Oxygen, is it really all that important?

[String]

Disagree with you String. The skipper is responsible for all surface based safety and a good skipper has a load of experience that can be called on when things go wrong.

This does not , however, absolve a divers from their personal responsibility. The O2 Administrator has to be there - it could be the skipper or the dive marshall, DO or someone else and I suspect that was the point toodive4 was making.

Im still happy for the skipper to skipper on a charter boat and thats it. I dont expect him to be a diver or have an intricate knowledge of diving medicine. Divers should provide their own qualified administrator - its not exactly difficult to qualify for this. The more things you force a skipper to do the higher the price for charter. All divers should imho be trained in oxygen administrator and basic diving first aid anyway.

 

[offroaddiver]

Oxygen is like a first aid kit, if you don't know how to use it someone can die. I just found out from a friend he was on a dive boat that had oxygen, but the valve had rusted shut and the wrench was missing. I have met several people who survived DCI and they swear it is because of the oxygen on the boat they were diving. He will be able to dive again after he clears all the physicals and such. I've also met people who's dive buddies are gone because of DCI.

Do we use regulators that fail everytime we go diving? Do we go by our guts not following any computer or tables? Do we as divers not care about our health?

I feel oxygen is important and everyone on the boat have some idea as to how to administer the oxygen. Everyone on board a boat is supposed to be able to take control of the boat if necessary, know where life jackets are, and other such important information.

 

[BigJetDriver]

Folks,

Training is good!! Training helps to achieve a proper outcome in almost any situation! Heck, I get paid to train people to train!

Having said that, I have to say that if you are faced with a situation where you have a diver who needs 02, you have O2, and no one has been trained, USE IT ANYWAY!

Connect the mask, turn on the flow, put it on the diver's face, and let him or her breathe it. Don't strike a light for any reason near the patient. You folks are divers. You can turn a valve. You can fit a mask. You can do this. It won't hurt. It will almost certainly help. There are Good Samaritan laws to protect you, but again, it won't hurt, and will almost certainly help.

Those first few minutes can be CRITICAL!

 

[dbulmer]

BigJetDriver,
Yup makes sense but for those of us who have not done an O2 Admin course, what does it actually entail?

String,
I agree with you by and large - all I'm saying is that the better skippers are more than taxi drivers and you get what you pay for in the end.

 

[baitedstorm]

Here's the thing, while I'll be the first to say "Divers, you damn well better know how to save yourself and your buddy by continuing your education", I'm also here to stand up and say to any boat captains on this board or out in our dive industry, you have a duty to protect every person that boards your vessel. If you feel differently and have "a set of brass" ,I encourage you to post your name and your charter company. I'll be the first to say, I wont ride with you and will go to great lengths to make sure the people I love and care about don't get on your vessel either.

For God sakes, I'm not asking for an intricate knowledge of diving medicine, just a Captain who can handle things should "it" hit the fan. Having a successful business is NOT a right, it's a privilege. If I hear of someone violating divers safety, you better believe I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure each and every diver I speak to knows what that captain (and where his charter business is at) is up too.

I ask myself this before going out with someone new. After speaking to the crew and Captain and checking out the boat, would I allow my child to dive with this dive op? Would I trust the Captains ability to come to her aid if something bad happened?
All to often, we put our own safety on the back burner for a great time, me included. So by asking for my daughter, it tends to put things more into perspective for me.

I'm not trying to cause a war with boat Captains, of course the only ones whom would argue with me on this would be the ones who don't find themselves responsible for their customers safety anyway's.. I just want to really make sure our brand new people understand how important it is to know what's going on before trusting their lives to strangers. I want them to know, they have a RIGHT to stand up and ask where the O2 is and if they can see it. They also have a right to get the heck off that vessel if they find the boat to be unsafe.

My suggestion, if a diver is going out with a dive charter for the first time, get there early, ask basic questions like, do you have a first aide kit on board and someone qualified to use it? Whom would that person be? Do you have O2 on board? Someone who can administer it? Whom would that be? Ask if you could check out the O2, in fact you can tell them your friend Vickie from the SB got burnt (morally speaking) bad by a Captain lying about having O2 on his vessel and ever since that happened to her, you just need to check it out for yourself.


And now I'm going to take NetDoc's advice and stop posting cause I'm annoyed and may say something I would regret later

 

[ianr33]

Excellent Thread
I am thinking of getting another deco tank dedicated to O2. This would only be used occasionally on dives but would be a good thing to have in an emergency. In the event of an unconscious diver it would be useless though. Is there an adapter/mask that lets you use a normal scuba reg on an unconscious patient?

 

[baitedstorm]

I haven't seen one as of yet. You need a free flowing mask once the injured has gone unconscious. I am by far, no expert on this, but we have some extremely knowledgeable members here that would know. I'm going to send a few of them a pm and see if they could help out with your question.

 

[cornfed]

Is there an adapter/mask that lets you use a normal scuba reg on an unconscious patient?

There was a thread about this on TDS a while back. All you need is an adaptor to convert DIN to a medical regulator and the medical reg, of course.

Several people said they had medical regs with 1/4" NPT fittings and it's pretty easy to find an adaptor to take that to DIN. After that all you need is a non-rebreather mask and they're easy enough to find.

Try giving North East Scuba Supply a call. I didn't see everything on there website but John (the owner) has a good reputation for helping out with fill whips, adaptors, etc.

 

[jbisjim]

Every Charter I go on I ask about o2, even a lot of my buds who have boats now maintain 02 on board. I even take a bottle when helping with open waters.

Very important IMHO...

 

[Divesherpa]

Is there an adapter/mask that lets you use a normal scuba reg on an unconscious patient?

In the strange and rare event that something like this happens and there are only standard scuba decompression cylinders available, a normal scuba regulator can be used. Being unconscious means that the diver will not be able to hold the regulator in his/her mouth. At this point, whoever is managing the accident would choose someone who is competent enough to hear breathing (and continue visual scans over the victim ) to hold the regulator in the victim's mouth. This puts the "holder" in touch with the regulator and ensures that the victim has a dedicated hand on him/her at all times. It also frees up the accident manager to continue assisting others and communicate with shore for support of the accident.