Another diver is now a first time panic attack victim

[dwatts]

I signed up to dive in Panama City Beach. A guy from home (Atlanta) was to meet me and we would dive together...our first time diving together. He is experienced...has his own nitrox tanks...etc...

We approach the site and begin gearing up. We talk about weights and how much to use. He mentions that he's not sure since he has put on a few pounds in the past year...he says he'll go a little heavier just to be sure (he actually changed his mind and went lighter).

We jump in and begin descending. He is in front of me. I notice that he seems to be struggling a bit. He keeps fighting his weighting problem (too light) but I didn't know what was wrong at first. Eventually, he lets me know that he needs to go up to get more weight...I follow.

***Hindsight Note #1*** While fighting his weight problem he had consumed much more air than either of us realized at this point.

We head back down and as we get to the bottom he loses a fin. I didn't see it fall off so I did not realize what the problem was. As he looks for the fin he can't find me. I was swimming around him so as he spun to find me I was swimming in a circle around him about 8 or 10 feet away. I still didn't know anything was wrong...

Shortly, I realized that there was a problem so I swam to him and then he saw me. I could see distress in his face. He pointed to his missing fin so I started looking around for it. Within seconds another diver brought the fin to him.

***Hindsight Note #2*** The additional stress of the fin had consumed even more air...a lot more air!

By this point he was visibly stressed. Then, he looked at his SPG and it read 500psi remaining. He had gulped down his tank and this caused him to panic! He let me know he was low and needed to go up. He started ascending but was heading up too fast.

I tried to calm him and slow him down but I also realized that I am not rescue trained and I had to help him with caution. He was ignoring my attempts to slow down. Then, at around 45 feet he drew his last breath from his tank!

I was right there by him and could see what was happening. I handed over my primary.

Now, I currently have an Air2 and I've heard people say that they don't like them. I always just considered that kind of talk just Internet opinions. Now I know better. My Air2 breathed wet...very wet. Even after purging it I was getting water. So I motioned to share my primary. I was still calm so I would take 1 or 2 breaths then my buddy would take it back...for 5 or 6 breaths.

We got to the surface...no safety stop. I watched him get to the boat where the captain was waiting for him. Then I went back down for my safety stop.

During the 1 hour SI he was breathing hard and fast but he did not incur a hit. When it was time to gear up for dive #2 he wasn't sure what he would do. I just encouraged him to play it safe. After some thought he wanted to get back on that horse. We dove the 2nd dive but stayed higher (off the bottom). He was anxious and continually checked his SPG. I could see the anxiety so I stayed right at his side. He finished the dive early but successfully.

***After thoughts***
This was a series of events that individually would never had been a problem...but combined in just the right sequence it resulted in his first ever panic attack. He said that he "knew" in his mind that he should just calm down and go slow...but he couldn't. He could not fight the fear...the anxiety...the panic!

This is a guy who I see as a very mellow person. Someone that you would never pick to have a panic attach. It CAN happen to anyone.

I learned that my Air2 is crap when I need it the most. I'll start looking into a long-hose configuration immediately. I hope to never need it again...but just in case...

 

[TSandM]

Glad everything went okay in the end. It sounds as though we ended up with a somewhat nervous diver who will never ignore his gauges again (or at least, not for a long time!)

Each thing that goes wrong on a dive uses up some of your calm, and if enough things go wrong, even if you fix all of them, you're out of poise and self-control. I had a somewhat similar situation in a cave, where I lost a fin, and then found myself working way too hard against the flow, and suddenly realized I was just pain not happy to be there and I wanted to go home. I turned the dive, to the consternation of my buddies, and we left. The MINUTE I thumbed it, I felt better. And later that day, I did a second dive that went just fine. If you feel like you're running out of equanimity, you probably are.

Finally, there is a reason we relentlessly push the long hose/bungied backup arrangement. ANYTHING works, so long as you don't need to use it; once you have a real low on air or out of air situation, you may evaluate your gear choices differently.

 

[Scott L]

Amen on the Air2. To the scrap heap...

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Thanks for sharing your story. Glad everyone is OK. You did an excellent job of managing the ascent while sharing air. Buddy-breathing isn't typically taught in basic OW classes nowadays.

The "experienced" diver made a couple of questionable choices even before starting the incident-filled dive.

• It sounds like the dive was planned to be significantly deeper than 45 fsw, and the diver hadn't been diving in a number of months (or perhaps a year?). I think a shallow check-out dive would be prudent under those circumstances. Not only would this be a good "refresher" for an out-of-practice diver, but scuba equipment (regs and BCDs, in particular) can acquire all kinds of issues when it sits.
• He didn't attempt to do a proper weight check prior to the dive.

It doesn't sound like the "experienced" diver was monitoring his gas properly. It's highly unusual that a diver would fail to check his remaining gas supply after ascending to the surface. After the weighting issue had been sorted out, he really needed to look at his SPG and ask himself: "Do I have enough gas to complete the planned dive with my buddy?" Prior to re-descending, he certainly should have communicated his remaining gas pressure to his buddy, and vice versa.

The long-hose configuration is nice, but I'd argue that even a standard recreational hose setup (28 - 30-inch primary + 40-inch octo) would have worked out just fine in the scenario you described.

How often had you practiced air-sharing ascents with your Air2?

FYI, the Air2 should not be breathing wet. That's an equipment issue that may have been caught during a systematic pre-dive check (vacuum test?). FWIW, any reg can breathe wet for various reasons. When was the Air2 last serviced?

You may want to incorporate a "breathing test" of all of your second stages while underwater. I do this immediately following my initial descent. After establishing neutral buoyancy, I breathe from my backup reg or octo, check my SPG, adjust my weight belt, do a quick bubble-check for my buddy, and then continue the dive.

By the way, why did you re-descend to do you safety stop?

 

[BKP]

Congrats on apparently handling the situation with poise.

I agree with Bubble on a number of things. I dove an SS1 integrated (similar to an Air2, but, an Atomic) for years, and did have a similar OOA situation with a diver in our group a few years ago. It was no problem at all to hand off the primary (actually, involuntarily, as he helped himself) and breathe the SS1 on an uneventful ascent, which breathed (and always has) as well as my Atomic B2 primary. I've since switched to a conventional primary/octo for reasons *other* than the SS1 not working -- so, as Bubble already surmised, I believe your Air2 breathing wet is a hardware issue, as opposed to concept issue.

Additionally, I dive with a 36" primary *and* a 36" octo hose. I've found, in drills, that length to be fine for recreational diving, and can hand off either without an issue. The long hose config is fine if you want to deal with a hose that length for simple rec diving.

Again, glad to hear the OOA didn't turn into an incident...

 

[DandyDon]

Glad it went well, and - you handled your part ok it seems so I hope my questions do not sound like assaults? Just questions, along with comments....

We jump in and begin descending. He is in front of me. I notice that he seems to be struggling a bit. He keeps fighting his weighting problem (too light) but I didn't know what was wrong at first. Eventually, he lets me know that he needs to go up to get more weight...I follow.

I like to stop at 15 ft on descent to do one more buddy check. If anyone is underweighted, it becomes obvious then. Fighting to get down with a full tank is asking for trouble later.

***Hindsight Note #2*** The additional stress of the fin had consumed even more air...a lot more air!

Think maybe you should compare spgs more often, especially with a new bud?

By this point he was visibly stressed. Then, he looked at his SPG and it read 500psi remaining. He had gulped down his tank and this caused him to panic! He let me know he was low and needed to go up. He started ascending but was heading up too fast.

I think I'd want to go up fast too with 500#. You didn't say how deep you were but sounds like you hadn't been down long enough for much N2 loading.

I tried to calm him and slow him down but I also realized that I am not rescue trained and I had to help him with caution. He was ignoring my attempts to slow down. Then, at around 45 feet he drew his last breath from his tank!

So why had you not offered your air sooner?

I was right there by him and could see what was happening. I handed over my primary.

Now, I currently have an Air2 and I've heard people say that they don't like them. I always just considered that kind of talk just Internet opinions. Now I know better. My Air2 breathed wet...very wet. Even after purging it I was getting water. So I motioned to share my primary. I was still calm so I would take 1 or 2 breaths then my buddy would take it back...for 5 or 6 breaths.

Have you not drilled with that Air2 lately?

We got to the surface...no safety stop. I watched him get to the boat where the captain was waiting for him. Then I went back down for my safety stop.

The optional SS is generally a good idea otherwise, but not required. Did you think it wrong for him to skip one under these circumstances? If I had to buddy breath a reg, a SS wouldn't cross my mind, but - you decided to do a solo dive for to regain a SS? And risk bubble pumping? I don't get your thinking?

During the 1 hour SI he was breathing hard and fast but he did not incur a hit. When it was time to gear up for dive #2 he wasn't sure what he would do. I just encouraged him to play it safe. After some thought he wanted to get back on that horse. We dove the 2nd dive but stayed higher (off the bottom). He was anxious and continually checked his SPG. I could see the anxiety so I stayed right at his side. He finished the dive early but successfully.

***After thoughts***
This was a series of events that individually would never had been a problem...but combined in just the right sequence it resulted in his first ever panic attack. He said that he "knew" in his mind that he should just calm down and go slow...but he couldn't. He could not fight the fear...the anxiety...the panic!

This is a guy who I see as a very mellow person. Someone that you would never pick to have a panic attach. It CAN happen to anyone.

I learned that my Air2 is crap when I need it the most. I'll start looking into a long-hose configuration immediately. I hope to never need it again...but just in case...

Look into getting a real 2nd stage, another reg and a pony.

 

[dwatts]

Glad everything went okay in the end. It sounds as though we ended up with a somewhat nervous diver who will never ignore his gauges again (or at least, not for a long time!)

Each thing that goes wrong on a dive uses up some of your calm, and if enough things go wrong, even if you fix all of them, you're out of poise and self-control. I had a somewhat similar situation in a cave, where I lost a fin, and then found myself working way too hard against the flow, and suddenly realized I was just pain not happy to be there and I wanted to go home. I turned the dive, to the consternation of my buddies, and we left. The MINUTE I thumbed it, I felt better. And later that day, I did a second dive that went just fine. If you feel like you're running out of equanimity, you probably are.

Finally, there is a reason we relentlessly push the long hose/bungied backup arrangement. ANYTHING works, so long as you don't need to use it; once you have a real low on air or out of air situation, you may evaluate your gear choices differently.

Thank you for you comments.

 

[dwatts]

Thanks for sharing your story. Glad everyone is OK. You did an excellent job of managing the ascent while sharing air. Buddy-breathing isn't typically taught in basic OW classes nowadays.

The "experienced" diver made a couple of questionable choices even before starting the incident-filled dive.

• It sounds like the dive was planned to be significantly deeper than 45 fsw, and the diver hadn't been diving in a number of months (or perhaps a year?). I think a shallow check-out dive would be prudent under those circumstances. Not only would this be a good "refresher" for an out-of-practice diver, but scuba equipment (regs and BCDs, in particular) can acquire all kinds of issues when it sits.
• He didn't attempt to do a proper weight check prior to the dive.

It doesn't sound like the "experienced" diver was monitoring his gas properly. It's highly unusual that a diver would fail to check his remaining gas supply after ascending to the surface. After the weighting issue had been sorted out, he really needed to look at his SPG and ask himself: "Do I have enough gas to complete the planned dive with my buddy?" Prior to re-descending, he certainly should have communicated his remaining gas pressure to his buddy, and vice versa.

The long-hose configuration is nice, but I'd argue that even a standard recreational hose setup (28 - 30-inch primary + 40-inch octo) would have worked out just fine in the scenario you described.

How often had you practiced air-sharing ascents with your Air2?

FYI, the Air2 should not be breathing wet. That's an equipment issue that may have been caught during a systematic pre-dive check (vacuum test?). FWIW, any reg can breathe wet for various reasons. When was the Air2 last serviced?

You may want to incorporate a "breathing test" of all of your second stages while underwater. I do this immediately following my initial descent. After establishing neutral buoyancy, I breathe from my backup reg or octo, check my SPG, adjust my weight belt, do a quick bubble-check for my buddy, and then continue the dive.

By the way, why did you re-descend to do you safety stop?

The "experienced" diver last dove about 1 year ago. He admitted that it had been a while but he felt OK about doing his own weight check on the 1st dive. Hind-sight shows that was a bad decision. I think it was the unique set of sequences that set forth the panic attack. Although I've never dove with this guy before, I just don't think he is one to "normally" ignore his gas management. We'll see...as I plan to dive with him again in the future.

I agree that my Air2 should not be breathing wet. It was serviced last year and every since since I bought it (about 5 years ago). I do occassionally (a couple of times a year) test it underwater. It has never compared to my primary. In a situation like I had today I want a regulator that breathes VERY easy. My Air2 never has.

I don't really know why I went back down for a safety stop. It was just a "reaction" on my part. We really weren't down long enough to require it. Lesson learned.

 

[dwatts]

Glad it went well, and - you handled your part ok it seems so I hope my questions do not sound like assaults? Just questions, along with comments....

I like to stop at 15 ft on descent to do one more buddy check. If anyone is underweighted, it becomes obvious then. Fighting to get down with a full tank is asking for trouble later.

While I don't do a "stop" at 15 feet, I do observe my buddy during the descent. I realized that he was fighting a weight issue and I went up to him and presented the "OK" sign. He responded with OK. I have to give the other guy his respect here...even if I may not agree with it.

Think maybe you should compare spgs more often, especially with a new bud?

Personally, I don't like to "compare" regs. I am quite comfortable managing my own gas and I expect others to be capable of managing theirs. I did repeatedly ask if he was OK. I never imagined that he could have emptied his tank that fast. I'm an air-hog (but recovering) so I was shocked to discover that he was almost OOA.

I think I'd want to go up fast too with 500#. You didn't say how deep you were but sounds like you hadn't been down long enough for much N2 loading.


So why had you not offered your air sooner?

I was right beside him on the ascent...as in, arms reach. I watched him closely, realiazing that he was panicing, and wanted to slow his ascent as well as be there if he actually went OOA. He did. I immediately handed him my primary...no delay.

Have you not drilled with that Air2 lately?

Nope. Well, I did test it (underwater) last summer. It has never been great (see above).

The optional SS is generally a good idea otherwise, but not required. Did you think it wrong for him to skip one under these circumstances? If I had to buddy breath a reg, a SS wouldn't cross my mind, but - you decided to do a solo dive for to regain a SS? And risk bubble pumping? I don't get your thinking?

I never mentioned anything about him skipping the SS. In fact, I forgot to mention that he motioned to his chest at one point which made me want to get him to the surface ASAP. I knew that the SS was only a recommendation and not required...especially given our short dive time.

I only went back down myself as a reaction. I just thought that I needed it...but I realized later (on the boat) that I could have just skipped it.

Look into getting a real 2nd stage, another reg and a pony.

Agreed.

Don,
I've read many of your posts here and I do appreciate your comments very much. Thank you for responding!

 

[Bubbletrubble]

The "experienced" diver last dove about 1 year ago. He admitted that it had been a while but he felt OK about doing his own weight check on the 1st dive. Hind-sight shows that was a bad decision. I think it was the unique set of sequences that set forth the panic attack. Although I've never dove with this guy before, I just don't think he is one to "normally" ignore his gas management. We'll see...as I plan to dive with him again in the future.

This guy is in dire need of a refresher course.

I agree that my Air2 should not be breathing wet. It was serviced last year and every since since I bought it (about 5 years ago). I do occassionally (a couple of times a year) test it underwater. It has never compared to my primary. In a situation like I had today I want a regulator that breathes VERY easy. My Air2 never has.

So, you're telling me that you test your backup reg (Air2) underwater only "a couple of times a year." That's very "trusting" of you.
Based on your current configuration, your Air2 would be your only source of breathing gas in an air-sharing scenario. If it failed for whatever reason, you'd be stuck buddy-breathing with an out-of-air or low-on-air buddy -- which is what happened in this incident. It was only a matter of time before it happened.

There is more to be learned here than just switching out the Air2 for a high-performance second stage and changing your hose configuration.

I don't really know why I went back down for a safety stop. It was just a "reaction" on my part. We really weren't down long enough to require it. Lesson learned.

Three likely reasons:

1. Force of habit
2. Emphasis that your OW instructor placed on the importance of doing safety stops
3. You simply weren't thinking (you were, after all, just involved in an incident).

Personally, I don't like to "compare" regs. I am quite comfortable managing my own gas and I expect others to be capable of managing theirs. I did repeatedly ask if he was OK. I never imagined that he could have emptied his tank that fast. I'm an air-hog (but recovering) so I was shocked to discover that he was almost OOA.

Different divers have different ideas about gas management -- some might be entirely oblivious to it.
I'm going to recommend that you change your method of leaving a diver's gas management to himself.
I've dived with people who, prior to our pre-dive discussions, didn't understand how much reserve gas a diver should keep.
I've dived with people who had no idea how quickly they used air out of their tank.
I've dived with people who wouldn't have even looked at their SPGs during the dive if I didn't ask them how much gas they had left.
I've dived with people who became angry/annoyed when I asked them how much gas they had left in their tank at the end of a dive.
I've heard of people lying about how much gas they had left in their tank at the end of a dive...and even during a dive.