diver in distress below signal?

Is anyone aware of a system that could be deployed from depth which would indicate diver(s) in distress below the surface? Preferably not something as expensive as underwater voice communication? Perhaps a modified SMB?

To those who would immediately criticize that I am looking for a technological solution to a situation which might be avoided through better training or gear, you are right. I am, however, working with the premise that sometimes sh!+ happens, regardless of preparation or training. Now that it has been stated, posts such as "you should never run into an XXX or YYY situation" need not appear in this thread.

For the purposes of two hypothetical examples of where such a diver in distress below system might be useful, consider:

1. You and your dive buddy are near the end of your dive. Your buddy becomes badly tangled in unanticipated fishing line and you are having a hard time freeing the him/her without yourself becoming similarly ensnared. It would be useful to be able to send up a diver in distress below system while you continue to free and reassure your buddy. That way, divers at the surface might be able to descend and offer assistance and additional air. Perhaps you could write a brief description of the problem on your spare slate and send it up on your SMB (allowing others to follow the line down to you), only who would ever think to look for a slate attached to your SMB?

2. Near the end of your dive you and your buddy become separated in poor vis. You search for 1 minute then begin your ascent to the surface. During that ascent you experience a reverse squeeze. On one hand you should ascend because your buddy might be in trouble and you have an obligation to notify others on the surface. On the other hand, if you push the ascent and your eardrum ruptures, the resulting virtigo (in, say, cold water) might pose a threat to you. Again, a slate attached to an SMB would be a great way of not only notifying those on the surface immediately of your missing buddy, but also of alerting them to your squeeze.

Has anyone else considered such a system? Are there any viable potential solutions?

Thanks

Nice thought, but not really practical. You certainly could shoot an smb with a slate attatched, in fact some tech divers keep a slate attatched to their smbs for just such purpose, but unless you are diving a wreck with your support vessel directly overhead the likelyhood of somebody A) noticing your buoy B) Realizing there is a note on it and C) responding in a timely and appropriate manner is vanishingly small.

Your two hypotheticals are possible but the chain of events to get there is a long and rocky road. Remeber that a good diver uses his superior knowledge and judgement to avoid situations that require his superior problem solving skills.

While underwater the only help I can depend on is myself and my buddy, and I'm not always sure of my buddy.

I believe Halcyon sells an SMB that says "EMERGENCY" on the side of it.

Sending up a slate like that is not at all unheard of in technical diving, but as the first post said, it requires that someone be on the lookout for a bag and in a position to respond. The vast majority of recreational diving issues can either be solved underwater or should be solved by surfacing, so the likelihood of an event that mandates you stay underwater and requires assistance from the surface is extremely low.

GROAN!

SteveAD and TSandM,

I do appreciate your having posted - I really do. It is only that I have come to dread posting on SB because it seems that, no matter how carefully I craft my post, people either choose to not read it or ignore the contents. Specifically, I explicitly stated:

mpetryk:

To those who would immediately criticize that I am looking for a technological solution to a situation which might be avoided through better training or gear, you are right.
...
only who would ever think to look for a slate attached to your SMB?

Click to expand...

to which the responses were (and here I am paraphrasing) "rely on training" and "who would ever think to look for a slate attached to your SMB?" Groan!

TSandM - thanks for the note on the Halcyon SMB.

Again, I wanted to inquire whether there were any signaling standards that I was not aware of. Perhaps the answer in this case is no.

Cheers

I vaguely remember someone telling me that in Europe sending a yellow liftbag to the surface was an indication of trouble. Or was that an orange one? I forget right now. In either case that is a convention that should be worked out ahead of time with the boat crew. Then it would be in agreement.

I've seen variations on this question come up from time to time in various groups, and the answer always seems to be that there is no standard, so you'll need to work things out with the boat crew in advance.

rongoodman:

...the answer always seems to be that there is no standard, so you'll need to work things out with the boat crew in advance.

Click to expand...

pir8:

..a convention that should be worked out ahead of time with the boat crew. Then it would be in agreement.

Click to expand...

Thanks guys. I thought that this might be the case, but was seeking to be informed bu more knowledgeable persons.

Cheers

In Europe, normally the Red/Orange SMB is deployed. The Yellow is reserved for emergencies. This is their standard, published on the web and at least the guys from the UK I know follow this. IMO, they have a good idea here.

In US, this seems backwards since RED of often associated with emergencies, yellow is warning.There is no recognized standard for SMB colors that I am aware of, so you better make arrangements with the surface support crew beforehand if you want assistance.

I know you didn't ask this question but...

As others have noted, this sort of approach is not unknown. But for this approach to be effective, the crew would both need to be watching for a bouy and be in a position to send assistance.

In your first scenario, you have a buddy tangled in line. You are concerned about being tangled as well. As you are working to free him, my reaction would not be to add more potential entanglement ("...SMB (allowing others to follow the line down to you)") and increase task loading.

The second scenario makes more sense to me although in most instances fixing a reverse squeeze doesn't that long.

There is no standard. Most dive boats won't look for a bag, or if they saw one, think to check it for a slate. You can always tell the boat that you are going to do something specific if you purchase an emergency bag and carry it.