Nonbreathing victim + deco stop. How to handle it.

[MikeFerrara]

DiverBuoy once bubbled...
He did say the night before he reprogrammed the computer.

"I don't believe in the no-win scenario, there's no such thing, I've always cheated death"

Kirk needs to get his head out of the clouds and get in the water more.

I disagree because I don't believe in the no-win scenario. Believe you can, believe you can't either way your right. Also someone said that the only real unforgivable sin a diver can make is to give up. My intention is to survive every dive. I intend on having a fix for anything that breaks and a solution for any problem that comes up.

The one thing bewildering about this thread is all the divers that say '' but what if it just happens". One of the things I like most about diving is the control I have and the challange of learning to have control of increasingly complex dives. I understand that everyone gets something different out of diving but to look at a decompression obligation as something that someone else did to you is IMO irresponsible and shows an attitude that is completly incompatable with diving if not changed.

 

[budgy]

I am told that if a person isn't breathing its likely that O2 starvation will rapidly result in brain damage.
If a persons heart isn't beating I am told its doubtful if heart compressions and rescue breathing will resuscitate the patient Some quote 3min as the deadline for permanent brain damage I don't suppose we really know the exact limits, just that the brain is rapidly reaching the level of none recovery.
It must be obvious that any attempted underwater rescue on a non breathing diver is unlikely to be succesful. A person engaging in a rescue has an obligation not to put themselves at excessive risk.
Many non tech recreational divers plan their dives so that in the case of emergency they can always immediatly return to the surface safely.
l

 

[O-ring]

...warp factor 5 over to the "Non-Diving Related Geeky Material" forum that Spectre just created...

 

[Aquamaniac]

:frownshk:

 

[jiveturkey]

MikeFerrara once bubbled...
To look at a decompression obligation as something that someone else did to you is IMO irresponsible and shows an attitude that is completly incompatable with diving if not changed.

I didn't said that anybody forced anyone into anything. My question was just a hypothetical situation....to get some clarification on what to do in a situation where there is a deco stop and an unbreathing diver. If you go by the book, the rescue manual says the obligation is to myself. Maybe I should have left it at that. I'm simply wondering what other people think their obligation to the victim would be in such a situation. If it's worth getting into the situation for a buddy. I asked the question because I want to become a more responsible diver not because this is a situation I've encountered or ever hope to get myself in. Maybe I shouldn't have asked the question in the first place. I really didn't think people were going to call me irresponsible for asking about something.

Mike, you said "I intend on having a fix for anything that breaks and a solution for any problem that comes up." So maybe you and Uncle Pug mean that I shouldn't have placed myself at risk by straying into a decompression dive and not letting this "thing happen". That when the manual says I am the priority not the victim means that I should stay vigilant when respecting the nondecompression limit. I should have gone back to the boat and called for help from the coast guard or from fresh divers before I get into a decompression dive. Is that what I should have done instead of straying? I've only finished the manual and my course doesn't start until the weekend. I'm not avocating anything in this post. I'm not a rescue diver yet. I'm just looking for opinions from other experienced divers.

 

[MikeFerrara]

jiveturkey,

My comment regarding having a fix or solution for everything was in response to th "no-win scenario". I was reinforcing the fact that I don't believe in it.

How much risk you expose yourself to in a rescue is a valid concern. It is a jugement call that I think has been addressed pretty well in this thread.

Some have assumed that a rec diver slipping into deco on accident wouldn't have much of an obligation and therefore would have little risk in surfacing. This may be true but there are still a bunch of variables and no garantees. The fact is you base the decision on your perception of the chances of a successful rescue vs the chances of serious injury to yourself. But...It is hard to asses the risk of skipping some deco for a diver with no training or experience in deco procedures.

Also I am concerned about the fact that so many rec divers do push their computers into deco. IMO they are taking a big risk that will likely come back and bite them.

 

[builderbloke]

im intrested in this i agree that if the non breathing diver was sombody that got them self in trouble for lack of training or just being iresponsable then its there problem shoot them up and good luck

but what if.....or... what would your solution for a problem that came up be if it was a planed deco dive with an hour stop the buddy was your wife/husband or sombody very close and for some reason while your both at your ceiling he she had problems and dissapered out of the viz line beneath
i think you would go looking for the diver but what would you do back at your ceiling knowing youve got a long deco still to do and your gunna be bent on surface what would you do ??

i pray that this scenario never happens to any of you !

 

[builderbloke]

most would say to hell with the bends i'd stick with my love one

but i cant think of anouther way of putting it

 

[nicodaemos]

builderbloke, read "The Last Dive" for a similar scenario.

 

[Uncle Pug]

builderbloke once bubbled...
but what if...

I am absolutely committed to my buddy. Perhaps we need to resurrect the old thread: "When to ditch your buddy."

And this is precisely why I cannot allow my recreational buddy to put themself and thereby me into this situation.