Do You Agree?

[Oriskany Divemaster]

I have to ask why the kid was mask clearing in the quarry to begin with. I would assume if he had problems there then he had problems in the pool. Should have never been in the quarry in the first place. Just my opinion.

Granted, I've been drinking, but I don't think the question was, "Should the kid be in the quarry?"

If you've been diving for any period of time, you're going to have a need to clear your mask. The question was, "Should his buddy pull him back down?"

 

[mikemill]

I have to ask why the kid was mask clearing in the quarry to begin with. I would assume if he had problems there then he had problems in the pool. Should have never been in the quarry in the first place. Just my opinion.

Why not clear your mask in a quarry? Mask clearing is a pretty common thing.

 

[mikeyjoe]

Could be a case where he was ok with clearing his mask in the pool, being warmer water, but clearing it in the quarry was an issue because the water was particularly cold. Common practise here, in our cold Pacific water, is to partially flood their mask to adjust to the cold water, then fully flood and clear.

Could be that the water just rushed in and the coldness shocked him and freaked him out.

No matter what the cause, the right course of action was taken and we are glad everybody is fine.

 

[weaserm99]

Absolutely his buddy should pull him down, as for the question relating to the actual mask clearing, i have seen this happen before, person can perfectly clear mask in the pool, heck even take it off underwater and put it back on and clear it, then when they get to the quarry for certification dives they have trouble with it, most likely due to adding hoods, gloves and the cold temps (we try to simulate this the last night of class with the students wearing hoods and gloves to get used to them but we cant simulate the water temp). Also i have gone into a certification dive thinking who will have the hardest time in clearing the mask and that person will wind up doing the best job. My feeling is that the diver that has problems with something at the beginning and learns to overcome said problem they become a better diver than the one that can just do everything.

 

[Blu Diver]

Keeping the young diver underwater was the correct technique. As a buddy staying within arms length is also correct. When challenged underwater remember to Stop, think and then react! When instructing you are right up on your student and you have your hand strategically placed on the B/C. You should be prepared for the student to bolt to the surface. If the student bolts, thats when having your hand placed on the B/C comes into play. You already have hold of the bolting student and are now attempting to stop the ascent (or slow the ascent) while making eye contact. As stated previously...having someone there is very calming, so is eye contact.

Why did he have problems clearing? Maybe the mask didn't fit correctly? Was he kicked in the mask by another diver? Or was he inadequately trained and should not have been allowed to go to O/W? There's a laundry list of events that COULD have occurred. However, his buddy did the right thing. That could have been ugly if his buddy didn't intervene.

 

[Diver0001]

I'm not really sure what to think of this...

What *did* you think?

R..

 

[vtxkev]

I was recently diving in a local quarry. Me and my buddy were on a platform at about 20-25 feet when we look over and see a teenager struggling with clearing his mask. He began to panic and bolted to the surface. His buddy (obviously older; DM, father, not really sure) grabbed his fin and pulled him back down . Eventually the kid settled down and relaxed. I'm not really sure what to think of this...

This was the original post and I assumed when he said platform, teenager and then said buddy (obviously older: DM, Father, not really sure) that this teenager was in an OW class. Again my assumption and perhaps I was wrong.

Granted, I've been drinking, but I don't think the question was, "Should the kid be in the quarry?" If you've been diving for any period of time, you're going to have a need to clear your mask. The question was, "Should his buddy pull him back down?"

?"That wasn't the question, but thinking back to my OW class. I had mask issues in the pool and my instructor would not go any further until I had them down and was comfortable with them. Hence I couldnÃÕ go to the quarry and try it at 20 feet. So really there should never have been a question as to "Should his buddy pull him back down"

Why not clear your mask in a quarry? Mask clearing is a pretty common thing.

See above

Could be a case where he was ok with clearing his mask in the pool, being warmer water, but clearing it in the quarry was an issue because the water was particularly cold. Common practise here, in our cold Pacific water, is to partially flood their mask to adjust to the cold water, then fully flood and clear.

Could be that the water just rushed in and the coldness shocked him and freaked him out.

No matter what the cause, the right course of action was taken and we are glad everybody is fine.

mikeyjoe, I think your the only one who understood where I was going with my question. Thanks for your answer it put it in prespective and made me think about it a little more.

 

[SubMariner]

Could be a case where he was ok with clearing his mask in the pool, being warmer water, but clearing it in the quarry was an issue because the water was particularly cold. Common practise here, in our cold Pacific water, is to partially flood their mask to adjust to the cold water, then fully flood and clear.

Could be that the water just rushed in and the coldness shocked him and freaked him out.

No matter what the cause, the right course of action was taken and we are glad everybody is fine.

Well said!

 

[Dtaine]

Yes, that is a really good thing, probably saved him an injury. If you can fix it underwater, you should. 30 feet is pretty close to 1 atmosphere pressure, so if he heald his breath, what could that do to his lungs?

I don't know if you're actually seriously asking that question, so forgive in advance if you are being sarcastic.

30 feet would be approaching 2 ATA's not one. So, what do you think could happen if the air volume in his lungs were to nearly double while he's holding his breath?

*cough* embolism *cough*

 

[TSandM]

I think this worked out okay because the kid wasn't in full-blown panic. Grabbing somebody who REALLY doesn't want to be underwater any more, and pulling them underwater, seems to me to be a procedure with a non-zero risk. If the person is still rational, they shouldn't be bolting; if they aren't rational, they may spit out their reg (something panic-stricken people are known to do). It's a good question, whether you are more likely to SOLVE a problem by pulling someone down (thus avoiding expansion injury) or CREATE a problem (by forcing a panicked diver to remain underwater). I guess drowning, at least in shallow water, is a bit more salvageable than gas embolism.

I agree with everybody else that the real solution is to avoid the problem, i.e. be more comfortable with mask skills.