Dive safety

[budgy]

I look at accident stats and often see no stand by diver, no spare cylinder of air available on site for a search, no records kept of divers in the water, no 02 or first aid kit.
I guess its time I changed my ways.

 

[jonnythan]

Just out of curiosity re the actual poll question...

What would a stand-by diver have been able to do with most of these recreational SCUBA accidents?

 

[randyjoy]

The ONLY time I have a "stand-by" diver or any surface support is when I'm actually working (public safety diver). Otherwise, it's me and my buddy in the water with no surface support except what we brought.

I will admit that we always bring spare tanks, first aid and O2, our vehicles are radio equipped, etc.

 

[crab]

In certain circumstances, for example when doing a chartered boat dive, this would be reasonable-- and in some cases expected, but you have to be reasonable too. If I decided to take these steps as a mandatory part of diving, I would only be able to do it once or twice a year. This would be unacceptable. Additionally, more dives, conducted safely, are going to contribute to making a generally more confident and consequently safer diver. Abstaining from diving for the sake of waiting for the perfect circumstances seems like a recipe for declining skills to me.

 

[Cave Diver]

Most of my dives are done with a buddy. The only time there is 'surface support' is usually when we are spearfishing. One dive team stays on the boat and the other team is in the water, but that is mostly to make sure the boat stays anchored where it is supposed to.

On shore dives, there is usually extra tanks and often oxygen available if needed. In the event of buddy seperation we almost always practice the look for one minute then ascend method. However we strive to maintain good buddy awareness, so seperation rarely occurs even tho we usually dive in less than 7' of viz. When we do become seperated we realize it immediately as well.

 

[Liquid]

huh?

You mean people that actualy come with their friends only to watch them while they dive????

Why dosen't it seem such a great idea?

Knowing where's the closest emergency and O2 is one thing, but this is quite different. Besides- all of the dive-deaths I know of tend to happen to peaple, that from analysing their accident, are not too bright (to say the least). How many scuba deaths happened with the diver having his weights on and his tank half fool?

Check it- you might be amazed.

People die in dives that either took them beyond their limits (stupid) or they are susceptible to panic (which again is beyond their limits, and again, to do it is stupid). Even if you get to a tough situation you can ditch weights and emergency ascend to surface. Dcs on surface can be tended. Death at bottom can't.
Standby diver wont be much help here.

I'd really like to here from those that posted "never" dive without standby diver. And I'm not reffereing to guided dives (either boat or shore) but to private dives. Where you and your buddy go diving.

 

[jonnythan]

drive with a standby support car?

hike with a standby team of hikers?

take out the trash with a standby garbage man?

go to the mall with standby shoppers?

kayak with standby boats?

dive with a backup regulator?

OK, maybe that last one is alright.

Of course you have to take precautions, but if you need something as extreme as backup divers on the surface for you to do a drift dive, maybe diving isn't for you, eh?

Golf sure seems nice... but then you need those backup caddies and all.

 

[WreckWriter]

go to the mall with standby shoppers?

Unfortunately, yes, I usually do!

Tom

 

[jonnythan]

Just read something in the equipment board that made me think about this in a different light...

A standby diver is an attempt at a solution to a problem that shouldn't really exist. This attempt is clunky, unreliable, and probably not even effective.

If you're very concerned about personal safety as a diver, be the safest diver you can, and only dive with divers as safe as you are. I'm not endorsing DIR, and I'm certainly not DIR, but the DIR system seems to be targeted at maximizing dive safety.

Standby divers can't be of any assistance unless things have already gone terribly wrong. A coherent, logical diving system and philosophy focused on safety (and buddies who follow the same system) will help prevent and possibly eliminate those types of situations in the first place.

Want a backup diver? That's what your buddy should be.

 

[JDostal]

I dive with my buddy (or buddies) - that's it.

First off, try and find someone that just wants to hang out on the surface sometime. If they are a diver, they don't want to come along and not dive. If they are a non-diver, they find it boring as hell (trust me, I've tried).

It's really not feasible - when we dive charters, heck yeah - they usually hang a bottle down for deco if needed, have a dan o2 kit, the whole works.

But not when I'm just doing my usual shore diving.