First Assist

[MRadke]

I realize that for most, this isn't a big deal, but it was for me. I performed my first diver assist while in Cancun at the end of February. The diver had lost his tank and was struggling and I was close enough to help. The divemaster wasn't too far away, but had a new diver by the arm. He said he saw it happen, but I was on it so quick that he thought he would see how I handled it. Ten seconds later, problem solved.

The one thing that I think I could have done better is communicate better before I wrestled the tank back into its strap. I came from behind and, while I know he saw me, I'm not sure he knew what was going to happen. How would one of you veterans have handled it?

 

[Bubbletrubble]

You did well to recognize the issue and intervene. Job well done.

Did the situation unfold at the surface?
Was the diver your buddy?

I would not consider myself a "veteran," but here are my thoughts on the matter...

Incorrectly threaded or improperly tightened cambands will lead to this issue. In the vast majority of cases, a loose tank camband should be noticed and corrected during pre-dive checks. Pre-wetting the camband can help, since newer camband material tends to stretch a little when immersed in water. FWIW, divers using BCDs with two tank cambands (instead of one) rarely experience this issue of a "loose" tank.

If this kind of scenario were to unfold at the surface, you could tell the diver to hold up for a few seconds while you assisted. Most of the time this sort of issue reveals itself when the diver enters the water. Here in SoCal, we see it all the time during surf entries on shore dives. I've assisted entering shore divers with this issue a few times. Not a big deal really. Either we exited the water completely to make the fix or we got past the surf zone and made the fix there.

Obviously, if the loose tank occurred upon exit in the shallows (once again for shore diving), there is the option of having the diver doff the rig and carry it onto the shore. I've helped out an exiting shore diver with this problem on a couple of occasions. Both times, it was easier for him/her to doff the rig and for me to just carry the rig to shore. Bear in mind that, when asking the diver to doff his BCD in water deeper than waist/chest deep, you should be wary of how much lead the diver has and where it's positioned (on the diver in the form of weightbelt/harness or in the BCD in the form of weight-integrated pockets). You don't want to separate a negatively buoyant diver from his BCD which is allowing him to stay safely on the surface. That's a recipe for turning him into a dirt dart.

If the scenario unfolded underwater, I'd flash the "stop" sign, try to communicate what was the matter in case the diver didn't understand why the reg was being pulled from his mouth (flashing the "problem" sign, pointing to my tank, pointing to the diver), and then let him know that I was going to help.

On a few occasions with newbies underwater, I've witnessed a tank barely being held in by the camband. In such cases, I've chosen to intervene early on -- the sooner, the better.

In some cases, wrangling the tank back into the camband can be easier at a shallow depth with the diver in a prone position, preferably laying flat on the sand. Having another diver around to assist can also help things along.

 

[seaducer]

I would have approached from where the diver could see me and let them know I was going to help, then done so.

Sounds like you are ready for Rescue...

 

[MRadke]

Bubbletrubble - The incident occurred at about 60ft. As near as I could tell, the tank was mounted a little low to begin with and wiggled its way further down. The cam seemed to have adequate pressure when I secured it. The diver was not my buddy, nor did I see his buddy nearby. My own buddy, who is a divemaster and my firechief, was twenty feet away watching the situation unfold and probably laughing a little. The dive leader was about 15 feet away and did signal the diver I was helping to relax. The tank really didn't give too much trouble. I was able to get my knee under it while holding the cam band open.

Seaducer - Thanks, but I think I'd like to get a bunch more dives under my belt before I tackle the rescue course. I learned a lot this year and want to continue building my experience. I didn't think about my approach angle until after the fact. At the time, I didn't think about it because for ice rescue, we teach to approach from the back, talk to the victim but to not let them get their hands on you. I can see where a different approach might be required underwater.

 

[seaducer]

At the time, I didn't think about it because for ice rescue, we teach to approach from the back, talk to the victim but to not let them get their hands on you. I can see where a different approach might be required underwater.

If they are panicking or nearly so you would take the rear approach as well. In this case it sounds as though the diver was under control and trying to figure out what was up or how to fix it, it is just easier on you both if the other diver relaxes, otherwise the two of you may wind up working against each other. I don't think it is a safety issue as much as a convenience.

 

[Insta-Gator]

 

[warmwaterturner]

Nice job, MRadke. Good feelin, huh! Now go take the Rescue Diver if you have'nt already done so.

 

[scubamarketing]

This reminds me of when I took my deep diver specialty course. A fellow student had a tank slip out, the instructor didn't notice, and a gang of six or so of us pounced on the diver with the tank out to "help". He fought a mighty fight, we pinned him into the silt and "fixed" him, then casually swam off. He glared at us until we reached the surface, then started yelling at us. We didn't realize he didn't know what we were doing. Oops