A real rescue course - very close near miss

[Pearldiver07]

KathyDeee,

I would disagree about one thing. That this was a cause of diving alone. Yes, this was a significant factor, but I would call this "diving beyond one's abilities, training, and experience."

To try to swim between groups made him a solo diver, which he was obviously not prepared for at this point. Not seeing or knowing him this is mainly assumption, but I am sure that he did not have training in solo diving, nor was he equiped for it.

My take on this was that he was overwhelmed by the circumstances, lost control of his dive, stopped following his training in handling emergencies, and it nearly cost him his life. Unless his tank was empty (your summary doesn't reflect this), he had sufficient air to surface correctly.

I have always told my students that most accidents and injuries occur when you dive past your skills, experience, and training. You're just removing all of the margins of safety that are built in. This could be from trying a surf entry/exit without training, solo diving, or diving in kelp.

Thanks for stepping up when the need was there. Not everyone does.

 

[ScubaSteve]

First of all, it is great that you had such an event take place on your rescue course. The diver is lucky it was not an OW class being taught.

........The boat raced towards the recompression chamber..............Just when we were almost out of oxygen, we pulled up at the chamber and the patient was carried in.......

Was this embellishment with a little missing detail? Or did the hyperbaric chamber actually have boat access? I read this twice thinking there was something I missed (namely a transfer to ambulance or other vehicle) but I did not. If I read you correctly and the chamber was on the water, then that saved what could have been a lot of additional travel time. This diver seems to have had some lucky breaks that might have saved his life.

 

[kathydee]

To try to swim between groups made him a solo diver, which he was obviously not prepared for at this point. Not seeing or knowing him this is mainly assumption, but I am sure that he did not have training in solo diving, nor was he equiped for it.

My take on this was that he was overwhelmed by the circumstances, lost control of his dive, stopped following his training in handling emergencies, and it nearly cost him his life. Unless his tank was empty (your summary doesn't reflect this), he had sufficient air to surface correctly.

I have always told my students that most accidents and injuries occur when you dive past your skills, experience, and training. You're just removing all of the margins of safety that are built in. This could be from trying a surf entry/exit without training, solo diving, or diving in kelp.

True. And there was plenty of air left.

I don't know much about solo diving, but wondering if solo divers are trained to handle debilitating aquatic animal bites, stings, injuries in an emergancy situation where a buddy could help out?

 

[kathydee]

Was this embellishment with a little missing detail? Or did the hyperbaric chamber actually have boat access? I .

The hyperbaric chamber was literally a 1 minute walk from the dock.

 

[ScubaSteve]

The hyperbaric chamber was literally a 1 minute walk from the dock.

That is great and very good luck for the injured diver. Thanks for confirming it.

 

[kathydee]

It seems really odd to me that someone who was taking the DM training would hyperventilate, panic and make a breath-hold ascent from a buddy separation. Am I understanding correctly that this is what happened?

R..

Seemed odd to me too. At first I wondered if perhaps some sort of accident had occured underwater-- but no.

He never actually had a buddy -- he was assisting on an OW course and for some reason (not sure why) decided to swim from one OW class to another to help out. In the gap, most likely became disoriented and panicked. He remembers surfacing slowly but medical evidence suggests different.

 

[kathydee]

I would be very interested to know how many dives he had at that point. I know there is now a minimum for DM - but # of dives and experience/confidence are two different items entirely......

UPDATE! 60 dives is required to earn a DM. The accident dive was his 59th.

 

[wreckchick]

UPDATE!!

The guy needs at least another 59 dives before he really thinks he should BE a DM.

Rachel

 

[Diver0001]

UPDATE!!

The guy needs at least another 59 dives before he really thinks he should BE a DM.

Rachel

Someone... like you or like me.... decided to train him.....

R..

 

[kathydee]

Someone... like you or like me.... decided to train him.....

R..

This is entirely speculation and certainly not confirmed -- but it is quite possible that the same instructors who were training him also sent him off alone to assist with the other OW group.