Take a refresher before the big trip.

**Scuba Mama** · 10-31-2007, 03:37 AM

I heard a trip report from my dive shop that made my skin crawl. I teach and I am proud of what and how I teach my students.

What made the omg feeling, was the report that a diver who had not been in a class for a while or out diving got separated from her buddy, did not watch her air and did an emergency ascent from 90 feet.

She claim to be o.k. and twice more during the week, she skipped her safety stop. It made me wonder just how o.k. she really is. I further found out she did not have dive insurance. I also found out her buddy whom had invited her was not watching her on the dives because he was making moves on another diver.

I'm glad I was unable to make this trip. I'm also waiting to see a DAN story of a diver returning weeks later seeking treatment.

The whole incident reminded me of what my first instructor asked the first day of class. What do you call a diver who does not monitor there air supply?

The answer: An IDIOT!

I dove with one new diver who ran out three times but she stayed with her buddy all week, which was me. She never understood why I got so mad with her for not monitor better, that is until one of the divers on a trip she was on died. It all sank in, everything I preached, how about that I was not the bit@#@#@ she thought I was and cared if she lived or died.

Yes, I am going on and on, but this is really simple if you have not been diving for a while take a refresher, don't feel you got it, and use the brain in side the head to think with, not just to hold a mask in place. The diver on the trip is lucky her family is not making final arrangements for her.

**glynneco** · 10-31-2007, 04:31 AM

Checking air is so basic. I check it compulsively. I like to dive so I want to live to be able to do it again and again. Air, ascent rate, safety stop. It's not a lot to remember to keep you alive and healthy.

**dalehall** · 10-31-2007, 01:58 PM

I'm with glynneco. I want to stay alive during a dive. I constantly check my air/depth/no Deco time when I'm down. You gotta love those computers showing all of that info at a glance.
How many dives does this lady have? Newbies, you can understand forgetting to check their air. But anyone with more than even a few logged dives should already have it as a habit. Safety stops, as well.

**MgicTwnger** · 10-31-2007, 02:42 PM

All this is all too true. I had a buddy die in an out-of -air situation a couple of years ago. He had been diving for one year, practically every weekend, but still only a year. He was a good diver for that level of experience but, IMHO, dove beyond that level. He was middle-age, ex-military, in good physical condition.
Although the exact chain of events is impossible to determine, he was diving a wide open, no penetration wreck at 120FFW (feet fresh water) on only an aluminum 80. He ran out of air or possibly had a bad reading from his hoseless computer, panicked, and grabbed his buddies primary reg. They shot to the surface, he was dead before they got him on board. Luckily his buddy survived with a trip to the deco chamber.

I did the same dive on the same dive boat that morning. He couldn't make the AM trip with me, so he did it that afternoon. I've never been so freaked out in my life.

**glynneco** · 10-31-2007, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MgicTwnger

He ran out of air or possibly had a bad reading from his hoseless computer, panicked, and grabbed his buddies primary reg. They shot to the surface, he was dead before they got him on board. Luckily his buddy survived with a trip to the deco chamber.

That's why I dive with a cave rig with a long primary and the octo on a necklace. I donate my primary and have ample room to try and contain the situation without the jolt and bolt thing.

**MgicTwnger** · 11-01-2007, 02:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glynneco

That's why I dive with a cave rig with a long primary and the octo on a necklace. I donate my primary and have ample room to try and contain the situation without the jolt and bolt thing.

I dive with that configuration, too. I have to wonder if it would have come out different if I was buddied with him. I doubt it, panic is the worst ju-ju, but you never know.

**glynneco** · 11-01-2007, 04:15 AM

The issue is buddy share with a panicked diver. You gotta get close when you dive with the rec config. Close is bad with panic. A couple of feet let you literally and figuratively gain space and time to gain control or if that fails yank the thing back and save you own butt. As you ascend slowly it gives you time to decide if you're going to make a safety stop or go all the way up to see if you can help. There HAS to be O2 for me to make that call on the surface.