What if miss a required safety stop?

[nohappy]

I understand that safety stop is not mandatory in recreational diving. However, according to PADI RDP's rule, a safety stop is required when a dive depth is greater than 100ft (30m). I understand that recreational diving maximum depth should be above 30m, but my question is that what if i accidentally exceed 30m in a dive (say 31m) and I also miss safety stop as PADI RDP required (but I'm not in deco), what should I do after the dive? Should I take this seriously as missing a deco stop since it's mandatory? Or I should regard this as missing a deep stop? Should I not dive in the next 24hrs?

If it's OK to miss this (after dive deeper than 30m) since it's called "safety stop" for safety only, how could PADI RDP make it mandatory?

 

[boulderjohn]

It is all a game of probabilities.

If you faithfully follow all the rules, the chances of you getting DCS are minimal. It can happen, but it is incredibly unlikely.

When you are at the point that PADI says that you should do a "required" safety stop, you are going from incredibly safe to a little more iffy, so they really want you to do that stop to stay in the incredibly safe zone. If you don't do that stop, the odds have just moved a little more against you, but not outrageously so.

If it's me, I just watch myself for signs of problems.

 

[RyanT]

If you were not in deco, you should be fine. The safety stop is just that, extra insurance against DCS. The reason safety stops are there is because there is a small chance of DCS even if diving within the no deco limits. Physiology is funny like that. Thus, adding a safety stop is just an easy way of reducing the already small probability of DCS. Here's the bigger question though, why would you miss a safety stop? If you plan your dive well and have proper buoyancy control, there is no reason to ever miss a safety stop.

 

[nohappy]

If you were not in deco, you should be fine. The safety stop is just that, extra insurance against DCS. The reason safety stops are there is because there is a small chance of DCS even if diving within the no deco limits. Physiology is funny like that. Thus, adding a safety stop is just an easy way of reducing the already small probability of DCS. Here's the bigger question though, why would you miss a safety stop? If you plan your dive well and have proper buoyancy control, there is no reason to ever miss a safety stop.

Thank you RyanT, I understand I should never miss it. I only wonder "what if" I miss a "required " safety stop (as PADI RDP said for a dive deeper than 30m). I just wanna know if the procedure is the same as missing a deco stop since it suddenly become "mandatory".

 

[RyanT]

Certainly! It's a good question!

 

[RyanT]

Here's another perspective on it. Back when I learned to dive in the early 80s, safety stops were not routinely taught or performed. In addition, I learned on the Navy tables with an ascent rate of 60 feet/min and the NDL limits were a little longer than they are now. Even back then, the DCS rates were fairly low. The shorter NDL times now plus, slower ascent rates build in even more conservancy. Nevertheless, do your safety stops and eat your veggies!

 

[redacted]

If you miss a SS, you should figure out what you need to do to not repeat that mistake.

 

[KeithG]

There has been a small bit of discussion about this in the past. PADI seems to have some weasel words.

The stop is required but not mandatory. What does that mean?

 

[nohappy]

There has been a small bit of discussion about this in the past. PADI seems to have some weasel words.

The stop is required but not mandatory. What does that mean?

Exactly! That confused me.

 

[NYCNaiad]

Though I don't think there'd be an issue, I am a conservative diver so I would likely not dive for 24 hours afterwards.