Ever been saved by your buddy?

[Bluey]

1. What is your total number of dives

2. How many times have you or your buddy saved the other from a potentially lethal or serious injury situation.

3. What were the circumstances surrounding the event.


I'm just interested to see what common things arise and how we might better prepare to avoid or deal with them.

I have 60 dives with no real assistance given or received yet.

Bluey

 

[TimAZ]

I have only had to render assistance once. My buddy became ill and was vomiting under water. I assisted him through his ascent and safety stop and gave him a tow back to the boat. It was potentially hazardous, but really he handled himself perfectly and there were no problems other than a long, tiring tow.

BTW, to learn more about potential accidents, how to avoid them, and how to managed them should they occur, I recommend finding a good instructor and taking a rescue course.

 

[TSandM]

I have almost 500 dives. Probably the biggest save was in the surf at Monastery Beach in Monterey, where I fell on exit, and one of my teammates exerted almost superhuman efforts to get me back on my feet.

I have done a number of dives with new divers, where I have had to catch them to stop an unplanned ascent. Those are the biggest saves I've done.

 

[Papa_Bear]

Only once, at Santa Cruz Island I was pulling my limit of Lobster from the ceiling of a cavern that was open to the surf. Trying to get two bugs in a bag almost full my light fell out of my hand and dangled by the lanyard! It was in the days before BCDs and I was dropping in the column of water and a big wave hit the cave pushing me down and blistering my ear drum! I returned to the boat and with a limit of lobsters in my bag. A really cute friend came up to me and begged me to dive with her so she could also get a limit of bugs. I rested and got as worm as I could and suited up for the next dive and we both made our entries!

We started toward the cliffs and as we got ready to descend. As soon as my head hit the water and the 54* water got into my hood and then my ear! WOW instant Vertigo! The whole world was spinning and I knew I was going to lose it! At my experience level most newer divers do what your doing or think your screwing around, but she saw my eyes roll up in my head and knew something was wrong!

She garbed my tank valve, remember no BCD, and started towing me back to the boat and yelling for help! She got me back to the swim step and a half dozen big guys hauled me on to the deck where I threw up! The woman who saved me was all of 105lbs and was aware of her surroundings and her buddy to recognize all was not well and to take action in less than ideal conditions! Some might think it turned out okay?

 

[spacemanspiff1974]

Not sure on number of dives because I quit logging for a long time until recently.

As far as saving a buddy...we were ascending next to a sailboat where we were living at the time when an idiot acquaintance motored up to the boat in a dinghy. I grabbed my buddy's fin and yanked as hard as I could to keep his head from being propped by the outboard.

Lots of profanities were screamed at the acquaintance who didn't see the dive flag.

boats with props in gear is my biggest fear when diving, with jet skis being a close second.

 

[miketsp]

300+ dives but both incidents below happened when I had less than 100 dives.

One potential save by buddy - I was at 25m with enough N2 loading that a direct ascent was not recommended when my tank-reg oring blew out - one heck of a noise. In spite of not starting with a full tank at that moment and the tremendous amount of air coming out I was able to breath the tank most of the way to the surface during a slow ascent only going on to my buddy's octopus for the 5m stop and final ascent.

One potential save by me. I and my buddy had just descended to 25m when we found this diver having problems but not indicating which. Then this diver bolted for the surface. I followed closely behind and got there just in time to grab the diver before being thrown onto the rocks by the waves. The diver was in no condition to do anything after the CESA except gasp for breath.
My surface tow certainly avoided some injuries.

Edit: just remembered one more which I will definitely never allow to happen again.

My buddy uses a weight integrated BC and we were doing our second dive with a very strong surface current so the only way down to the bottom at 25m was pulling hand over hand down the anchor line and this was very hard work.
So I had just let go the anchor line and I looked at my buddy and immediately felt that something was different. She was floating slightly up. So I moved over and checked her BC - no weights. They had been removed after the 1st dive and not reinserted. She was just about to let go the line when I grabbed her arm and held her down. She would have shot up to the surface.
The horizontal force of the current had completely masked the effort of pulling herself down.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Number of dives...stopped counting some time ago but around 2000 I'd guess.

I've performed a bunch of assists with a fair number that might be considered rescues and a handful that were divers in full blown panic. Most of the problems at depth started with water in the face or mouth bringing on panic or buoyancy control problems...uncontroled ascents and descents. Most were new divers or divers still in training

Surface problems were euipment related issues (divers having trouble while trying to get into or out of equipment), problems related to getting on and off boats in rough seas and cramps.

The only time I remember really having trouble was a cave dive where I became really ill about 40 minutes back in the cave. There wasn't much my buddy could do for me but he took care of all the line work on the way out so I could concentrate on controling my lunch.

 

[Roz Amos]

Around 400 dives

Helped a few new divers in OOA situations or panics, and towed buddies back to boat on a couple of occasions, and helped get a bent buddy out of the water.

Have been saved from panic during a good lesson on why not to dive deep on air when I was very narked at 45m, and was recently rescued by a buddy when my regs seized up at 25m due to a tank rusting nitrous oxide and clogging my filter, causing a compete air blockage.

 

[Alex777]

1. 830

2. 3

3. 2 were insta-buddies of mine who suddenly announced they were out of air at depth (about 50' and 60', IIRC). In each case, I offered my octo and/or they grabbed it (not sure which description is more accurate) and we ascended slowly in text-book fashion. No panic. What I learned: I now take the initiative with insta-buddies and ASK them how much air they have, or better still, look at their guage myself, rather than assuming they will monitor it. PS - 1 insta-buddy said he had an Instructor certification.

The 3rd was a sudden OOA emergency at 110' by my regular buddy. We believe that a piece of rust in the tank stem cut the flow of air, but cannot prove it as DiveTech (who rented it to us) refused to remove the valve for inspection. She is much too good a diver to "run out of air", and it was only 12 minutes into the dive. Anyway, as her eyes started to widen and she slashed her hand across her throat, I swam to her (about 8') and offered my octo. I then tried her reg and confirmed it was giving no air at all. We ascended to 15' and then swam back to the entry point sharing air, which we practice regularly. What I learned: in an emergency, your training really does kick in; regular practice no doubt helps a lot, though.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

1. 1400

2. 0

3. 0