Saving Lives - The New Team Sport

Yesterday was when we finally put all of the pieces of my four month journey to Rescue Diver together.  After classroom session number one with Virpi in February (The Master Scuba Diver Challenge!!) followed by the confusion of Andrew to the Rescue.... Or Not?, we finally got everything started back up in Andrew to the Rescue part... Doh!! where Ward taught the classroom section again (for the 4 new students that had joined the Recue program) and invited me to join.  Then that following Saturday Denis and Matt taught the in water Rescue scenarios in You are healed!!.  Which brings us to yesterday when Denis and Cheryl lead us through the final in water rescue scenarios but this time we got to put all of the learned items together.

In You are healed!! I got to practice with Matt on bringing a diver to the surface, and finding a lost diver in partners and dealing with a panicked diver.We also had opportunities to practice our in-water rescue breaths with the pocket mask while pulling a victim to shore and getting their gear off.  Yesterday we got to demonstrate our rescue breaths again, but this time without the pocket mask (yeah, you wanna see a group of guys squirm... tell them they are about to practice mouth to mouth...lol.)  With that skill out of the way (and no, lips did not actually touch...lol, you end up blowing more on their chin or just below), we moved on to the real tests.  Here is where you need to put all your training into action.  One buddy is sent out into the water and is in apparent need of assistance, the other two need to come from shore and bring the first guy out.  Now, in our scenarios we have the advantage of knowing time really isn't of the essence (no one is really dying) and we are more or less mentally prepared and expecting the scenario.  So when Denis said go it was no surprise that most everyone was ready.  But what you realize in the two minutes the scenario takes to start and complete... there is a LOT to think about.... How far out is the potential victim?  Do I take the time to put my kit on? What do I take with me? Is he the only victim?

One by one, here is the thought process: 

How far out is the victim?

• do you have to get in the water
• can he be reached wading
• can something be thrown to him
• can you reach him with a stick

Do I take the time to put my kit on?

• if I take the time he is in the water having issues longer
• if I don't have my kit and he goes under then I may not be able to reach him
• if I have my kit I will be slower in the water
• if I don't have my kit and he gets panicky I don't have the option of going under him

What do I take with me?

• do I grab a floatation device or make one
• do I need my fins and mask
• do I get another diver to come with me or wait for me on shore

Is he the only victim?

• Where is his dive buddy
• Is this a surface rescue or is he signaling for help because he can't find his buddy
• What is the potential of additional victims

After our 3 man practice scenarios we had an opportunity to discuss some of the above topics / questions and work towards solutions (where ones could be found), and where you just need to sometimes go with your training and instinct and do your best, because your best, even if it's only marginally successful, is still better than not doing anything at all.

After our briefing, it was time for the final test... the real test.  You see for this one, Cheryl, our helpless "damsel in distress" is a "missing diver," and our team of six "rescuers" are tasked with finding and rescuing her.  What we know is that she is missing, we have a rough area and a general depth, we also know that visibility SUCKS at that depth.... what we need to do is agree upon a strategy, make a plan and execute it flawlessly... we also have to do it in less than 10 minutes!  Not a PADI requirement, a Cheryl requirement... she gets cold...lol.  So here was my chance to shine... lol, after-all, I had been through the classroom session twice, had the best partner for day 1 (Matt), can't go wrong with a DM as your partner, especially one who makes you work..lol.  With everyone on the beach, and knowing the obstacles, we began to discuss.  The eventual plan that was agreed upon was to go out as a team of 6 each person having a dedicated buddy in case of seperation, drop down to depth and essentially holding hands move parallel to the beach, one of us in the middle navigating with a compass, the guy beside him counting kick cycles and the 2 guys on either end watching to see if they can find Cheryl.  Then after a set number of kick cycles, we would send the message down the line (through taps) and the inside person would stop and everyone would rotate around them to swing back in the opposite direction covering the next section.  Then, once found, the first group of dedicated buddies to reach her would surface her and while one starts pulling her in the other starts breaths.  This allows the fastest pair of remaining swimmers to head to shore to get the first aid and O2 ready and the final pair to work together, without interfering with the dragging or breathing, in getting her kit off before reaching shore.

With the plan in place it was time to stage the scene, to make it interesting we descended first and waited 2 minutes while Cheryl swam to a spot and descended.  At the 2 minute mark we started our search pattern, as we reached the end of our pass, the diver to my far left (I was in the middle) signaled along the line, and one by one we stopped and noticed there to the left of us barely visible in the murky water was Cheryl.  The team to my left secured her regulator and surfaced with the remaining 4 of us following close behind.  On the surface 2 of our divers raced for shore to secure the first-aid and air.  The two divers that brought Cheryl to the surface had already secured the pocket mask and were making their way to shore as the last member of our group and myself started undoing her kit and passing the items off.  By the time we had reached shore her full kit was off as was mine, so while the rest of my team stripped off their gear I pulled Cheryl up on shore to where the guys with first-aid and air were waiting to take over.  After a couple rounds of compressions and breaths... she was revived and safe to dive another day.

All in, this was one of the best courses I could have taken, it took longer to complete than intended but the information is definitely in there to stay.

I CAN BREATHE, I CAN BREATHE....

Or rather you can, or any other injured or distressed diver that I might come across...lol.  Last night I had the wonderful opportunity of being trained one on one by Shannon in Emergency O2.  The Emergency O2 specialty covers everything you need to know to administer Emergency O2, from how to recognize signals that someone is in distress, how to set-up the air, test it, what to say to the individual in distress and finally how to administer the O2 until medical help arrives. 

It's funny how much I am starting to feel like I belong at OPD, maybe one day they'll give me a key...lol.  I arrived a few minutes early last night and just waited out front for Shannon but had to laugh when she arrived and opened the door for me.  You see Shannon hurt her back recently (that was not the funny part) and was bringing gear (laundry) back to the shop, but due to her injury she is unable to lift anything so I had to go to her truck and bring in her laundry.  It's just like being at home, grab the laundry and get it put away...lol. 

It was a great night and lots of learning, instead of going through the book page by page and reviewing the chapter review one question at a time, because it was just the two of us, Shannon took me through everything in detail asking me questions along the way.  How fast should the flow be? What are the 2 different types of mask systems? What is Oxygen? What is it made up of? Why is it important? What does it do in the body?  It turns out in one of the recent classes Shannon was teaching, she had a Doctor in the class who was able to detail out exactly what the process is, from how much O2 the body actually absorbs, how much is exhaled, how that differs with exertion level, and what exactly it is doing in your body.  Shannon was kind enough to walk me through a similar conversation, and due to my gross lack of biology knowledge this was a great experience for me.  I now see lungs in a completely different way, no longer are they just bags that sit inside you and hold your air, they are complex systems of branches upon branches of what are called bronchi ending in bronchioles the thickness of a human hair!  This is where O2 is absorbed and then moved through your body... man we are an amazing creation!

After assembling and disassembling all 3 of the O2 units OPD has, and talking through all of the differences in masks, portability, ease of use, set-up, and additional tools.  Shannon then tested me by asking me to, given a scenario, (1)  pick which unit I would prefer to have, (2) set it up, (3) talk through what I would say to the diver, and (4) explain why I would have used this unit in the configuration that I did.  We went through a few scenarios so that I got experienced with a couple of the units and different masks and the uses of each depending on the divers status and the amount of O2 to be delivered and how it was to be delivered.

OPD (Ocean Pro Divers) has a great policy in regards to their Emergency O2 and their Emergency training.  Once you have received the training you are welcome (and encouraged) to repeat the course when they offer it again, free of charge, to ensure you are keeping up on all your skills.  Additionally, they allow divers to take out their O2 kits so that the kit is available should a diver need it, instead of just sitting in the shop where it doesn't do anybody any good. 

I am happy to say, I am now certified to administer Emergency O2... now I hope i will never need to...lol.  I am getting quite the collection of certification cards... and next month... NIGHT DIVING!!