Rescue Diver Manual

Knowledge Review Chapter One

The most common cause of diver emergencies is poor judgment.

Three things to consider before attempting an inwater rescue:

Diver stress is defined as physical or mental tension that results in physical, chemical and/or emotional (psychological) changes in the body.

Seven causes of physical stress include:

Perceptual narrowing is the decrease in broad awareness through close focus on a perceived threat or the solution to that threat.

Four advantages of a pocket mask include that it:

The two types of emergency oxygen equipment recommended for PADI Rescue Divers are:

The six steps for emergency management are:

  1. assess the situation
  2. act on you plan
  3. delegate
  4. attend to injuries
  5. control the scene
  6. arrange evacuation to medical care

Five skills to improve your self-rescue abilities include:

When encountering a problem with diving you should Stop. Breathe. Think. Act.

Signs and behaviors that indicate a diver may have a problem at the surface include:

Tired divers have a problem, but are adequately managing stress. Panicked divers have a problem and have become overwhelmed by stress and fear. They pose the most risk because they can overpower you.

Rescuer safety takes priority over distressed diver’s because you can’t help the victim if you’re in trouble.

Four types of rescue to consider before entering water are:

Steps to rescue a tired diver:

Steps to rescue a panicked diver:

Make contact with panicked diver by using underarm lift or knee cradle position. You may need to use a release or escape to regain control.

Knowledge Review Chapter Four

Critical Incident Stress is an emergency involving a serious injury or death.

Sign and symptoms of critical incident stress include:

To prevent PTSD, critical incident stress should be treated professional via critical incident stress debriefing.

Decompression illness (DCI) encompasses both lung over-expansion injuries and decompression sickness (DCS).

The most common cause of lung overexpansion injuries is running out of air - divers rush to the surface without exhaling continuously.

You can reduce lung overexpansion injuries by checking air often and encouraging others to do the same.

Arterial gas embolism (AGE) arises when expanding air forces through the alveoli into pulmonary capillaries. This forms bubbles that travel in the blood stream.

Mediastinal emphysema occurs when the expanding air becomes lodged in the chest cavity between the lungs. This constricts the heart and lungs.

Subcutaneous emphysema occurs when expanding air accumulates under the skin around the neck and collar bone.

Pneumothorax, or collapsed lung, can occur when the air from overexpansion forces its way in the the space between the lung and chest wall.

First aid steps for decompression illness:

First aids steps for near drowning

If rescuing an unresponsive, non-breathing diver at surface less than 5 minutes from safety then tow diver there while continuing to provide rescue breaths. Get diver out of water and perform CPR. If more than 5 minutes from safety then give rescue breaths for 1-2 minutes while watching the victim for responses to ventilation. If there is no response then cardiac arrest is likely - get diver out of water and perform CPR.

Give rescue breaths to diver with no apparent heartbeat because one may actually be present. Rescues breaths can correct respiratory arrest before the onset of cardiac arrest.

If you have a pocket mask then:

If you find an unresponsive diver underwater, getting them to the surface takes priority over everything except your personal safety.

  1. Note the diver’s position, state of regulator and mask, and any clues about accident.
  2. If regulator is in victim’s mouth then hold in place, but don’t waste trying to put it back if it is not
  3. Hold the victim from behind to hold regulator (if necessary) and hold head in place
  4. Use your own BCD to ascend. You may need to release air from victim’s BCD.
  5. Keep victim’s head in normal position
  6. As you ascent thing about steps you’re take at surface
  7. Drop the victim’s weights

When rescuing an unresponsive diver, equipment removal is a low priority. Remove gear if doing so more than offsets the time required to remove it. Removal technique considerations:

  1. Think buoyancy
  2. Do things in logical order, keeping one hand on airway to ensure it stays open.
  3. Keep a rhythm. Do things between rescue breaths.
  4. Keep moving. Towing to safety should be continuous.

Knowledge Review Chapter Five

You should write up a report after a dive accident that requires first aid and summoning emergency medical care or other emergency personnel. You should avoid guessing or speculation when doing a report or answering questions.

Administrating oxygen to a diver suspect of decompression illness is crucial because they may not respond to it, but it does no harm.

Six procedures to follow when handling oxygen are:

  1. keep unit clean and protected
  2. never lubricate equipment
  3. always open valves on oxygen equipment slowly
  4. keep your unit assembled to minimize the possibility of contaminates getting into it and to save time in an emergency
  5. never attempt to clean or service the equipment yourself
  6. always extinguish source of flame

The procedure for administrating oxygen to a breathing diver:

The procedure for administrating oxygen to a weakly breathing diver:

The procedure for administrating oxygen to a nonbreathing diver:

After beginning primary care, secondary care, oxygen and other first aid while waiting for emergency medical care to arrive:

You should collect information to send with injured diver upon arrival of emergency medical services:

Perform the lifeguard exit

Circumstances may affect exiting with an unresponsive diver.