close call

[masonak1298]

Hi everyone, Did you ever have one of those experiences that almost made you give up diving? Yesterday my friend and I were taking the deep dive section of the AOW class. We got down to 60 feet when my friend/dive buddy's reg. started to free flow. He switched to his other reg and was breathing fine when the instructor turned off the tank valve to try to stop the free flow. The instuctor thought he was on his pony reg. My friend took a breath in just as the instructor turned it off for less than a second. When he couldn't get any air he paniced and started to swim to the surface. The instructor tried to give him his reg. ,but in the panic of my friend, he threw it back into his face. He started to the surface and some how in the process torn off his inflator hose to his BC. When he got to the surface he hit his head on a metal beam of a pier. He had to remove his BC because he was unable to stay afloat. He was Ok but really shaken up. If he quits diving I wouldn't blame him. He was really lucky.

 

[Rick Inman]

Hi everyone, Did you ever have one of those experiences that almost made you give up diving?

I've seen it, but not myself to that extent. I have had the panic dragon crawl up into me and shout at me to run, run for the surface, but have managed to beat it back down. I think that day comes to every diver eventually - maybe several times. It is a good test to have had. I've had it happen recently, during last years tech training. It's an ugly feeling, but not succumbing to it puts strength into your diving safety.

A buddy of mine bolted once when his reg got kicked out (by me, as a matter of fact ). He says, it took having the same feeling again on a later dive, and NOT fleeing for the surface, when everything in his being told him to, before he fully regained his confidence.

It's OK to have the desire to bolt. It's not OK to act on it. A search on the many good threads on "panic" might prove educational and enjoyable.

 

[EnronX]

Wow, that is a scary story....sounds like the instructor didn't do a good job of communicating his plan/intention of working on the free-flow. Did your friend not think to grab his pony? That flight to the surface impulse can be a killer.

He's lucky not to be in the ER...glad he is ok

 

[TSandM]

Wow.

I just took a class where we did a lot of valve shutdowns (double tanks). One of the principles that was drummed into us over and over again was that, before you turn off a valve, you must make SURE you know which regulator the diver is breathing, so you do NOT turn off his breathing supply. It was a pretty bad mistake for an instructor not to do this prior to turning off a valve.

That said, your buddy got a valuable experience, because he found out that he didn't stay calm and signal "Out of Air" when this happened. He panicked, and panic is a very bad things underwater. Hopefully, this won't make him stop diving, but if he does continue, he needs to practice out of air scenarios, and perhaps even get in a shallow pool and have somebody turn his valve off (as we did in open water) to get used to the feeling of the gas stopping, and ingrain the response to go to an alternate air supply, whether that's a pony or a buddy.

 

[Rick Inman]

One of the principles that was drummed into us over and over again was that, before you turn off a valve, you must make SURE you know which regulator the diver is breathing, so you do NOT turn off his breathing supply.

Oh yeah. That one, too, just last month.

Two of my friends, both in doubles. One has a free-flow and switches to his backup reg. His buddy turns off the wrong post. This is at 100' in very dark low vis. When the guy gets a breath of nothing, he quickly signals OOA, but his buddy is kind of behind him and doesn't see, so he has to turn and really signal. And suddenly there are regs and hoses going everywhere. They got it sorted out. But with doubles and a stage you can get kinda of over confident, that there is always lots of gas - which there is - but you can't always go to one.You really need to think through which reg you want to go to, and which valve you really want to shut down.

 

[ianr33]

We got down to 60 feet when my friend/dive buddy's reg. started to free flow. He switched to his other reg and was breathing fine when the instructor turned off the tank valve to try to stop the free flow. The instuctor thought he was on his pony reg. My friend took a breath in just as the instructor turned it off for less than a second. When he couldn't get any air he paniced and started to swim to the surface.

Seems kind of pointless bothering to carry a pony if you dont use it when you really need it. I wonder how many divers carrying ponys would actually deploy them in a genuine emergency and how many would bolt?

I am glad it all turned out OK in the end.

 

[TSandM]

Got that lesson the other night, and I posted about it. Screwed up a valve drill by not checking the reg I was going to go to, and when I got the one I was breathing shut off, I couldn't FIND the other one. Buddy wasn't in a good position to donate, and I had to turn the post back on in a hurry.

Shutting off a valve is a BIG deal. One needs to be very careful not to shut down a valve somebody's breathing off of -- I think EVER. If you are going to shut down a valve to stop a freeflow, the diver should be on your octo/long hose or his pony or some other air source. And should be warned it's going to happen.

And I agree, this diver clearly needs more practice going from his primary reg to his pony, if he is going to carry one. It should be a fairly instinctive response.

 

[driftin' by]

That's a messed up situation.... messed up instructor. Best thing you can do is learn from your buddy's mistake and find a different instructor.

Had a situation that didn't keep me from diving but did keep me from trying out a drysuit. Arrived at Gilboa quarry in Ohio to sample a drysuit on a DUI demo day. After arriving, witnessed a diver pop to the surface like the Michelin Man, DOA. He wasn't previously drysuit certified, went down over the wall and apparently couldn't get neutral, panicked, over inflated and it was all over. As tempting as it is to try out a drysuit to see if I want to buy one, I decided to wait until I'm certified to do so.

To everyone else:
Monday Morning Quarterback in effect- Is it just me or does anyone else find is odd that a newbie is rigged up with a pony bottle? I couldn't imagine many scenarios that someone lacking AOW cert would need this level of redundancy? I find it odd that the instructor would let a newbie dive with a pony especially on a training check-out dive. I'm I missing something? I don't know, it sounds like a situation similar to students bringing along cameras or a DPV on their OW check out dives.

 

[Guba]

"Did you ever have one of those experiences that almost made you give up diving?"

Yes. It wasn't a panic attack, but it was traumatic. I had to think long and hard before I made the decision to get back in the water, and I owe one of my dive partners for being there to help me do it. I urge you to encourage your friend by giving him the opportunity to talk about the experience and "face the dragon". When he's ready to try again, be there for him and be willing to go with him. Displaying confidence in his ability to overcome this event will go a long way in helping him move on and learn from it.

 

[Rick Inman]

I find it odd that the instructor would let a newbie dive with a pony especially on a training check-out dive. I'm I missing something?

Yes. Dives shops must sell gear to make profit. Sorry to say, but I see all kinds of crap attached to divers that really help the shop more than the diver.