Northwest Dive Club

So I was diving this weekend a person corked and her buddy dragged her back down to 40 feet ish he said where she puked what’s everyone’s opinion is in water recompression ok with some agencies or is it a no across the board ? Last I heard the diver was ok

Agency has nothing to do with your question - DAN is the resource to ask for anything health related in diving.

IMHO....
It's a bad idea to "drag" your buddy back down after they've corked to the surface. I'd go as far to say it's a bad idea to "drag" your buddy anywhere unless they are incapacitated (or it's to the next pub )

First off they're probably exhausted, stressed and possibly panicked - Not in a good state of mind to be underwater. Next, If you're diving a recreational profile, your chances of having a serious DCS hit are pretty low. I'd be more worried that my buddy had a lung expansion injury and possibly an AGE - These are not something that can be treated in the water. It's best to head to shore/the boat and evaluate things from there.

It's also possible to get plain old motion sickness while diving, especially at shallow depths in poor visibility. I've had it happen twice, as in very rarely, but very connected to physical/visual disorientation, directly after perfectly normal and safe ascents etc.

Dive buddies aren't doctors. A person in distress should never be re-submerged. Way too risky. Better treatment is almost always available on the boat / on land. As soon as you make some Rambo call like that, you are liable to make someone's problem worse. Get them out of the water. Take a Rescue course.

Well, I once corked from 200ft with 45m of deco. I didnt die.

I have quite a few friends that are sat divers, some having to run from one habitat to another. You have roughly 3-4 minutes to get out of gear and into another habitat I've been told.

So rather than freak out, I took a breath, submerged back to 200ft and worked my way back, probably spent 45m alone at 20ft, and doubled every time on the way back up once above 60ft or so.

Heres Jill Heinerths story of in water recompression. I've read a few others.


https://www.sportdiver.com/scuba-diving ... guidelines

Its an option to consider if you have no other.

Although this topic might be better moved into technical diving section...

I'm going with BillZ's recommendation.

For typical recreational dive profiles, you can (theoretically) surface at any time without a significant risk of a DCS hit. AGE and drowning are the real concerns, and neither of those are going to be helped by in-water recompression.

Jeff Pack has the technical knowledge and presence of mind to make the recompression decision on his own; I see a big difference between that and dragging a rec buddy back down.

If *I* cork for some reason, put me on O2 if available, keep an eye on me, and call DAN. But please don't drag me back down unless it's my idea and I have a deco obligation.

Edit: You've got me thinking about whether I should keep an O2 kit with my gear. Does anybody else have one? Opinions?

Plan A you meet them at the surface, stay there, monitor for signs and symptoms, get them out of the water. From no-stop rec dive at 40 feet, they are unlikely to have major DCS. If they do end up injured, you did the correct and prescribed thing by getting them out of the water quickly and seeking oxygen or medical attention if there are signs/symptoms.

Plan B you decide you are a maverick genius and pull them down unnecessarily, against protocol, based on a hunch that you had about what might be happening. If they end up fine, they probably also would have been fine without being pulled down again. If not, then anything wrong with them is now also your fault for not following recommended protocol. They could even drown.

Some tech divers do voluntarily re-compress themselves--evidently--especially in locations or countries where it's the only option for treatment. It's kind of discussed in courses, but recommended only if you are not yet experiencing symptoms of DCS from missing a decompression stop. Different subject, advanced voluntary self-treatment.

If you are going to deco dive, you need to have O2 around. Thats a must have.

At the Marker Buoys dives, theres always an O2 kit. This isnt just for DCS, but other medical treatment until help arrives.

And if you are diving inside recreational depths, the buddy should seek prompt medical attention if help is at available. While recompression seems to work occasionally, there are other instances where there was no benefit. Just a delay in getting prompt medical attention, sometimes resulting in death. If it's me, get me out of the water, get me on O2, and get me help asap. I don't feel this should be moved to tech diving, as this is something all levels of Divers consider and discuss.