Bad experience on very first dive... looking for some advice

[steve1122]

Scuba is something I have wanted to do since I grew up watching Jacques Cousteau. So finally I signed up for a certification course, and went through the pool sessions, etc. with no problems.

Last week I had 4 OW dives scheduled for certification. I had problems right away, on the very first dive, when the mask I had been using all along just didn't seem to fit anymore with the hood on. It repeatedly filled with water and though I didn't have any problem with clearing it, there was no way I could get through the dive with that kind of distraction. So my instructor traded masks with me and that issue was solved.

We started out in waist deep water- this was a lake, by the way, and soon were in water about 10' deep. My buddy was close by, but I was having trouble keeping up with the rest of the group because I just could not seem to maintain a consistent depth. I was making adjustments to the air in my bc but was constantly going up and down.

Finally, we were out in water that was maybe 20-25' deep, swimming at a depth of about 15'. The water was kind of cloudy, which meant no reference points to judge whether I was rising or sinking. All of a sudden, I realize that I am leaving everybody behind- below me. I'm rising higher and higher, looking down at my buddy just below, and everybody else much further below. He's looking up at me and has no idea what is going on. I popped up on the surface and realized then that my bc had completely filled with air. I had not touched the fill valve- all I can come up with is that it must have somehow gotten wedged into my chest, or under my arm pit, causing the fill button to get depressed.

Now the real problems start. My buddy signalled me to dump air from my bc, which I did. I didn't seem to be sinking at all at first, so I let out more air- all of it, apparently. And then I let go of the bc fill valve- don't ask, I have no idea why, too many distractions, I guess. I started sinking like a stone, and the pressure started building up on my ears. At that point I could only think to grab the inflator valve again and put some air back in. Only I couldn't find the thing. My line of vision was restricted with the mask and I couldn't actually see where the valve was, so I was trying to locate the valve with gloves on, by feel, while trying to fin up and at least slow my descent. I just couldn't find the valve. The pressure went higher and higher until there was a sudden high squeaking noise in my right ear as the ear drum let go.

I lost my equilibrium with that, and started tumbling around in the water. Fortunately my buddy was there and caught my hand. He was looking at me as if to ask what was going on. I pointed to my ear and made some gesture that was supposed to mean that it was shot, and pointed my thumb up. So he got me to the surface and towed me in to shore. End of dive.

Now I'm thinking about all this and trying to figure out what went wrong. Quite frankly, I feel like a screwup, because 12 or so people went out that day, and I was the only one to have an issue. Believe it or not, though I was definitely stressed while this was all happening, I did not panic. But now, the thought of strapping on all that gear and getting back in the water again has me scared. I don't know if I can do it. And I have a ready out if I say I can't dive anymore because of my ears. Yet I'm still not sure I want to walk away from it.

For anybody who cares to answer, I have these questions:

Should we have worked on buoyancy skills before going into the open water?

What exactly were the mistakes I made, and would any new diver have made them in my place?

Does it make sense to practice the skill- in the pool- of being able to locate any piece of equipment, such as the bc fill valve, with gloves on and without being able to see it, over and over and over until it is automatic?

Both of my eardrums had been ruptured before, more than once on different occasions in the past. Should I even consider diving, as I have heard that ruptures get easier and easier each time they occur?


I would really appreciate some input on this so I can be set straight. I'm going to have about 6 weeks while my ear heals to figure out what I am going to do.

 

[Quero]

What a disastrous dive on so many levels! The worst of it is that you have injured your ear. That will heal. The second worst is that you now have anxiety about diving again. With time and a patient instructor, you will be able to overcome that, too. And the least bad was mistakes. In my opinion, this was not your fault! The one who made the mistake was your instructor for putting too much weight on you and not making sure you did a weight check before doing the dive. Get a different instructor next time, one who doesn't cut corners.

From what you have described, you were seriously overweighted. Carrying too much weight makes it quite difficult to get your buoyancy sorted out, and you do have to put a lot of air in your BCD to keep from sinking down. All that air expands the minute you begin to rise in the water column--even a little bit of a rise will do it-- and if you don't dump it on the way up, your BCD could in fact be entirely filled with air by the time you reach the surface without you having pressed the inflator button at all. When you dumped your air to descend--and dumping all of it is the correct thing to do--you should not have sunk like a rock--you should have drifted down, like a leaf falling from a tree. By then you were seriously overwhelmed with anxiety and unable to find the inflator to stop your descent.

So it seems very likely that the big thing that caused everything that happened to you was being incorrectly weighted to begin with.

 

[hypertech]

You are not a screw up. Buoyancy takes practice. If you are a little overweighted and have air in the cell, when you start ascending that air will expand and make you go faster making it expand more etc. Bouncy is also the most difficult in the shallow water.

I suspect you over weighted and it just got away from you.

Did you talk to the instructor and debrief this? If not, I hope you do that with him/her or another instructor.

To answer your other question , yes, you can and should practice buoyancy in the pool. Another practice session in the pool before you head back to open water might be just the ticket to help you move forward.

Oh, and about the mask. It is very common that students will put the mask on with part of the skirt on top of the hood. Then it doesn't seal. Make sure the hood is out from under the mask.

 

[melanie.]

The only 'problem' that you have is that you are just not used to the equipment and surroundings yet. Give it time and practice and you will get there.

As far as buoyancy skills, sure you could have worked on it longer before hand but really, the only thing you can do is practice. Chances are at that depth filling/emptying your lungs completely can be moving you around more then you realize.

Question though, why didn't you work on equalizing your ears as you were dropping? Instead of worrying about going back up? That would have been the simple solution to prevent a rupture. Kicking should have slowed you down enough, no need to add air to your BCD. Unless you were extremely overweighted?

I don't know if this helps, but just relax and work on your skills you will get there. Talk to a doc about your ears see what they say

 

[USVet96]

Ok. Couple things. The fact that you did NOT panic during ALL that means that you are at least calm in the water (whether you think it or not). So that's good

With the equalization, be REAL SLOW and do the clearing techniques almost, or EVERY, foot. Even if you do NOT have to do it, DO IT anyway until you and your ears get used to being underwater and under pressure. Doing it this way helps ALOT and gets your body used to it

Also, as a beginner, you should hold onto your inflator ALL the way UP and DOWN until you REALLY get used to your natural buoyancy and the hovering drills. This let's you know how much air / weight you need when inhaling and exhaling.

Things did NOT go terribly wrong for you IMO BC YOU did some positive things

If SCUBA is something that YOU want to do, give your ears a rest and try again. Maybe spend some extra time in the pool working on the buoyancy and the equalization issues, but by all means that's all part of your training.

Hope this helps

 

[steve1122]

Thanks for your answer. I had not even thought about the weight issue. Though I had been in the full suit in the pool with the same amount of weight, and it seemed ok at that time. I wonder if then I was making up for the weight with extra air in the bc- and it really didn't matter in the pool, which was only 8' deep. But at 15' depth or so, it did make a big difference.

 

[steve1122]

No time to equalize the ears, everything was just happening way too fast. For all I knew, I was going to keep sinking all the way to the bottom of the lake, and I couldn't possibly equalize fast enough at the rate I was sinking. thanks for your answer.

 

[melanie.]

No time to equalize the ears, everything was just happening way too fast. For all I knew, I was going to keep sinking all the way to the bottom of the lake, and I couldn't possibly equalize fast enough at the rate I was sinking. thanks for your answer.

And this is why I say give it time. Before you know it you will be equalizing without even thinking about it! You were just so caught up on everything else you were overloaded. I still envy those guys that don't have to pinch their nose.. I will become one of you someday:cool2:

 

[DevonDiver]

The apprehension/awkwardness that you describe seems pretty normal/standard for entry-level student divers during their first one or two open water dives. You can relax on those issues.

Buoyancy can be a difficult skill to master. Your instructor can help you towards this by ensuring that your weighting is appropriate. Regardless of the comfort you achieve in confined water/pool training, once you enter a real open-water environment, additional exposure protection (thicker wetsuit) and deep depths (more pressure/buoyancy change) can easily catch you off-guard and lead to 'runaways'.

For a trained/qualified novice diver, this is where the real benefit of the buddy systems comes into effect. Having that person adopting a pro-active attitude and anticipating that you are still learning the ropes with buoyancy. A small intervention at the start of an unwanted ascent can prevent a much bigger problem from arising... you buddy should have been in close proximity and demonstrating sufficient awareness, that they would have immediately noticed you were floating upwards...and a steadying hand applied at that moment would have prevented the issue.

Likewise, instead of "signalling for you to come down", your buddy could have joined you and then assisted/supported you for a safe re-descent. The buddy system keeps you safe through the provision of mutual support. Your buddy on that dive was not very supportive, didn't anticipate any problems and did little/nothing to practically assist you. Learn from that lesson for the future; so that you can be a more pro-active and supportive buddy.


Now... we come onto the topic of your instructor. Where exactly was he during this incident?

Yes, it does qualify as an 'incident'..and should be reported as such to your diving agency... because you were a trainee diver and recieved an injury during that training. The instructor is obligated to report it. You should contact your agency directly to ensure that has happened.

As an instructor myself, your report scares me, because there seems to be little evidence of effective instructor supervision. There is certainly no evidence of instructor intervention - and that failing certainly contributed towards your injury.

Your instructor is supposed to be closely supervising you...and ensuring that you don't make those mistakes or get injured. Your safety is his responsibility...not your buddies, not any other divers'... it is his.

Don't beat yourself up about this. Your performance was pretty typical for OW dive 1. It takes some time and experience to get really comfortable underwater. Your buddy could have done more to assist.... and your instructor certainly didn't meet his responsibilities in ensuring your safety through effective supervision and intervention.

The ears should heal... get ENT / Dive Medical advice on treatment and recovery time (we have a Dive Medicine forum here on Scubaboard, with some very knowledgeable and well qualified dive doctors who are active in answering questions just like this). When you're ready, complete your training... and enjoy!

Whilst you're unable to dive, take the time to investigate some of the threads about weighting, buoyancy control and other skills. There's a wealth of information here that will help ensure you are more properly prepared when the time comes to get back in the water.

 

[USVet96]

No time to equalize the ears, everything was just happening way too fast. For all I knew, I was going to keep sinking all the way to the bottom of the lake, and I couldn't possibly equalize fast enough at the rate I was sinking. thanks for your answer.

In THAT situation I suppose NOT; however, with the weight issue straightened out, and when you are comfortable with your natural buoyancy, THAN I HIGHLY reccommend clearing like I said until you get used to it. Then every few minutes just to be on the safe side. And since by this time you are a pro at clearing your mask you will never have any water issues