piikki
Contributor
I think I would definitely go for even a foolish rescue if I felt I had contributed to the emergency whoever the victim was... What a guilt trip coming up without someone if your actions led to the emergency...
Could you do it?
- Thread starter TSandM
- Start date
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First:
When we dive, we all accept/assume the dangers of this. In going beyond recreational limits especially, this risk increases significantly. With this, we also become aware of the mindset that needs to be in place: dive with a buddy, dive in a team, but be prepared to finish the dive alone. There are many risk mitigating aspects we put in place, but murphy does lurk around...
Second:
How is the attempt going to end up at the surface? Is surface support equipped and ready to deal with two injuries? If the answer is no, then we have a decision to make: save a human life at the potential peril of ones self, or not. Would you rather have one hurt person, or two?
When we dive, we all accept/assume the dangers of this. In going beyond recreational limits especially, this risk increases significantly. With this, we also become aware of the mindset that needs to be in place: dive with a buddy, dive in a team, but be prepared to finish the dive alone. There are many risk mitigating aspects we put in place, but murphy does lurk around...
Second:
How is the attempt going to end up at the surface? Is surface support equipped and ready to deal with two injuries? If the answer is no, then we have a decision to make: save a human life at the potential peril of ones self, or not. Would you rather have one hurt person, or two?
Diver Dennis
Contributor
I'm one who would yank my reg from someone's mouth before we surfaced if I couldn't stop them. I would go up after them but to avoid the bends I would do it. How would you feel if you both got to the surface with the bends and you could do nothing to save the other diver? That's why they teach in Resue not to create two victims. The best chance you have to save someone is to be in better shape than they are in.
How guilty would you feel if you got bent and the other diver did not?
EDIT: I do agree that if it were my family member my brain might say "Let them go" but my heart would be saying different. I would still try to do a stop just under them and monitor how they were doing. If they were drowning, I would definitely save them.
How guilty would you feel if you got bent and the other diver did not?
EDIT: I do agree that if it were my family member my brain might say "Let them go" but my heart would be saying different. I would still try to do a stop just under them and monitor how they were doing. If they were drowning, I would definitely save them.
Guba
Contributor
It's a valid question and one each of us should consider at the onset of our diving experience and not "at the moment", if that should come along. For those of us who have had to make that call, it's wrenching even after having considered the consequences in advance.
For me, when I take a person as my dive partner, whether it's a friend, family or "insta buddy", there is only a thin margin in what I feel my response will be. The emotional response might be worlds apart, but my actions would most likely be much the same. When I take a buddy, he/she instantly becomes part of my 'family', and I'll treat them as such in an emergency.
Could I let go? I had to once, if only briefly. (While towing a stricken diver along a line I became entangled. I had to make a very fast decision to let him go and disengage myself from the line or keep him with me. I let him go, got untangled and then caught him again, but I still wrestle with guilt because he didn't make it.)
Like many who have responded, my answer might be affected by factors other than diving. I was a firefighter and first responder for 27 years and I've had to make the same decisions many times. (Enter an engulfed house to look for victims? Easy call. Stand up to your ankles in gasoline while trying to extricate a gravely injured driver while electrical sparks pop over your head? That one's tougher.) I was also a certified lifeguard for a long time, and one has to make similar decisions in that venue, too.
The bottom line is that we all should consider the ramifications of our decisions well before they pop up. Good thread!
For me, when I take a person as my dive partner, whether it's a friend, family or "insta buddy", there is only a thin margin in what I feel my response will be. The emotional response might be worlds apart, but my actions would most likely be much the same. When I take a buddy, he/she instantly becomes part of my 'family', and I'll treat them as such in an emergency.
Could I let go? I had to once, if only briefly. (While towing a stricken diver along a line I became entangled. I had to make a very fast decision to let him go and disengage myself from the line or keep him with me. I let him go, got untangled and then caught him again, but I still wrestle with guilt because he didn't make it.)
Like many who have responded, my answer might be affected by factors other than diving. I was a firefighter and first responder for 27 years and I've had to make the same decisions many times. (Enter an engulfed house to look for victims? Easy call. Stand up to your ankles in gasoline while trying to extricate a gravely injured driver while electrical sparks pop over your head? That one's tougher.) I was also a certified lifeguard for a long time, and one has to make similar decisions in that venue, too.
The bottom line is that we all should consider the ramifications of our decisions well before they pop up. Good thread!
This topic is certainly a double edged sword. If faced with such a situation, I'm sure that everyone would react differently depending on personality type & how close the person is to the diver in distress or danger. As many have mentioned, I would make every reasonable attempt or rescue or recover the victim, but if it involved a true risk of my own life.......... I don't know. I am on our mill's Emergency Response Team as a first responder, firefighter & confined space rescuer. In that fire/ rescue training & in the dive rescue training I've had it drilled into my head, not to become another victim for someone else to have to rescue or recover, thus creating a further risk to other rescuers. In a hopeless case (the victim is most likely deceased or is already deceased), I would most likely heed the warning that my fire/ rescue instructor when he said that " no 'body' is worth your life". If there is hope of saving the other diver with great risk to my self........... that's where the double edged sword comes in. Those decisions must usually be made instantly. A lot of times there are no second chances. If I attempt a rescue, I may rescue them, but then I may also become a victim myself, thus risking the lives & safety of others who must now, also come get me. If I decide that the rescue attempt is beyond my abilities & do not rescue that diver, then I must deal with the consequences of my decision. I would have to deal with the "what ifs" & the guilt that I may not have done everything in my power that I could have. If it was a family member or a very close friend, I really couldn't say how I'd respond..............
Excellent post TSandM
I say I would look back at the Rescue class and go by that. Don't create 2 victims and or two deaths. Having said that...I agree with jatoorish. It depends on who the person is. I don't have any kids, but if I did I would go down with them no matter what. I also have many, many close friends who dive with me. What would I do? If it's a stranger?... So, it's really easy for me to say I would look back at the rescue class...It's a whole different story when I am in that situation. Hopefully I won't find myself there...Once again...very good post...It really makes you wonder...
I say I would look back at the Rescue class and go by that. Don't create 2 victims and or two deaths. Having said that...I agree with jatoorish. It depends on who the person is. I don't have any kids, but if I did I would go down with them no matter what. I also have many, many close friends who dive with me. What would I do? If it's a stranger?... So, it's really easy for me to say I would look back at the rescue class...It's a whole different story when I am in that situation. Hopefully I won't find myself there...Once again...very good post...It really makes you wonder...
rubbachicken
Contributor
i'd like to think i wouldn't leave someone, but i don't think i could give an honest answer untill after the event, i hope it never happens
i'm not sure i could remember all i was taught in the rescue course
i'm not sure i could remember all i was taught in the rescue course
R
redacted
Guest
I will instinctivly help someone in need if I can. My survival instinct is also fully functional. I'm going to depend on them to work it out.
I think, unless you already have a track record with these kinds of events, no one really knows what they will do when faced with a life-risking crisis. I've seen too many times when people's talk don't line up with their action when it hits the fan. People are often surprised to see who steps up to the plate in a crisis and who's over sitting in the corner sucking their thumb.
Of course, people who make a living dealing with emergences are the exception to this. But for the rest of us mortals, we really don't know how we'll react in advance, regardless of what we say.
We all like to hope we'd be there from a diver in need.
The truth is, you'll know what you'd do after it's happened.
Of course, people who make a living dealing with emergences are the exception to this. But for the rest of us mortals, we really don't know how we'll react in advance, regardless of what we say.
We all like to hope we'd be there from a diver in need.
The truth is, you'll know what you'd do after it's happened.
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