Buddy breathing

Buddy breathing is a rescue technique used in scuba diving "out of gas" emergencies, when two divers share one demand valve, alternately breathing from it. Techniques have been developed for buddy breathing from both twin-hose and single hose regulators, but to a large extent it has been superseded by safer and more reliable techniques using additional equipment, such as the use of a bailout cylinder or breathing through a secondary demand valve on the rescuer's regulator.

Running out of breathing gas most commonly happens as a result of poor gas management. It can also happen due to unforeseen exertion or breathing equipment failure. Equipment failure resulting in the loss of all gas could be caused by failure of a pressure retaining component such as an O-ring or hose in the regulator or, in cold conditions, a freezing of water in the regulator resulting in a free flow from the demand valve.

Buddy breathing is usually initialised by the diver with the "out of air" emergency signalling this to another diver by a standard hand signal "give me air". This signal is made by holding the fingers and thumb of one hand together, pointing them at the mouth and making repeated movements of the finger tips towards the mouth.

The donor is expected to take a good breath and pass his/her demand valve (or mouthpiece in the case of a twin-hose regulator) to the recipient, who is expected to take two good breaths and pass it back. In reality the recipient will often take more than two breaths, and the donor should expect this and relax to minimize metabolic rate. The donor should retain a good grip on the demand valve throughout the buddy breathing process, as a panicked recipient may fail to give it back. A reasonably reliable way of keeping control of the demand valve is to grasp the hose firmly in the fist where it connects to the demand valve. This provides good control but allows the recipient to use the purge button if needed.

A pattern of two breaths per diver should be established as soon as possible and then terminate the dive and start the ascent as soon as possible, as air consumption while buddy breathing is usually more than double the normal rate. Most demand valves will only drain correctly if the hose is to the user's right, and in these cases the divers should align themselves to allow convenient movement of the demand valve from donor to recipient and back. When the divers need to ascend or swim horizontally, it requires co-ordination and some skill, which is best practiced in a low hazard environment.

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Wikipedia