Would be nice to see nice discussion on this subject. Thanks to everybody who responded already. There are many variables that we have to consider before the final decision was made. The bottom timer will indicate the ongassing time in case an unconscious diver event happened within the team. If the victim was breathing there is a chance for rescuing but we have to keep in mind that it is long way up and variables are not constants. The surface support is mandatory and if missing the chances for rescuing are getting very low.
What about if the victim was not breathing. We will check the bottom timer again that will give us the first input. The question is how long the victim was not breathing. It will be known if someone drowned within the team. We would know how much time was left for the brain cells to start dying.
If the ongassing was relatively short I would say some sort of emergency ascent could be possible and perhaps re-compression could take place. I know, this is another topic for discussion
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If the ongassing time was longer or way too long I would say there was no chance for rescuing and we could only talk about body recovery. However there was a method that I don't really agree with as it is very aggressive one and chances for rescuing are very low.
The feet first ascent where you have to invert the diver and fill the dry suit - and perhaps a little air in the wing. In this way - the diver goes up feet first and the expanding gases can escape from the lungs as the head is free to move about. Expanding gas during the ascent may in effect to some degree kick start the resuscitation or at least clear some of the water from the lungs. Some divers believe that this is the last option and if surface support available the victim could be resuscitated and depending on the depth of the incident he may get bent but he could survive.
From my perspective; if you send the body up as suggested you will most likely kill him/her one more time due to the tissue damage that was caused by expanding bubble formations during the rapid ascent the body did. Still talking about dives below 70m.
Would like to know your opinion about this method too. I still believe the feet first ascent is just the last option where the victim is dead or almost dead.
Will most probably not survive the fast ascent no matter what the position is. If drysuit presented the feet first is possible. If wetsuit was involved would you attach a lift bug to his legs in order to send him feet first? If you inflate the drysuit as well as the wing a bit that could cause the body could change the position during ascent.
Thanks for all valuable inputs. I know this is very sensitive and people will most likely be afraid to answer.
All the best,
Frank