What constitutes an emergency?

[boulderjohn]

I would define an emergency as any situation that presents an immediate threat of serious injury or death.

The key word in that sentence, one defined differently by different people, is "immediate."

Go back to my example of going OOA. If you go OOA during a typical OW recreational dive, I don't see any immediate threat of serious injury or death. If you have a pony bottle or a nearby buddy, you should have an alternate air source within a few seconds. If not, you should be a brief CESA away from the air on the surface. Thus, by that definition of "immediate," going OOA on a dive is not an emergency.

 

[dmaziuk]

I'd say "an abnormal operation that requires immediate action". You need both, and it does not have to be life-threatening, just not normal. Being OOG is abnormal and requires immediate action. Breathing out of buddy's octopus is abnormal but does not require any more immediate action (unless the buddy is also OOG, of course). A freeflowing reg probably doesn't qualify for "abnormal", but most would take immediate action because it's annoying and a waste of gas.

 

[seeker242]

The key word in that sentence, one defined differently by different people, is "immediate."

Go back to my example of going OOA. If you go OOA during a typical OW recreational dive, I don't see any immediate threat of serious injury or death. If you have a pony bottle or a nearby buddy, you should have an alternate air source within a few seconds. If not, you should be a brief CESA away from the air on the surface. Thus, by that definition of "immediate," going OOA on a dive is not an emergency.

I would say it could be an emergency, depending on the person. If OOA causes the person to panic and bolt, while holding their breath.

 

[boulderjohn]

I would say it could be an emergency, depending on the person. If OOA causes the person to panic and bolt, while holding their breath.

If you read my earlier post, you will see that the premise in the workshop I was citing was that an incident (like being OOA) becomes an emergency when the response to it is inappropriate.

 

[sea_otter]

In diving, we are trained to think "this is not an emergency" as an approach to staying calm. A silt out is an abnormal operation that requires immediate action, but that immediate action should be as simple as extending a hand to establish touch contact with the line. A diver trained in and following proper procedures for the environment would not call it an emergency.

Simply saying the words "this is an emergency" triggers a stress response. That yields an increased heart rate, increased focus, increased adrenaline, and increased breathing rate. Though too much can always backfire, this can be helpful response on land. It never makes things better underwater.

Is a gas loss or OOA an emergency? Well, I'm going to signal "emergency" if I need a buddy's reg, but in my mind, no. Because if I call it an emergency, I'm far more likely to screw it up. It's a problem that requires immediate action, yes, but it's one for which we have a contingency plan and means to reach the surface safely.

If that plan doesn't exist, or as John suggests, someone doesn't follow it, then it potentially becomes an emergency.

 

[tcpip95]

Years ago when I first began my dive training, my instructor told me "Stay calm. The only emergency is one in which you're out of air. Everything else is an inconvenience". I thought that was a great message for teaching a student to remain calm and work the problem.

 

[The Chairman]

A diver trained in and following proper procedures for the environment would not call it an emergency.

Training is great and I wholly advocate for it. However, with greater depth comes greater stupidity and the inability to problem solve. This is why many an "overly" trained divers devolve into panic and die when they should have survived. Training needs to be coupled with commensurate experience in order to transfer the knowledge from the merely esoteric to the practical and then even into an almost automatic response. Zero to hero can introduce a diver to all sorts of skills that he has spent precious little time to perfect, much less internalize. Doing a skill correctly is great. Knowing when to use that skill is just as important. Remembering it when it's truly needed and you're stressed to the max is what garnering experience is all about.

Know your limits, including experience and honor them. Avoid the panic troll by diving conservatively.

 

[Bob DBF]

In diving, we are trained to think "this is not an emergency" as an approach to staying calm

Which begs the question, If an emergency happens underwater and no one says emergency, did it really happen?


Bob

 

[Lorenzoid]

I refuse to contemplate the word "emergency" during a dive for the reasons stated in this thread. If I actually had an emergency, you people are welcome to use it later in your accident analysis discussion.

 

[NAUI Wowie]

My friend Carol posted this on the NFSA facebook page and I think it's warranted to discuss here

"What constitutes an emergency? Theoretically in cave diving we should have no "emergencies" because we have - by accident analysis - supposedly thought through every possible adverse event and have a contingency action to account for it and survive. So if something "happens" and we take corrective action are we having an "emergency" or are we just terminating our dive earlier than planned using an alternative procedure?. If one of the engines on my two engine airplane quits am I having an emergency or just landing earlier than planned - as it flies perfectly well on one engine (The FAA says it's an "emergency" but they have a legal definition formed in an office). Common sense and good practice would suggest that we hold ourselves (or our team) wholly responsible for the assets and training needed to complete our dive either under nominal or "contingency" situations. Does relying on someone elses interpretation and indication of the cave topology ("way out") meet this requirement? I do not have a good solid 100% answer to either question, but I do have a good, solid 100% answer to how I am going to conduct a given cave dive and what I am going to do in any given scenario that I encounter or can reasonably think of based upon my training and experience. When am I having an emergency? If I am how much do I rely on others to help me survive? Is a silt out an "emergency"? I have after all been trained how to deal with zero visibility conditions. In case you had not realised by now this post refers to the "Lamar Peacock Cookie Controversy" and is intended to further thoughtful and insightful discussion - I am not offering a solid opinion or solution as I do not have one yet. In life some people are catalysts for change, some are not. Sometimes change is difficult, sometimes it is wrong, sometimes it is not. The only way we can find out is to explore and discuss, sometimes starting the discussion is difficult, and painful, and clumsy. Remembering that the final best solution or change will probably take compromise - a seemingly ancient and forgotten art in some aspects these days. When commenting to this post please consider if you have something to add or are simply being sarcastic, attempting humor or criticizing without suggestion."

when my underwater ipod stops working