If a diver misses a 20 or 30 fsw stop and the surface interval is less than 1 minute, what is the recommended action?

• A. Descend to surface and stop decompression
• B. Continue with extended surface decompression immediately
• C. Abort decompression and ascend safely
• D. Return to depth of stop. Increase stop time by 1 minute. Resume decompression according to original schedule

Answer: (D)

Missing a decompression stop means some inert gas still needs to off-gas at that depth. Because the surface interval is very short, you can safely re-enter the stop depth, stay for the required time, and extend that stop by one minute to compensate for the missed time. After that extended stop, you resume the remaining decompression schedule as planned. Descending to surface and stopping decompression would skip a required stop and is unsafe. Jumping straight to extended surface decompression ignores the depth-specific off-gassing step and could leave you under-decompressed.