Dive buddy separation during a dive is a scenario that is likely to occur due to many possible reasons ranging from poor visibility to poor buddy contact and not swimming in a tight formation. Losing sight of your buddy is not a cause for panic, and following relocating procedure should usually reunite you with your buddy.
- If one gets separated from a dive buddy, stop and do a slow visual 360 degree spin remembering to look both upwards and downwards trying to spot your buddies bubbles if possible.
- If you are carrying a tank-banger or an audio buddy signaling device, use it to see if your buddy can locate you from the sound.
- If you have a dive light on you, and visibility is low, use the light while doing your slow 360 degree spin to help your buddy locate you, or grab the attention of your buddy who could be behind a terrain feature or outcrop.
- Having spent a minute looking for your buddy in this manner, ascend to the surface slowly, while remembering to perform your safety stop.
- While at your safety stop deploy your SMB or Safety Sausage so that if your buddy is looking for you at the surface, he knows where you are. And perform another 360 spin looking in all directions for signs of your missing buddy.
- At the surface wait for your buddy to surface, while continuing to look to spot the air bubbles at the surface if conditions permit or if you were doing a boat dive return to the boat and inform the boat that you are missing a buddy.
- Do not re-descend once you have surfaced.
- If the missing buddy carries out the same procedure then the buddy pair should meet up again at the surface or near the surface.
- Always ensure you go over your plan for missing buddy discussing where and how long to wait before surfacing with your dive buddy before every dive.
featured above is the Buddy Call underwater Signalling Device available at Leisurepro.com
There is much debate about the standard procedure for buddy separation taught by certification agencies which involves doing a 360 spin for a minute and ascending to the surface irrespective of the cause. The debate lies in the fact that none of the certification agencies specify whether you should perform the mandatory safety stop or skip it in the case of a missing buddy.
The general guideline here is that your safety is always paramount, even though your buddy is missing. Locating your buddy doesn’t mean you should put yourself at risk unless you are certain that your buddy is in an emergency situation or have seen your buddy perform an emergency ascent, in which case the procedures for emergency ascent apply and then the rescue of a fellow diver should take precedence over a “safety stop” which should be ok as long as you were within NDL (No Decompression Limits).
featured above is the Aqua 9′ Buddy Lanyard available at Leisurepro.com
However in cases where you have simply separated from your buddy, an ascent is an ascent. So, except in an emergency, the same rules and recommendations apply. So what about the possibility that your buddy has already surfaced and is panicking looking for you? Having a SMB deployed while performing your stop should help alert your buddy who may be waiting for you at the surface that you are Ok and provide him/her with your position while you complete your safety stop.
Always go over your plan of buddy separation with whoever you are diving with so that there is no ambiguity as to the procedure. And more importantly stick to it! Often panic, and fear of what might have happened can lead to actions that cause more accidents than separated buddies.
photos from flickr by Scuba_thib
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