OOA Buddy starts to drag you up by your octo - What would you do?

[Ice9]

I just had this horrible thought:

Lets say we are down around 100 ft and my buddy goes OOA. Of course, I donate my octo, and he accepts. My buddy then proceeds to abandon all training, and with a BC full of air, decides its time to start rocketing to the surface - dragging me along behind him. What do you do?

 

[Vayu]

Take control of your crazy buddy....

If your buddy was calm enough to get some of your gas, chances are your touch and confidence will be enough to keep him sane.

The more likely scenario would be your buddy doing a solo ascent.

You should definately be sure to cover OOA procedures in your pre dive plan, and dive with a buddy you know will not kill you. That is rule #1. 100' may not seem deep but its deep enough to choose someone you know is in the right state physically and mentally. One that has had the proper training and experience to comfortably share or recieve gas at the depth of the dive.

Also, why would you donate your octo? Maybe that is contributing to his panic. Your buddy just recieved a reg that has no bubbles coming out of it and may not even be working. Give him your primary regulator. The fact that you were just breathing from it will help him keep the cool.

Maybe your buddy thought you didn't have enough gas for a proper ascent. Make sure to plan gas for both you and your buddy. Discussing all this pre dive may give that person the confidence to save themselves.

 

[Sharky1948]

Just remember the training your buddy is abandoning. Deflate his/her BCD, look him straight in the eyes, and try to calm him down. If that doesn't work, get behind your buddy and hold onto his tank valve and try to control him that way.

Above all, remember that two injured divers are never better than one. Do what you have to do to be safe yourself.

 

[ShallowDiverDave]

Vent buddies' BC and control him/accent. If buddy decides to add air manually, then take a more drastic measure if you like, puncture his bc (j/k). If buddy gets really crazy and drops weight, then position your bodies for maximum surface area. Although, there is a scenario where buddy has gone so far, that both lives are now in question, then one might consider abandoning buddy (but this would have to be so extreme).

 

[Sharky1948]

If he's OOA, how is he inflating? I doubt a panicked OOA diver would be sucking a donated reg and taking the time to manually inflate. If he is doing that, it's easy enough to just grab the inflator so he can't. I would definitely NOT get out a knife with a panicked diver. That's a good way to end up with two injuries.

 

[ShallowDiverDave]

If he's OOA, how is he inflating? I doubt a panicked OOA diver would be sucking a donated reg and taking the time to manually inflate. If he is doing that, it's easy enough to just grab the inflator so he can't. I would definitely NOT get out a knife with a panicked diver. That's a good way to end up with two injuries.

buddy, the knife part (j/k) was a joke and the bit about manual inflation is I agree, very very unlikely, but generally speaking, if he continues to find ways to speed the accent.

 

[Sharky1948]

Sorry....is j/k an acronym for joke? New one on me!

 

[Ice9]

See thats what scares me about insta-buddies. You never know how they will react and I bet it wouldn't be easy to seperated from one if they were to endanger your life after grabbing your octo.

I really don't want to follow a neoprene panic-rocket to the top...

*shudders at the thought*

 

[Nemrod]

This is exactly why the seven foot long hose is WRONG. The first thing in life saving is controlling the person and establishing that control by exuding confidence and CONTROL is crucial. The OOA buddy is a VICTIM and they may panic and having them run out to the end of a seven foot long hose and drag you helplessly behind is the biggest reason the DIR approach is wrong for open water. You cannot control the victim, you cannot insure physical contact with them, you cannot keep them close enough for eye contact, if they break loose and run out to the end of the hose your just going along for a ride unless you yank the regulator away from them in which case they may well be injured or worse. The whole point of assisting the buddy or OOA diver is to make a safe ascent best done by controlling the situation and close contact with the OOA diver, not possible if they are seven feet away.
N, militantly non-dir

 

[CAPT HOOK]

Mods, please move the rest of this discussion to the DIR forum while they debate the long hose!!