinnMom]

4 short tugs
3 long pulls
tug tug pull tug
tug tug pull tug
tug pull

Means you found Jimmy Hoffa

[Jim Lapenta]

Why would you complicate the signals to include so many scenarios? Simple is better.
1. Ok
2. More slack
3. Take up slack
4. Get us out or getting you out now
5. Send help down

When you start adding pulls the possibility of confusing the tender or diver goes way up thus adding to risk. This is in direct contradiction to accepted procedure. Snags would necessitate the diver freeing it or no communication is possible. Same with a separation. If the line comes apart there is no communication.

Ice diving is stressful enough without adding more by requiring the divers and tenders to memorize numerous signals.

The signals we teach are:
1 pull - Tender :Ok?
Diver : we are ok
2 pulls - Tender: feeding line
Diver : need line
3 pulls - Tender: taking up line
Diver: returning to hole take up line
4 pulls - Tender: we have emergency pulling you in
Diver: Emergency! pull us in
2 pulls - 2 pulls - 2 pulls ; not generally used by the tender, from divers means send safety diver need help.

All of these are distinct pulls. Tugs are a no no since they can be misinterpreted or result from going over something and rope dragging or catching for a second. Adding more signals is asking for someone to screw up and cause a problem.

[ktkt]

Polar bear spotted. Oh wait, we are being serious ;p

[RTee]

+1 to what Jim said. More than that is called Morse Code which we do not use for underwater communication.

[farsidefan1]

I always appreciate Jim's point of view, very educational. Thanks. By the way if I am ever in icy water just pull me the hell out. I made some horrible mistake on my way to the tropics.

[DivemasterDennis]

I am too much of a wimp to do ice diving. I agree with farsidefan1 on this point However , a group of my dive friends had an excursion where one diver's regulator literally "froze up." He became shocky and then blacked out. The story had a happy ending as he was revived after a rapid extraction from a depth of less than 20 feet. I wonder if there is a periodic signal for all is ok, so that if it is not sent as directed periodically there is a presumption of a problem and the diver is hauled up? Just curious. From a distance.
DivemasterDennis

[Roko]

A single pull is used for an okay between the tender and the diver. The line's movement itself tells you a lot as well, since unless the divers are stationary, the line will be constantly moving. If the line stops moving for a while, an okay query can be sent.

In terms of regulator free flow, sometimes that can be seen from the surface as well, when a tonne of water and bubbles start gushing out of the hole... (I've seen it once)

Sent from my SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

[lowviz]

...//..... The line's movement itself tells you a lot as well, ....//....

-tells a good tender a surprising amount of information.

...//...Has anyone developed an expanded list of rope signals? ....//.....

Signal sets vary with agencies, mainly because different agencies have differing ideas of how they want to split the tasks between the tender and diver.

The agency I train with considers the diver to be a "dope on a rope" who's main job is to keep the line tight while conducting a regular pattern search of the area immediately in front of him/her.


Ice diving signals typically come from the agency's search and recovery signal set. So concerning your "diver-to-tender" list:

Freeflow: Get me out of here now.

OOA: Get me out of here now.

Snagged line: Diver can't signal this one, a good tender will pick it pick it up very quickly.

Entangled: Diver may wish to clear himself or signal "I'm OK but send backup diver".

Silt-out/blackout: No signal needed, most searches are carried out in zero visibility.

Line separation from diver: Tender will know, but the carabiner is taped shut before the diver enters the water to remove the temptation to go that extra arm's length to reach the object being searched for.

Medical problem: Get me out of here now.

Cramps from the cold water: Get me out of here now.

...//.....Can you add others to the list? ...//....

The tender directs the search from the surface, so the signal set is something like: (Stop/Tighten Line/return signal when OK), Search to the right, Search to the left, Search immediate area, Stand by, Come up. These six signals work for many different conditions and search patterns, most other agencies get by with fewer than six.

[nimoh]

we go even simpler.

1 OK
2 (or more) get me out

If you need more or less slack, you should communicate this before the dive, and if it happens during the dive, deal with and tell the tender before the next dive.

If 2 pulls doesn't get you out, or there is nothing on the end of the line, then the Rescue diver goes in. Don't see a need for a rescue diver signal.