Decompression Stop Guidelines - What we have to do if got deco alert?

[The Chairman]

My reading is that by definition of a no-stop dive, a mandatory stop is considered an emergency.

The term smacks of hysteria like Reefer Madness. Is it an emergency if you skip deco? Only if you get bent.

 

[dmaziuk]

The term smacks of hysteria like Reefer Madness. Is it an emergency if you skip deco? Only if you get bent.

PADI Open Water Diver Manual Product No, 79180 (Rev. 3/11) Version 2.11 (c) PADI 2010, page 218.

 

[jseyfert3]

Make sure you have these emergency decompression rules well noted on the back of your computer or on a slate. This is because remembering the rules may not be possible in an emergency situation. It is important to ensure the information is easily accessible in case of an emergency.

I found this amusing. Write emergency decompression on the back of my dive computer? You mean the device that initially told me I was past the NDL and now is displaying live, constantly updating deco stops?

 

[boulderjohn]

The PADI manuals use the term "emergency decompression" to distinguish between planned decompression (which is technical diving) and unplanned decompression. It refers to what happens when you exceed your NDLs on a dive.

 

[TrimixToo]

That's the part that really bothers me here. I can't remember ever going into 'accidental' deco, just as I have never run out of air since I started using an SPG. If you're too broke to pay attention, then sky diving and scuba diving aren't for you.

To borrow a phrase from motor sports, if you are prone to accidentally acquiring a deco obligation, or running out of gas..."other sports beckon."

I have, on the fly, decided to go into deco. However, I am trained for it, experienced in it, had plenty of gas, and did it on purpose every time.

John

 

[The Chairman]

So, do you think that "emergency deco" is a good term? I wonder if any other agency uses that?

 

[The Chairman]

I have, on the fly, decided to go into deco. However, I am trained for it, experienced in it, had plenty of gas, and did it on purpose every time.

Yeah, I've even done it on the sly so the boat wouldn't get all pissed at me. Conscious decision every time. I certainly break into a lather over it.

 

[dmaziuk]

So, do you think that "emergency deco" is a good term? I wonder if any other agency uses that?

Poll time?

PADI manual goes on to say

You need to make an emergency decompression stop to allow your body to eliminate nitrogen; without this stop, you face an unacceptable risk of DCS when you surface.

Logically you now have to ask for exact definition of unacceptable risk too.

 

[The Chairman]

I have no problem that skipping your deco is an "unacceptable risk". It's a limit that we should honor. But they're making like going into an accidental deco is as dangerous as wearing split fins. Ain't nuthin' that bad! I remember this one instructor who loved to scare his students into diving the way he wanted them to. His lecture on narcosis was hilarious except that he actually believed that we were in imminent danger of giving our regs to a fish. Students made fun of his over the top fear mongering and rightly so. I was on this Boy Scout campout, when an adult leader from another troop put an axe into his hand. This one kid had stepped up to the plate and had every thing under control... until he told the guy if he went into shock he just might die. The look on the guy's face was priceless and having just arrived I couldn't stifle my laugh. The injured guy looks over at me and says something like "You mean I'm not going to die?" I couldn't stop laughing and the poor kid knew he screwed up. As we waited for the ambulance to pick him up in the parking lot, the guy thanked me for taking the drama out. Hell, the axe in his hand was all the drama we needed. You know what? I don't fault the kid. I fault the guy who taught him first aid. One of the major tenets in any situation, with or without injuries is to stay calm. Calling it an emergency, destroys that calm.

 

[Jack Hammer]

Wow! ...Just Wow!