What do you do if divers are delayed to their first decompression stop by up to 1 minute?

• A. Delays up to 1 minute can be ignored.
• B. Recompute the decompression schedule immediately.
• C. Increase bottom time by 1 minute.
• D. Abort and resurface.

Answer: (A)

Small timing tolerances exist in decompression planning, so minor delays to the first decompression stop are built into the process. If you reach the planned stop depth and are only up to a minute late, the overall nitrogen elimination and stop schedule remain within the model’s tolerance. In practice, you simply carry on with the planned stop and duration at that depth; the small delay doesn’t significantly change tissue loading or the required decompression profile. There’s no need to recompute the schedule for such a brief delay, and increasing bottom time would deviate from the established plan and introduce unnecessary risk. Aborting and resurfacing is too drastic for a one-minute delay, and acting as if the delay doesn’t matter but not completing the stop would also disrupt the decompression protocol. So, for delays up to one minute, continuing with the scheduled decompression stop is the appropriate approach.