It was a sunny day at South Florida\u2019s Blue Heron Bridge. Two years had passed since I last dived this location, and I was anticipating a simple excursion to look at the local fish. The dive plan was to make a shore entry and allow the current to take me west down the beach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
La zone situ\u00e9e juste en face du r\u00e9cif artificiel et du grand pont du parc Phil Foster \u00e9tait bond\u00e9e, avec de nombreux plongeurs sur le rivage qui attendaient de pouvoir entrer au moment du grand \u00e9tale. Je me suis dirig\u00e9 vers l'extr\u00e9mit\u00e9 oppos\u00e9e, qui \u00e9tait presque vide \u00e0 l'exception d'un trio de plongeurs dans les eaux peu profondes qui se pr\u00e9paraient \u00e0 plonger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While conducting my predive safety checks, I analyzed the site conditions and recognized that the current was deceptive. It did not appear fast in the immediate vicinity, but it was moving strongly under the bridge\u2019s smaller section. As I continued to gear up, the three divers seemed to be having equipment issues. A second-stage regulator was free-flowing, and the group struggled to manage it. I stood patiently on the shore, giving them the courtesy and space to start their dive without feeling crowded or rushed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After they floated out about 30 feet (9 meters), the diver with the flag rapidly submerged and left his buddies. The two divers remaining on the surface struggled to empty their buoyancy compensators and attempted to fight the positive buoyancy by kicking down. They couldn\u2019t submerge and flailed against the current without utilizing their snorkels or second stages. They were now 30 feet (9 meters) beyond where their buddy had descended and were clearly not going to descend themselves, as they were visibly struggling and in the beginning stages of distress that would soon lead to panic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
J'\u00e9tais assez s\u00fbr qu'ils ne souffraient pas d'un barotraumatisme car aucun des deux plongeurs n'\u00e9tait descendu, et j'ai donc pens\u00e9 qu'ils pouvaient avoir des crampes ou un mauvais fonctionnement de leur BCD. L'un des plongeurs \u00e9tait un homme d'un certain \u00e2ge et je craignais qu'il n'effectue le battement de jambes n\u00e9cessaire pour vaincre le courant. Je suis entr\u00e9 dans l'eau avec deux options en t\u00eate : de pr\u00e9f\u00e9rence les ramener en toute s\u00e9curit\u00e9 au point d'entr\u00e9e ou choisir une autre sortie si je ne pouvais pas progresser contre le courant en effectuant un remorquage en surface. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I entered the waist-high water in full kit and called to the nearest diver, who was nearly 60 feet (18 meters) away. He and his buddy were about 45 feet (14 meters) apart and not communicating with each other as they focused on themselves. I asked if they needed any help. The closest diver looked at me, didn\u2019t respond, and continued to kick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I kicked with the current and quickly got to him. Remaining outside the reach of his flailing arms, I asked if he was OK. He stared back through his mask with wide eyes and didn\u2019t verbally respond. I grabbed his second stage and held it to his face. He started breathing heavily from the regulator. I asked him to turn on his back and said I would help him back to shore. He immediately turned over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alors que je me pr\u00e9parais \u00e0 commencer le remorquage de la bouteille, j'ai vu le second plongeur qui se d\u00e9battait toujours plus loin. Je lui ai annonc\u00e9 que je reviendrais l'aider et lui ai dit de s'accrocher \u00e0 la cul\u00e9e centrale du pont, vers laquelle le courant l'entra\u00eenait. Il a r\u00e9pondu verbalement qu'il allait essayer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alors que je remorquais le premier plongeur vers les hauts-fonds \u00e0 contre-courant, j'ai r\u00e9ussi \u00e0 le calmer et \u00e0 l'aider \u00e0 donner des coups de pied. Je l'ai amen\u00e9 dans l'eau jusqu'\u00e0 la taille, je l'ai fait se lever et je lui ai dit d'attendre l\u00e0 pendant que je r\u00e9cup\u00e9rais son copain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second diver was holding himself in place on the bridge. When I arrived, he assumed the tank-tow position but told me he couldn\u2019t assist with kicking due to exhaustion and cramping. We made some headway against the strong current at the bridge by moving sideways toward the shore, where the current was slightly slower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
J'\u00e9tais \u00e9puis\u00e9, mais j'ai r\u00e9ussi \u00e0 amener le deuxi\u00e8me plongeur \u00e0 l'endroit o\u00f9 le premier se tenait dans les bas-fonds. Nous avons discut\u00e9 un peu pendant qu'ils reprenaient leur souffle, et j'ai pos\u00e9 des questions sur le troisi\u00e8me bin\u00f4me qui n'est jamais venu les chercher. Leur indiff\u00e9rence \u00e0 l'\u00e9gard de son inaction indiquait qu'ils ne craignaient pas d'\u00eatre s\u00e9par\u00e9s et qu'ils n'avaient pas pr\u00e9vu ce qu'il fallait faire. Leur plan de plong\u00e9e se r\u00e9sumait \u00e0 suivre leur ami avec le drapeau de plong\u00e9e. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Je leur ai propos\u00e9 de partager mon drapeau de plong\u00e9e et de remonter la plage avec eux \u00e0 la recherche de leur bin\u00f4me. Apr\u00e8s les avoir aid\u00e9s \u00e0 vider compl\u00e8tement le gaz de leur gilet, nous nous sommes immerg\u00e9s et avons trouv\u00e9 leur bin\u00f4me au premier r\u00e9cif artificiel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Savoir comment effectuer un remorquage de bouteille est une comp\u00e9tence vitale pour le sauvetage, mais le sauvetage aurait \u00e9t\u00e9 inutile si les plongeurs avaient simplement respect\u00e9 trois principes de base de la s\u00e9curit\u00e9 en plong\u00e9e. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The divers were unaware of the site conditions, including the possibility of encountering a current. This dive site\u2019s surface conditions are manageable if you avoid a few trouble spots. Doing a site survey and asking at a local dive shop helps identify those areas. The divers strayed too far down the beach and were unaware of the current shifting and concentrating at the small bridge. The descent would have been difficult, but they wouldn\u2019t have gotten swept under the bridge. Once they had floated past the point where the current splits, it was exponentially harder to control the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first diver had not dived in 20 years and was thankful for the tank tow. It had been four years for the second diver, and while he was also appreciative, he was sure they would have been fine \u2014 despite his cramping, fatigue, and inability to assist with the tank tow. I assisted them because I dive frequently, know the site conditions, and have done extensive flow, cave, and river diving. I was aware of my limitations but confident that I could help because of performing similar rescues in the past. A shallow test dive in a controlled environment after some time off is essential for avoiding injury due to skill degradation or gear malfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The supposed simplicity of their dive plan gave these divers a false sense of security. A dive plan should have contingencies in place for when things go wrong. The two divers did not know how to react to the current pulling them away because they weren\u2019t aware of the possibility, and they didn\u2019t have a rescue plan or any idea what to do in an adverse situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although divers should always keep their rescue skills fresh, a thorough understanding of the dive site, your and your buddy\u2019s skills and equipment, and a mutually agreed-upon dive plan can help prevent the need for anyone to use them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a9 Alert Diver<\/em> - Q1 2023<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was a sunny day at South Florida\u2019s Blue Heron Bridge. Two years had passed since I last dived this location, and I was anticipating a simple excursion to look at the local fish. The dive plan was to make a shore entry and allow the current to take me west down the beach.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":24269,"template":"","dan_alert_diver_categories":[84],"dan_alert_diver_issues":[484],"class_list":["post-24168","dan_alert_diver","type-dan_alert_diver","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","dan_alert_diver_categories-skills-in-action","dan_alert_diver_issues-q1-2023"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n