A very PERSONAL Close Call incident

[Dxtreme]

THE PRELUDE ..............

Well, went out to the favorite quarry for a dive today. With water temperature in the mid 55 on the surface, foolishly i only equipped myself with a single piece long sleeve hoodless 2/3mm suit.

THE INCIDENT .................

We started out fine until we hit the second thermocline somewhere around 45 ft. Suddenly, i feel like a current is right in front of me pushing me back. Surely, there couldnt be any current in a quarry !!

At this point, i SIMPLY UNABLE TO SWIM AT ALL !!! Nothing that i do will propel me forward. At first i thought i was tangled by all the plants at the bottom of the quarry.

Panic starting to hit me as i watch my group leaving the scene (I am the last diver, as i am slow in the kick. Not helping the situation is the visibility. With all the struggling, the bottom is all stirred up and visibility is now less than 2 feet.

Thinking that entanglement is the issue, i started to feel my fins ready to release the buckle. However, thanks to god (i dont have a knive) i was not tangled in any manner whatsoever.

I tried to force an ascent and upon reaching just 4 ft upwards, i begining to sink back down again. Panic struck me even harder this time as i tried to see desperatelty in the limited visibility, hoping that someone is coming back for me. NO BUBBLES, NO ONE IS COMING BACK TO CHECK !! At this point, i am thinking that i am going to drown and die there.

6 minitues has passed and with my panic situation, i estimated i lost 600 - 800 PSI of air and my computer is beeping (i dont remember for what, but that kicks in the adrenalin even more). A quick glance on the computer reveals that i am at 1200 PSI ! Picture of me being afloat dead became more vivid and visual.

As i gather my strengh and will to survive, i tried to calm myself down and utter to myself "i will not die here, i can do this". ALthough i am not supposed to do this but i gather all of my will power and tried to ascent to the top again. Everytime i am sinking down, i put air of the BC and used it as a "LIFT DEVICE".
And thanks to god, i am here now writing my scariest dive experience.

Surprisingly, while on the top i can swim normally to dock which is quite a distance away without any problems.

After a long surface interval, i was ready for the 2nd dive of the day. This time upon reaching 30 ft , the first thermocline hit and again i get the feeling of "unable to swim", sort of like a Deja Vu. This time, I decided just to abandon the dive. I decided to call it quits and did not continue with our planned 2nd and 3rd dive of the day.


AFTERMATH ............

I was shaken with today's incident and know not of the real cause. Could it be the cold frigid water with my inadequate thermal protection ?? Could it be of my long inactive winter hibernation ?? Could it be my weak legs and the kicking ??


THOUGHTS ............

I also learned few very valuable lessons.

1) A buddy system only works with an attentive buddy

2) You are your BEST BUDDY

3) REDUNDANCY: i a thinking of Pony bottle or even diving a double. I dont care if people laugh at the thought of REC diving double on a 60 ft quarry.

4) Never dive without a device that can free you in case of entanglement

5) SCUBA IS DANGEROUS !!

By the way, this is the same quarry that i got certified in, and during my OW check-out dives, i did not encounter any of the problems whatsoever.


CAN SOMEONE SHARE A LIGHT ON THIS INCIDENT ? I am feeling a little less confident about Scuba DIiving after today's incident althought i LOVE diving , but my life is way more important than a sport.

 

[DameDykker]

This is a troll, yes?

There's no way a certified diver could have done this. So many mistakes in one dive. You listed some of them but still.....

(If I'm wrong then glad you made it - and get MORE TRAINING)

 

[Dryglove]

Holy cow dude :wacko:

You better go seek some expert medical advice. You also need to get some serious exposure protection and a hood for diving water that cold. Sounds like you were experiencing hypothermia.

You should always carry at least one cutting device. I carry two to three depending where i dive at.

You were basically diving solo. Talk to your buddy and make sure you are aware of each other. Stay close together in bad vis and make eye contact more often.

Seriously go seek medical advice. If your clear for diving medically buy some proper exposure protection. Dive smart and not stupid or it will kill you as you almost found out. Glad to see your ok though!!

 

[Dxtreme]

Yeah... now i know, and it almost cost me my life.

I did not expect that hypothermia can temporarily paralyze a person ???

When we hit the thermocline i feel as if someone zapped me with an ice gun. This incident has certaintly taught me a lot of things and i will not make the same morbid mistakes ever again.

Have i been entangled beyond my fins for real, i would not be here now.

 

[The Chairman]

we can only speculate your problem(s). You might have left something out that would provide more clues as to what was going on. From what you have written, I can deduce a few things.

1) You underestimated the power of cold. Hypothermia will cause immobility in it's advanced stages. Were you at that stage? I can't say for sure. You don't mention shivering prior to that so I am not sure. By any account, your protection was sub standard for the conditions you were in.

2) You overestimated your ability. After a lengthy hiatus, it is always prudent to seek more training before diving. Especially if your experience is minimal.

3) You did not commit to fitness. You should never dive with "weak legs". Do some laps and build that strength so that you can dive. That will also help you with that triathlon.

4) You are experiencing panic where there should be none. You freaked and that alone could explain all that happened to you. You either need to see a doctor/psychiatrist, get additional training or give up the sport. You might need a combination of those too. Diving is optional: living is not.

You seemed to have learned some good lessons from this. All is not lost. Proceed slowly and methodically and you might succeed. Good luck and stay safe.

One last note... I am NOT a medical doctor. I heal sick Networks, not people. I am a Scuba Instructor, and speak from that perspective.

 

[Dxtreme]

Definitely i can use more training in the pool. I was not shivering at all but was very uncomfortable when we decent and hit the thermocline. Funny thing is once i was above the thermocline, everything seems to function normally.

If my buddy was there, i dont think this incident would have happened at all. A good buddy is truly hard to find.

As for the condition, the maximum dept of the quarry is just 60 feet and its the same place where i did my OW check out dives which went on without a hitch !

I guess no more cold water diving for me.

 

[ingreevox]

Wow, you learned a whole lot of things that day. Good to see that you have had to chance to learn something, but I do not envy you.
I am about to start my first dives for the year here in Nj/PA, and I have a plan to do it. I welcome any additions to my plan, I have a few more days to hit the surface.
1. I am gonna test fire all my newest gear in a pool first off. No sense trying to test it in the open water, i wanna be sure everything is in good shape, and functioning correctly.
2. The first few dives will be shallow, and will involve testing my buddy, and he testing me on basic skills, including clearing, bouyancy and all the basic stuff we learned.
3. My Buddy (s) and I will practice the buddy rules we created for ourselves, and practice swimming together, leading and following and the like.

Your story was a real eye opener, and confirms my purchase of a nice warm pony bottle, just to be safe.
And who cares if anyone knocks you wearing a double. Quite honestly, any diver who knocks another diver for being safe should be left on the dock! (Remember the Rouses)!

Fear is not nessisarilly bad, if it pushes you to be safe, and healthy.

Be safe all, and keep breathing!

 

[The Chairman]

Uhhhh... gear rarely, rarely fails, but divers do.

They fail to plan (things like air).

They fail to prepare

They fail to train

They fail to think

A pony bottle will do NOTHING to solve those failures. In fact, a pony will give an untrained diver a FALSE sense of security and put them at greater risk. I am glad that you are willing to pay for safety... thats a good thing! Just get the biggest bang for your buck and spend it on additional training or a warmer suit (if you just have to buy gear) or on additional reading. Don't throw your money where it will not increase your safety.

End of rant.

 

[CuriousMe]

Dxtreme once bubbled...

<snip>At first i thought i was tangled by all the plants at the bottom of the quarry.
<snip>
With all the struggling, the bottom is all stirred up and visibility is now less than 2 feet.
<snip>
At this point, i SIMPLY UNABLE TO SWIM AT ALL !!! Nothing that i do will propel me forward. Everytime i am sinking down, i put air of the BC and used it as a "LIFT DEVICE". <snip>

I went back and forth on whether/how to answer this. I decided to focus on one part.

Is it possible that you were very overweighted? You mentioned that when you started to have problems you were stirring up the bottom and that you thought you might have been entangled in the vegetation on the bottom....were you close to neutral at this point? The fact that you could swim at the surface could be because I'm assuming you inflated your BC at the surface.

You also mentioned that you started using your BC to lift you....had you considered ditching any weight?

Just a note re: your air and possible future tank purchases. 1200 PSI at 45 feet is a lot of problem solving time (if you're not panicking). My OW instructor was fond of saying that as long as you have air, you can figure out just about any problem underwater...but you can't figure out a thing if you panic.

I agree with the consensus here....definitely get cleared medically....then, if you want to/can pursue SCUBA...some more instructor time would be a wise thing.

Glad you're here to write about it.

Peace,
Cathie

 

[wreckchick]

Use the money on a good thick suit and some gloves and a hood. The pony wouldn't have helped you here, you had plenty of air. I'm not saying you shouldn't carry a knife or scissors, you should, but in fact the problem wasn't entanglement, it was your panic and inadequate exposure protection.

What were you wearing on your OW check-out dives where you had no problems?

Rachel