Rescue Diver - Chapter One

Question 1

What is the most common cause of diver emergencies?

Answer 1

Poor judgement

Question 2

What three things should you consider before attempting an inwater rescue of someone in the water?

Answer 2

1. Whether you need to get in the water (if not already)
2. If you have the equipment and training necessary
3. If you can reasonably expect to accomplish the resuce without getting into trouble yourself

Question 3

What is diver stress?

Answer 3

Stress is defined as physical or mental tension that results in physical, chemical, and/or psychological changes in the body. Stress is a response to a perceived threat.

Question 4

What are seven causes and examples of physical stress?

Answer 4

1. Cold and heat
2. Nitrogen narcosis
3. Seasickness
4. Fatigue
5. Illness or injury
6. Alcohol or drugs
7. Discomfort or impaired function caused by ill fitted or malfunctioning equipment

Question 5

What are three examples of psychological (emotional) stress caused by physical stress?

Answer 5

1. Fear of being able to make it safely to boat or shore due to fatigue
2. Fear that the regulator cannot deliver enough air due to overexertion and feeling air starved
3. Feeling overwhelmed by being loaded with physical tasks

Question 6

What are four causes of psychological stress other than physical stress?

Answer 6

1. Peer pressure
2. Thinking that the dive is too expensive to miss
3. Mental task-loading
4. Fearing looking like a coward

Question 7

What is perceptual narrowing?

Answer 7

The tendency under stress to be less broadly aware and more focused on a perceived threat and/or solutions to that threat.

Question 8

What effects can stress produce in a diver?

Answer 8

• anxiety
• increased breathing
• perceptual narrowing
• panic

Question 9

What supplies belong in a well stocked first aid kit?

Answer 9

• Gloves, pocket mask, ventilation barriers, eye protection and face mask
• Reference materials for first aid
• Materials to record information
• Gauze pads and bandages
• Cotton tipped swabs
• Cold/hot packs
• etc.

Question 10

What is a pocket mask, and what are four advantages of using one?

Answer 10

A pocket mask is a mask designed to facilitate rescue breathing.

Advantages:

• simplifies getting an effective seal and head positioning
• reduces disease transmission risk
• can be used for inwater rescue breathing
• can be used to provide oxygenated rescue breaths

Question 11

Why is it important to have emergency oxygen available?

Answer 11

Prompt oxygen first aid can make a dramatic difference in the diver’s immediate condition and in the effectiveness of subsequent treatment.

Question 12

What are the three primary types of emergency oxygen systems?

Answer 12

1. Nonresuscitator demand valve units
2. Continuous flow units
3. Positive pressure resuscitator units (requires special training)

Question 13

How do the three primary types of emergency oxygen systems differ?

Answer 13

1. Nonresuscitator demand valve units operate like a scuba regulator, supplying 100% oxygen when the diver inhales
2. Continuous flow units release oxygen continuously and can deliver more than 90% oxygen with the proper flow (15 litres/min recommended)
3. Positive pressure resuscitator units use pressure from the cylinder to provide rescue breaths

Question 14

How much oxygen should be available?

Answer 14

Ideally, carry a big enough supply to keep an injured diver on pure oxygen until in the hands of emergency medical care (640 litres can be expected to last 40 to 50 minutes).

Question 15

What is an AED and what is the benefit of having one?

Answer 15

An Automatic External Defibrillator is a device that delivers a shock in an attempt to restart the heart (defibrillation).

The primary benefit is that it shortens the interval between the loss of heartbeat and attempts to restart the heart.

Question 16

What is the difference between a ‘victim’ and a ‘patient’?

Answer 16

A victim is a diver in an accident situation who either has yet to receive help or who is receiving help but is not yet in a stable, safe environment.

A patient is a diver in an accident situation who is receiving emergency medical care in a stable, relatively safe environment.

Question 17

What are the two roles a rescue diver may have at an accident dive scene?

Answer 17

1. Skilled rescue assistant under a more qualified person’s direction and management
2. Emergency manager, delegating tasks to others based on their abilities and qualifications

Question 18

What two forms of readiness prepare you to manage an emergency, and what are the elements of each?

Answer 18

Personal readiness:

• maintaining physical fitness
• participating in regular training and practice
• proper attitude

Equipment readiness:

• having special rescue equipment or being able to improvise it on the spot
• knowing how to use equipment
• stowing it where you can easily get it if needed

Question 19

What are the six basic steps for emergency management?

Answer 19

1. Assess the situation
   
   • stop, breathe and think about what you have to do
2. Act on your plan
3. Delegate
   
   • tasks include getting emergency assistance, fetching emergency equipment, noting what happens, accounting for all divers, securing the victim’s equipment and controlling bystanders
4. Attend to injuries
   
   • try to calm and reassure the diver by explaining what you’re doing to help
5. Control the scene
6. Arrange evacuation to medical care
   
   • if necessary, provide information about dive accident care and give them contact information for DAN or other emergency dive services

Question 20

What considerations and procedures are involved with forming a local emergeny assistance plan?

Answer 20

1. Jot down emergency contact information relevant to the dive sites you visit, including contact information for local EMS and DAN or other diver emergency service serving the local area
2. When travelling to remote destinations, you may need several telephone numbers as well as VHF radio frequencies and even multiple language considerations

Question 21

What three areas of preparation increase your self-resuce abilities?

Answer 21

• Physical preparation - proper health, fitness and diet
• Mental preparation - confidence and a feeling of wellbeing about the dive
• Equipment preparation - familiarity with the use of your dive equipment and emergency equipment, as well as keeping it in working order with good maintainance

Question 22

What three dive procedures help you anticipate and prevent problems while diving?

Answer 22

1. Maintain your equipment properly, and do a predive inspection
2. Anticipate problems as part of your dive plan and devise plans to avoid those problems you anticipate
3. Don’t ignore small problems

Question 23

What should you do when you encounter a problem while diving?

Answer 23

Stop, breathe, think and then act based on a logical plan. Be prepared to formulate a new solution if your first doesn’t work.

Question 24

What are five skills that increase your self rescue abilities?

Answer 24

1. Good buoyancy control
2. Proper airway control
3. Cramp removal
4. Handling air depletion
5. Responding to vertigo (by making contact with a fixed object or watching your bubbles and consulting your gauge for up and down orientation)

Question 25

What are the two types of responsive diver at the surface rescues?

Answer 25

Tired diver and panicked diver

Question 26

What signs and behaviours indicate a diver may have a problem at the surface?

Answer 26

• Giving distress signals e.g. raising one arm, yelling
• Struggling on or just below the surface, especially with vigorous arm swimming
• High treading or finning with sufficient vigor to lift a portion of the body out of the water
• Rejecting equipment
• Clinging and clambering
• Not moving - apparant unresponsiveness

Question 27

What are the characteristics that indicate a tired diver?

Answer 27

• asks for help
• responds to questions or directions
• don’t reject their gear
• can usually assist with their own rescue and recover quickly

Question 28

What are the characteristics that indicate a panicked diver?

Answer 28

• rejects gear
• fails to establish buoyancy and swims vigorously
• eyes are wide and unseeing due to perceptual narrowing
• does not respond to commands or questions
• may attempt to climb on people or objects to get out of the water
• may panic passively and does not respond; may quietly slip below the surface and drown

Question 29

Why does the rescuer’s safety take priority over the distressed diver’s saftey in an emergency situation?

Answer 29

• the rescuer can’t help the victim if they’re in trouble
• if the rescuer becomes a victim, it divides the remaining rescue resources between them

Question 30

What are the four types of non-swimming rescues you can use to help a diver at the surface?

Answer 30

1. Reach and extension assists - lie on the deck/dock/platform with legs spread out to increase stability, and reach out with one arm
2. Throwing assists - throw the flotation past the victim then pull it in with the line
3. Wading assists - in water no more than chest deep
4. Watercraft assist - approach from downwind so the boat doesn’t blow over the victim

Question 31

Why is rescuing a panicked diver the most hazardous situation for the rescuer?

Answer 31

• the victim isn’t rational and may hang on or climb onto the rescuer
• driven by fear, the victim can be incredibly strong and overpower smaller divers

Question 32

What are the procedures for rescuing a tired diver at the surface?

Answer 32

1. Approach - if not already in the water, take your mask, fins and snorkel; keep your eyes on the diver and keep a steady pace so you arrive with sufficient energy
2. Evaluate - assess the victim’s state of mind, give instructions to inflate BCD or drop weights
3. Make contact - establish ample positive buoyancy
4. Reassure the tired diver
5. Assists and transport - allow the person to self-assist as much as possible, relieve cramp if present, use a tow that keeps the victim’s face above the surface and minimises drag
6. Equipment removal - typically unnecessary, may help to reduce drag or make it easier for the diver to exit the water to the boat/shore

Question 33

What are the procedures for rescuing a panicked diver at the surface?

Answer 33

1. Approach and evaluation - same way as tired diver rescue
2. Make contact - establish contact for the diver as quickly as possible; a surface approach is fastest but presents more risk to the rescuer
   
   • underarm lift method: grab the victim’s wrist, pull towards you, grasp the same upper arm with your other hand and inflate the BCD
   • knee cradle position: grasp the tank valve and lock your legs onto the tank, which prevents a struggling victim from reaching you
   • underwater approach: descend to the victim’s knee level, release weights, ascend hand over hand behind the victim into the knee cradle position and inflate both your BCDs
3. Reassure and transport - after you’ve established the victim’s buoyancy they will usually calm down, after which you finish as you would with a tired diver

Question 34

What are three release techniques for escaping from a panicked diver?

Answer 34

1. Descend underwater
2. Inflate both your BCDs, which tends to push you apart
3. Push the victim up and away from you, kicking to open the distance between you