Running low on air and failed safety stop

[whitefang21]

Thanks OP - definitely raising this discussion with the boys in the advanced nitrox and deco course. I am interested in finding out if there is anyway to match closely the algorithm from shearwater petrel and the oceanic geo 2.0. What that setting would be, instead of diving it in guage mode.

 

[TSandM]

Yes, I push checks, for that and other reasons. But I'm human, and there have been occasions where I have dived with people WAY more experienced than I am, where I haven't pushed the issue -- this was one of those times, and look what I got for being diffident!

Some people shouldn't dive. I've seen students whose anxiety levels were so high that I could only think that I would never want to be in the water with them, even though they eventually made it through the class and the skills. But one episode does not define a person, as the story I originally told indicates.

 

[DaleC]

I can see both sides.
On the one hand someone may demonstrate a propensity to panic that is habitual, a sort of abandoning responsibility that doesn't lend itself to diving.
On the other someone may panic because they simply do not know what to do. They may never have been taught or they may have let the conditions overwhelm rational thought. That occurance may be the catalyst for the person to revisit their approach, which might lead to them actually being a better diver.

When I was younger I was doing a practicum for my EMT-A course and in the middle of the night responded to a blind diabetic experiencing respiratory distress. I tried to do "something" but the situation overwhelmed me and I suffered a sort of mental freeze. My preceptor stepped in and opened a paper bag and stuck it over her mouth - she was simply hyperventilating. It was an important moment for me because he taught me to stop looking for the complicated answer and to just deal with what is in front of you, one thing at a time.

That guy also didn't sweat. I did and was amazed by his coolness. He told me it wasn't coolness at all - he'd had his sweat glands removed. Wat?

 

[scubadada]

Thanks OP - definitely raising this discussion with the boys in the advanced nitrox and deco course. I am interested in finding out if there is anyway to match closely the algorithm from shearwater petrel and the oceanic geo 2.0. What that setting would be, instead of diving it in guage mode.

I would imagine you could match the Petrel NDLs reasonably closely with the Geo2 by choosing DSAT with conservative factor or PZ+ with or without conservative factor. Probably depends on how the Petrel is programmed. The rec setting on low conservatism has a surfacing GF of 95.

I would like to know the answer to this question also. I have not seen it to date.

 

[scubadada]

Oceanic PZ+ and Shearwater Petrel 45/95 seem very close, at least for 1st dive NDLs. I would be interested to know if anyone has dived these repetitively and how closely they match

 

[ratchet04]

Same.
Your small deco obligation (safety stop?) would not equate to the danger posed by trying to keep the panicking diver at depth or making them surface without your octo. Go up, pass off the diver, and go down. Perhaps the OOA was really just their SPG dipping below 500psi, as we all know you NEVER surface with less than that! Funny, but I know someone who got bent bolting for just that reason.

Good point!