Newly Certified Rescue Diver - Question

[BFRedrocks]

Happy to report I completed my Rescue Diver certification this past weekend and am now a Rescue Diver (not to be confused with someone who can actually RESCUE someone, but I think at a minimum I could help try to save someone if necessary). Also cracked the 50 dive mark during my training dives, so that was also kinda cool in my book.

Just wondering how many folks out there that are rescue diver certified carry a rescue breathing mask with them while they dive? I appreciate being able to use one during training, but I find it highly unlikely that most divers carry one in their BC pocket or on their BC for the rare (hopefully) occasion that you find an unresponsive diver that needs rescue breathing.

 

[toddthecat]

It is pretty rare in my experience. Repeated exposure, especially to salt water, to those masks will wear em out pretty fast. I'd go with mouth-to-mouth sans barrier in a real world scenario. For the people overly concerned about disease I'd say I hope you were taught mouth-to-snorkel. I wouldn't hesitate to do mouth to mouth. I mean, how many times do people worry about kissing someone on a date (or more)? If everyone felt the way they do about communicable disease doing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation as they do about kissing, I can guarantee you people would never open mouth kiss each other.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

If it's in your dive bag on shore that is where it will do the most good. Not worth even trying for the average recreational rescue diver to try using it in the water. All it will do is slow you down from getting to where you can do compressions and rescue breathing will actually be effective. You can try a breath or two when you first surface them but after that, don't waste your time. You can delay getting them to effective measures by up to 4 times as long if you try in water and you are not an expert at it.

 

[toddthecat]

Another good point there. Speed in getting to compressions, AED, or hopefully an ambulance, is wayyyyy more important than ventilation by itself.

 

[GCullen94]

I do not carry a rescue mask (coming from an open water lifeguard) If in-water rescue breathing was necessary, disease transmission from mouth to mouth would not be that high on my list (unless a biohazard is involved) Also pathogens travel much better and faster though water, that little plastic mask isn't going to do much. If I had to make a priorities list it would be...

1. Is there a heart beat? (yes or no move to next step)
2. Are they breathing? (yes or no signal for help and move to next step)
3. Any other signs of trauma (if yes take note of injury and move to next step, if no move to next step)
4. Any signs of biohazard such as blood or vomit (if yes use a barrier or snorkel, no move to next step)
5. STOP if they are breathing, keep going if not
6. Start rescue breathing, if there is a biohazard find a snorkel or barrier to use.

That checklist can be completed in about 5 seconds maximum.

 

[Scott]

Congratulations on becoming a Rescue Diver.

My pocket mask is in the FA kit, where it belongs. If I need to provide rescue breaths it will be a round of mouth to mouth or mouth to snorkel and then beat fin to shore or the boat.

I don't have alot of pocket space, my choice, so that real estate is reserved for essentials. Trying to remove a pocket mask from a BC pocket on the surface with an (over) inflated BC takes time. IMO

 

[TMHeimer]

Congratulations on becoming a Rescue Diver.

My pocket mask is in the FA kit, where it belongs. If I need to provide rescue breaths it will be a round of mouth to mouth or mouth to snorkel and then beat fin to shore or the boat.

I don't have alot of pocket space, my choice, so that real estate is reserved for essentials. Trying to remove a pocket mask from a BC pocket on the surface with an (over) inflated BC takes time. IMO

Yeah, that's the thing--Can't fit it in my pockets with 10 lb. wts. there. So attach it?--I guess you could figure out a (streamlined...) way. Mine is in my "save a dive" kit which is either always on the boat or in the car at the site.

Congrats BFRedrocks on becoming a Rescue Diver. Also some good points made above.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I do not carry a rescue mask (coming from an open water lifeguard) If in-water rescue breathing was necessary, disease transmission from mouth to mouth would not be that high on my list (unless a biohazard is involved) Also pathogens travel much better and faster though water, that little plastic mask isn't going to do much. If I had to make a priorities list it would be...

1. Is there a heart beat? (yes or no move to next step)
2. Are they breathing? (yes or no signal for help and move to next step)
3. Any other signs of trauma (if yes take note of injury and move to next step, if no move to next step)
4. Any signs of biohazard such as blood or vomit (if yes use a barrier or snorkel, no move to next step)
5. STOP if they are breathing, keep going if not
6. Start rescue breathing, if there is a biohazard find a snorkel or barrier to use.

That checklist can be completed in about 5 seconds maximum.

Need to find the right kind of snorkel if you plan to use one for that. Snorkels with purges will not work. Dry snorkels are even worse and actually should be against standards for divers to use.

 

[RJP]

If I had to make a priorities list it would be...

1. Is there a heart beat? (yes or no move to next step)
2. Are they breathing? (yes or no signal for help and move to next step)
3. Any other signs of trauma (if yes take note of injury and move to next step, if no move to next step)
4. Any signs of biohazard such as blood or vomit (if yes use a barrier or snorkel, no move to next step)
5. STOP if they are breathing, keep going if not
6. Start rescue breathing, if there is a biohazard find a snorkel or barrier to use.

That checklist can be completed in about 5 seconds maximum.

If you're not going to do anything different based on the answer to Q1, why check?

 

[BFRedrocks]

Thanks for the congrats and excellent info guys...based on how the in-water rescue breathing was going, it made more sense to me (as I was doing them) that in a real world situation, I'm probably more likely to just give mouth to mouth a few times (I don't think I've seen anyone whom I dive with using a "viable" snorkel for mouth to snorkel) and then get them to shore or the boat as quickly as possible. I think I'll keep mine in the FA kit.

My pocket space is also extremely limited which is one of the reasons why I asked the question in the first place.