PADI Enriched Air Diver Practice Exam

When a dive computer malfunctions during a dive, the recommended action is to ascend immediately and make a safety stop. This is critical for several reasons related to dive safety and decompression principles.

If a dive computer fails, it means you can no longer accurately monitor your descent, current depth, or remaining bottom time, which poses a risk of exceeding safe limits for pressure exposure and potentially leading to decompression sickness. By ascending immediately, divers help ensure they are safely returning to the surface within the recommended time frames.

Making a safety stop allows the diver to spend several minutes at a shallower depth, which helps off-gassing of the nitrogen that has been absorbed into the body during the dive, minimizing the risk of decompression illness. This practice is especially important when diving with enriched air, as divers may have different no-decompression limits compared to standard air dives.

Using a buddy’s computer, switching tanks, or continuing the dive can complicate the situation, leading to further risks; these actions do not address the essential need to ensure safe ascent procedures in the face of equipment failure. Therefore, the focus on immediate ascent and safety protocols effectively mitigates the potential risks associated with a dive computer failure.