cave diving and the nss - bei Swiss-Cave-Diving

8 CAVE DIVING COMMUNICATIONS
LIGHT SIGNALS 9
devoting some
part of your conscious,
and even
subconscious,
awareness to their
presence and wellbeing
throughout
the course of the
dive.
There are
really only a few
basic light signals.
There is the slow
movement of the light inscribing a moderate-sized circle (in either
direction) on the wall, which indicates either, "I'm okay, are you
okay?" when it's the initial signal, or "Yes, I'm okay, too, thanks for
asking," when it's the reply. If you circle and do not get a response,
it behooves you to find out why. Failure to respond may mean
anything from your buddy not having seen you because he was
looking elsewhere, to him not having seen you because he's unconscious.
Ordinarily, however, this circular "Okay" is something
that you do in the smooth course of the dive. One does not ordinarily
vigorously signal for his buddy's attention only to perform
this routine "Okay" signal.
The signals for "Emergency" and "Attention" are performed by
vigorous flashing movements of your light beam. In the NSS
Cavern Diving Manual we specified a horizontal flashing as meaning
"Emergency!"
versus a vertical
flashing meaning
merely "I want/
need your Attention."
The problem
is that an
emergency situation
is, after all, an
emergency situation—of
potentially
both imminent
and eminent pro-
portions. The
diver doing the
signaling may be
in a such a state
of anxiety that he
has completely
forgotten the existence
of any such
distinction between
vertical and
horizontal movements.
In addition,
the cave configuration
may not always allow for visible flashing in the desired
direction, and in practice, even for non-emergency situations, it
seems that there is frequently little or no attempt to make the
distinction in meaning by the direction of the flashing. You just flash
however you have to to get the guy's attention. It would seem that,
considering that in the worst-possible case your buddy could conceivably
be only seconds away from inhaling his first breath water,
it is probably the best to assume that all flashings are emergency
signals until proven otherwise.
If, as your buddy starts swimming towards you, he sees that
you now appear calm and are attempting to hand sign or point at
something with your light, he will probably conclude that the message
is not life-threateningly urgent. You may even want to give
him the "Okay" signal just to reassure him that it is not a real
emergency. Generally, several quick flashes followed by a steadily
held light signal "Attention."
On the other hand, continued, intense—if not massive and
frantic—flashings (or thrashings around, or huge quantities of air
gushing from your tanks) after you have his attention will probably
clue him into the fact that whatever it is, it's really important and
you would be eternally grateful if he would beat it to you double
time prepared for the worst. Consider also the possibility that your
buddy may be trying to draw your attention to some danger affecting
you. You may leaking large quantities of air unawares, or be
silting up a storm behind you without realizing it, or even have taken
a wrong turn into a nasty little side tunnel.
If you're in the lead and your message is not particularly