Poll 2: What decision?

[Janos]

PLEASE READ THE DESCRIPTIONS BEFORE VOTING

Okay, on my previous poll, quite a lot of people said that if just one person thinks the Coastguard should be called, they should be called. I'm interested what people's decisions would be in the following hypothetical scenarios.

The scenario

You are on a YD TGI Friday trip, that someone has organised. You've booked on with your buddy, but although you recognise a few of the YD names it's the first time you've met anyone in real life. You are diving a 30m wreck, and there are a variety of runtimes planned. Some people are planning a 20minute no stop dive, some people are planning an hour at 30m with around 20 minutes of stops.

In all cases assume you are the most experienced diver on board (with the possible exception of the casualty). If you ask the skipper what to do he tells you that he wouldn't bother calling the CG, but that if you decide a call should be made he will make it for you.

So in which of these scenarios would you ask him to call the coastguard?

Scenario 1: Skin bend

You overhear a YDer telling his buddy that he has had another skin bend. After a quick chat with him you find out that he regularly gets skin bends, but he is not worried about them. He has sought medical advice a few skin bends ago, but was told they are nothing to worry about.

Scenario 2: Beeping computer

A YDer who has been diving solo diver surfaces with a beeping computer. He claims that he forgot to set his computer to Nitrox, and so did the dive on tables and intentionally bent his computer.

Scenario 3: Missed safety stop

A couple of divers surface. They are inexperienced and they had a normalish-ascent after 15 minutes on the bottom, a no-deco dive. However it turns out one of them was slightly underweighted, and although they did not have a rapid ascent, he could not hold a safety stop and he ended up hitting the surface.

Scenario 4: Tired diver

On the way back in, one diver is very tired, lethargic, and falls asleep. He did a runtime of around 70 minutes, and you are unsure how much of that was deco. He did drive down this morning though (a four hour trip)

Scenario 5: Rapid ascent - start of the dive

You are last to get in, and a buddy pair surface quickly before you have even got in the water. It turns out that just three minutes into the dive, before they'd even left the shotline, one of the divers lost buoyancy and had a rapid ascent to the surface. The other diver followed more slowly, but skipped his safety stop

Scenario 6: Rapid ascent - end of dive

You are back on board. A buddy pair surface. It turns out one of the divers got entangled in his DSMB line during deployment and had a rapid ascent. They had spent around 15 minutes at 30m. The buddy ascended slowly, but skipped his safety stop.

Scenario 7: Shortened deco

Two rebreather divers surface back on board. One of the strips off his kit very quickly and dashes for the loo. Once finished he explains that he was bursting for a piss, and so cut his deco short by five minutes. He explains that this is ok as he normally does very conservative deco, and even five minutes shorter is still more than some people would do.

Scenario 8: Headache

A diver surfaces with a cracking headache. No other symptoms.

Scenario 9: Banged knee

A diver is climbing out of the boat on the ladder and falls badly, banging her knee on the edge of the boat. Once dekitted, she complains of a pain in her knee. No other symptoms.

Scenario 10: Missed deco - 3 minutes

Back on board a diver is embarassed because he misread his computer and skipped three minutes of stops.

Scenario 11: Missed deco - 30 minutes

Back on board a diver is embarassed because he misread his computer and skipped thirty minutes of stops.

None of the above

Self explanatory I hope!

The question is irrelevant, I would not book myself on to such a trip

Tick this box if you would not book on such a trip. Perhaps you only book on trips where the is a qualified marshall, or the dive centre owner would be expected to take control.

Janos

[John63]

Originally Posted by Janos

[b]
Scenario 11: Missed deco - 30 minutes

Back on board a diver is embarassed because he misread his computer and skipped three minutes of stops.

Hi,

sorry, just to clarify, is that 3 minutes missed of 30minutes or should it read that all 30 minutes were missed?

[purple vonny]

This is going to be a very long thread isn't it. have you been up all night?

I would not call the coastguard for someone having a kip, banging their knee or having a headache. But I would monitor the person with a headache and ask if they know what might have caused it. (only becuase I often have headaches myself!)

For anyone with any obvious rapid ascent, I would inform the coastguard and await advice while giving O2 and doing a neuro check. I met a guy last night who was potted for 6 hours after a rapid ascent a couple of days ago from 12 metres who felt fine.

That's the short answer.

[Janos]

Originally Posted by John63

Hi,

sorry, just to clarify, is that 3 minutes missed of 30minutes or should it read that all 30 minutes were missed?

Good spot. Duly edited.

Janos

[Janos]

Originally Posted by purple vonny

This is going to be a very long thread isn't it. have you been up all night?

Not all night. Just an injured foot which is finally getting better. Might be able to walk to the pub later

I'm just trying to provoke a bit of thought while keeping my views to myself (for the time being).

Janos

[purple vonny]

sorry Janos, I jumped in before the poll was up!!!! Thought everyone would comment on every scenario.

[gobfish1]

no 6 and a no 11 for me , and a large bag of chips please ,,

[Scuttler]

I'd definately call for 30 minutes missed deco without question.

The skin bend is a difficult one. I think I'd keep an eye on the person and run through the 5 minute Neuro check. If other symptoms presented themselves I'd recommend that the CG is called. Without question though I'd insist the diver potted themselves or contacted DDRC for further advice because it's clear his "medical advice" isn't normal!

The other scenarios would only be a "keep an eye open for any signs of DCS".

[Lou]

These polls are always slightly disingenuous as no one of these decisions wouldbe made in the isolation of 2 lines of info. However I answered based only that info. In real life several more of those options would prompt further action which may lead to the CG being called for advice - even if the "casualty" didn't want it.

I still feel guilty that I didn't wake Steve up and tal to him when he had a "kip". I wrongly assumed it was the long drive that morning, even though a deco dive had been conducted. Despite there being no formal obligation on me to act in that situation, in the same way I would not walk past someone on the street in trouble, I believe that I have a responsibilty to act for the best as soon as I am aware of any issue where I can help. If I had thought and then acted perhaps some of the laterseverity might have been nipped in the bud.

[John63]

The scenario

You are on a YD TGI Friday trip, that someone has organised. You've booked on with your buddy, but although you recognise a few of the YD names it's the first time you've met anyone in real life. You are diving a 30m wreck, and there are a variety of runtimes planned. Some people are planning a 20minute no stop dive, some people are planning an hour at 30m with around 20 minutes of stops.

In all cases assume you are the most experienced diver on board (with the possible exception of the casualty). If you ask the skipper what to do he tells you that he wouldn't bother calling the CG, but that if you decide a call should be made he will make it for you.

So in which of these scenarios would you ask him to call the coastguard?

Scenario 1: Skin bend

You overhear a YDer telling his buddy that he has had another skin bend. After a quick chat with him you find out that he regularly gets skin bends, but he is not worried about them. He has sought medical advice a few skin bends ago, but was told they are nothing to worry about.

Yes, repeated incidence of DCI

Scenario 2: Beeping computer

A YDer who has been diving solo diver surfaces with a beeping computer. He claims that he forgot to set his computer to Nitrox, and so did the dive on tables and intentionally bent his computer.

Would want to see some evidence of depth, run times, mixe, profile if possible

Scenario 3: Missed safety stop

A couple of divers surface. They are inexperienced and they had a normalish-ascent after 15 minutes on the bottom, a no-deco dive. However it turns out one of them was slightly underweighted, and although they did not have a rapid ascent, he could not hold a safety stop and he ended up hitting the surface.

Not initially. Non deco dive. Normal acscent to 5-6m. Monitor and if condition worsend then call

Scenario 4: Tired diver

On the way back in, one diver is very tired, lethargic, and falls asleep. He did a runtime of around 70 minutes, and you are unsure how much of that was deco. He did drive down this morning though (a four hour trip)

No. My mate regularly nods off, even after a shallow short dive. Check with buddy if this normal. Check RT/ depths

Scenario 5: Rapid ascent - start of the dive

You are last to get in, and a buddy pair surface quickly before you have even got in the water. It turns out that just three minutes into the dive, before they'd even left the shotline, one of the divers lost buoyancy and had a rapid ascent to the surface. The other diver followed more slowly, but skipped his safety stop

NO. No nitrogen load.

Scenario 6: Rapid ascent - end of dive

You are back on board. A buddy pair surface. It turns out one of the divers got entangled in his DSMB line during deployment and had a rapid ascent. They had spent around 15 minutes at 30m. The buddy ascended slowly, but skipped his safety stop.

Yes

Scenario 7: Shortened deco

Two rebreather divers surface back on board. One of the strips off his kit very quickly and dashes for the loo. Once finished he explains that he was bursting for a piss, and so cut his deco short by five minutes. He explains that this is ok as he normally does very conservative deco, and even five minutes shorter is still more than some people would do.

No

Scenario 8: Headache

A diver surfaces with a cracking headache. No other symptoms.

No.

Scenario 9: Banged knee

A diver is climbing out of the boat on the ladder and falls badly, banging her knee on the edge of the boat. Once dekitted, she complains of a pain in her knee. No other symptoms.

No

Scenario 10: Missed deco - 3 minutes

Back on board a diver is embarassed because he misread his computer and skipped three minutes of stops.

No. Monitor condition.

Scenario 11: Missed deco - 30 minutes

Back on board a diver is embarassed because he misread his computer and skipped thirty minutes of stops.

Yes, straight away



In many of the cases putting the diver on O2 as a precaution would seem to be a wise move.