blind diver

[FD-diver]

Well not so much a blind diver
I just figured that they could answer the question that I had....

I blackwater dive with the local rescue squad which makes me the equivalent of blind while diving you can make out the gauges and lights do little if any good cause of the silt and trash in the water ..

SO my question is communication w/o the use of radio equipment
Is there a set of hand signals that blind divers communicate with underwater
to say if they are in trouble, air pressure,ready to surface, i'm stuck, etc.??

we are working on setting up a way to communicate between 2 people in total darkness underwater....
thank you in advance for all who respond

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

Okay, blind is very different from blackwater or night dives. You dive virtually zero vis with blackwater, but you still have some ambient glow(cause it definitely doesn't seem light, does it?), and you have dive lights. Yes, they diffuse in all the particulates in the water and only give you a small range of vision, but it is there, nonetheless.
You can run a line between you and the other diver/s, but be careful not to go too far apart, because that line can get fouled easily. When river diving for fossils, I use a length (about 3ft, no more), of bungie cord and we tie off to each end. That way we don't get separated in teh pull and mess.
As for communication, you arrange your series of tugs on the line. This has to be simple and only a few of them and both need to know them well.

When on searches with more than two divers, you run people out along a line and move according to the search pattern. Those tugs indicate location, finding of whatever you are looking for, and success, or direction change.

 

[pasley]

Your local Public Safety Course Dive instructor can answer this question or HSA or IAHD instructor can teach you hand signals we use on dives with the blind divers.

SOAP BOX COMMING: I would be remiss if I did not point out the obvious. Public Safety Diving and Surface Water Rescue activities are by their nature very different from recreational diving. Unfortunalty many of the smaller rescue squads and volunter squads staff their teams with recreationaly trained Rescue Level scuba divers and hope for the best. That is IMHO dangerous. The question you asked would be covered by the type of training I am talking about.

There is a Water Rescue & Recovery Conference in Charlotte NC Sep 21-24, 2010 http://www.diverescueintl.com/. Which is right in your back yard. There they will hold training classes on revelant subjects there as well. There are stories out there of tragic endings for well intentioned scuba divers voluntering with local rescue squads without the proper specialized training. I know, budget constraints etc, but hey this is dangerous work. I would encourage you to attend this conference or other training opportunity for the answer to this and other questions. The life you save could be your own or someone elses. Here is a link to one such report of a rescue divers death.

Other resources are:
Dive Rescue Interntional a public safety diver training agency.
The Scuba Center has a table of resources for the Public Safety Diver.
National Acadamy of Police Diving
The above list is by no means complete and does not constitute an endorsement of them. I have no experience with any of them and I am not a public safety diver. The above is just IMHO.
PS.com (Public Safety Diver) Promotes free education for public safety divers.

 

[FD-diver]

this is the info i am looking for
we are starting a team and first and formost is Training training training
one of the questions that arose from meetings and round table discussions was the use of hand signals in an environment that would not allow you to have any vis
so I thought of diving blind
you would have to have a way to indicate to your partner when what where etc
and some of these hand signals could be useful and or carry over

I'm not going to preach who is qualified and who is not ...bottom line i am asking ahead of time to get the information befor there is a need for it in the real world (that is what training is right)

I have found the HSA listed online but i was looking for the hand signals they use or a place to find the signals ...

BTW the conference in Charlotte is an excellant idea i will pass that info on to the rest of the divers
thank you

but the question still remains WHERE can i find the hand signals they use in the course ??

thank you all for your time and responce

 

[pasley]

OK, that is more informaiton. Team is just starting out. I have already provided several resources for training, some of it free. The conference is an excellent place as they also have training and they are litteraly in your back yard. I have sent a PM to you.

 

[FD-diver]

thank you pasley
glad SOMEBODY could be helpful
instead of just preaching to me about things they dont have all the facts to

thank you again

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

thank you pasley
glad SOMEBODY could be helpful
instead of just preaching to me about things they dont have all the facts to

thank you again

Snarky much? My answer to you was definitely not preachy and it simply answered the question you asked.
You have open water certification, less than 24 dives, and you think you are in any way ready, knowledgable, or capable of this type of search and rescue work? Perhaps, you should work more on personal growth and maturity, as well as manners, before you get lippy. And don't worry, I certainly won't answer any other questions you may pop up with. I don't have time to waste on poorly behaved adolescents.

 

[mike_s]

Oh Dee, haven't you ever heard that "even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then?"

 

[ONESPEED]

thank you pasley
glad SOMEBODY could be helpful
instead of just preaching to me about things they dont have all the facts to

thank you again

Perhaps people would be more helpful if you would stop posting like an ass. I take it people skills aren't one of your strong points, this may help.

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

Oh Dee, haven't you ever heard that "even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then?"