Dive 4 of OW Cert - Panic Attack

[TiaMaria]

I am new to this forum and would be grateful for some feedback and advice as to what happened on my Open Water dives. I decided to do the PADI fast track course and completed all the pool work and passed the theory test with 100%. Had no trouble at all in the pool and felt very confident and pleased with myself with mastering all my skills seeing as I am not a youngster but a 40 year old woman. Decided to take my open water dives at a quarry in England. Did my dry suit orientation a couple of days before in the pool. I knew it was going to be cold but was not expecting to feel numb from the waist down! The water was 5 degrees and it really took your breath away. Anyway, Dives 1, 2 and 3 all went well and I completed all of my skills execpt for my under water navigation which was to be done on dive 4. As some of the other trainees in my party fluffed a few of their skills dive 3 took a lot longer than anticipated and we were bobbing around in the water for an extra 45 minutes on top of the 45 minute dive. We were all frozen. Because of this lapse we did not have a lot of time on the surface to get warm and by the time I entered the water for dive 4 my legs were still numb with cold from dive 3. However, I was keen to get on with it and get it over with so I could have my certification and do some recreational diving abroad in the warm. My instructor kept looking at his watch and was concerned that time was getting on. I was rushed into putting my kit together which I didnt like but just got on with it. Myself and another student were taken to 8 metres to do our underwater nav and then brought back up to the surface. Immediately the other group members joined us in the water and we made our descent to do our last dive which was our deep one. For the first time over the whole weekend I had trouble with equalising my ears. I was concerned about being rushed and came up a little to try and sort my ears out. My instructor came over and held me by my BCD and took me down again but still my ears were not right. I signalled to him three times that I was not happy and we went up and down a few times, me desperately blowing my nose like crazy in an attempt to make them ok. Finally, they seemed to be OK and I gave the OK sign. Whilst my ears were OK I didnt realise that because of the all the exertion of going up and down and blowing my nose so hard it had actually made me breathless. As we finned down this path to 15 metres I was very aware of my regulator making a constant sound like a steam train. This alarmed me. I checked my guage - yes I had air - so why was I finding it hard to breathe? I breathed harder, desperately trying to get air in my lungs but felt like I had none. I looked for my instructor but he was finning ahead of the group. Panic sticken I signalled to my buddy that I was going up - I knew I was not supposed to leave him but my mind was in overdrive. I made a quick ascent although I finned up and was breathing all the time. On the surface I felt immediate relief when I could get that regulator out of my mouth and breathe fresh air. Obviously, I was gutted as it meant that I didnt complete my course and I know that I have to re-take that last dive. I was cross that my instructor didnt ask me what had gone wrong under water and that he hadnt noticed my distress - he just asked if I was OK. When I looked at my dive profile afterwards, it showed that I had used 100bar of air in 10 minutes. Thats a lot of air! However, worse to come, when I got home that evening, after having a shower and a bite to eat, I came over all tight chested and felt I couldnt breathe. I collapsed on the floor and my husband called an ambulance and I was taken to hospital. Stayed in over night but after all the tests they concluded that I had had another panic attack and I was fit to return home. I am now left with a really bad feeling. I was so keen to get through this course and was excited about all the diving I could do and had ahead of me and now I feel scared to get back in the water. The Dive Club have suggested I go back for some more pool sessions before embarking on my final dive to complete my course but at this precise moment I cant even face that. Am posting this message in the hope that I am not alone on this one and for reassurance that when I do get back in the water I dont have the same experience again. Many thanks in advance for any posts.

 

[SDAnderson]

Remember, this is supposed to be fun. Diving is the lazy man's extreme sport so slow down and relax. Learn to listen to that inner voice that wasn't comfortable with the rushed pace and slow things down.

I don't know exactly what your "fast track" course consisted of but this is a growing trend that should be stomped out. Compressing all of the material into as short a time frame as possible puts enormous pressure on the students - and the instructors - and creates bad results.

Above all, don't dive if you aren't physically and emotionally comfortable with the situation. Being as cold and stressed as you report is a bad situation looking to get worse. As you have learned, it would have been better to call the dive.

Find another instructor and finish the course at your pace, not his.

 

[ONESPEED]

It's too bad your check out dive went poorly. SCUBA Diving magazine recently had a good article on preventing panic attacks, here is the link:

http://www.scubadiving.com/training/basic_skills/never_panic_again_(2005)/

Good luck completing your course!

 

[Whale Whisperer]

I agree with Reefraff! I'm new to the world of diving, so I'm always studying about this sport. I've also recently finnished my Rescue Diver course and I can tell you from my experience so far and book knowledge that, stress (Physical and/or mental) in any way shape or form has the potential of causing these problems, especially when it's compounded. When in these situations I think that any diver has the right to call the dive, and there shouldn't be any qualms about it. So the most important thing is stay relaxed, and if you feel that things are going bad (and you may have heard this) then remember this: STOP!!! BREATHE!!! THINK!!! Then calmly follow through. Those three actions have actually saved my life a few times.

Diving is supposed to be fun! So have fun and relax!
-Dom

 

[utnapistim]

Hi,

One of the things that I feel is not strongly enough enforced in the OW course is how/when to say NO to a dive.

The rule of thumb for me is this should not be difficult. If it is, then stop and see why.

There were lots of things that shouldn't have happened in what you encountered, but mainly it seems you were not confortable phisically and overwhelmed during the dive
(actually it sounds like a textbook example of the steps leading to a panic attack from the PADI Resque diver manual ).

You CAN go back to finish the course, but bear in mind that before doing that you will have to get past the fear.
I would approach this by finding a (different?) instructor that understands that you went through a panic attack and is willing to go with you very slowly back in the pool and then back to the sea for the fourth dive.

I thankfully never had a panic attack, but came preety close a couple of times. One of them was similar to yours:
I was cold, a bit above my comfort level, tired and I got stung by a jellyfish. Luckilly I managed to stop, calm myself and look around.


The first thing to do in a similar situation is to stop everything you do and breathe slowly, deeply and calm.



I hope my answer helped

 

[espenskogen]

I assume you were doing your dives in Stoney Cove?

Stoney can be very cold during the winter, and you need a thick undersuit to be comfortable there. You should however not get so cold that you go numb - In that case something is wrong.

90 minutes in the water is a long time in Stoney as well - When we do the open water courses there in October/November, we try and restrict in-water time to a maximum of 60 minutes.

Normally, dive 4 will be as deep or slightly shallower than dive 3 (if it's done on the same day) - This is to avoid a reverse profile.
Your instructor did not sound particularly impressive, I must say - I concur with the suggestion that you find another instructor.

Do try again - It's just one dive, and it should be a breeze once you're rested and warm, but if I were you, I would wait until the end of April - Hopefully, our quarries might have warmed up slightly by then.

E

 

[Walter]

I am new to this forum and would be grateful for some feedback and advice as to what happened on my Open Water dives. I decided to do the PADI fast track course and completed all the pool work and passed the theory test with 100%. Had no trouble at all in the pool and felt very confident and pleased with myself with mastering all my skills seeing as I am not a youngster but a 40 year old woman.

I agree with Stephen, fast track course are no good for anyone except those who make money from rushing people through.

Decided to take my open water dives at a quarry in England. Did my dry suit orientation a couple of days before in the pool. I knew it was going to be cold but was not expecting to feel numb from the waist down! The water was 5 degrees and it really took your breath away.

That is cold! I shiver just thinking about fiving in 43° F water. I salute you.

Anyway, Dives 1, 2 and 3 all went well and I completed all of my skills execpt for my under water navigation which was to be done on dive 4. As some of the other trainees in my party fluffed a few of their skills dive 3 took a lot longer than anticipated and we were bobbing around in the water for an extra 45 minutes on top of the 45 minute dive. We were all frozen. Because of this lapse we did not have a lot of time on the surface to get warm and by the time I entered the water for dive 4 my legs were still numb with cold from dive 3.

Never start a dive when you are not ready to dive. If that means you miss a dive, so be it. If you are cold, you aren't ready. When your core starts to drop in temperature, it takes days to warm back up.

However, I was keen to get on with it and get it over with so I could have my certification and do some recreational diving abroad in the warm. My instructor kept looking at his watch and was concerned that time was getting on. I was rushed into putting my kit together which I didnt like but just got on with it.

Don't let people rush you in the water.

Myself and another student were taken to 8 metres to do our underwater nav and then brought back up to the surface. Immediately the other group members joined us in the water and we made our descent to do our last dive which was our deep one. For the first time over the whole weekend I had trouble with equalising my ears. I was concerned about being rushed and came up a little to try and sort my ears out. My instructor came over and held me by my BCD and took me down again but still my ears were not right. I signalled to him three times that I was not happy and we went up and down a few times, me desperately blowing my nose like crazy in an attempt to make them ok. Finally, they seemed to be OK and I gave the OK sign.

Additional equalization techniques might have helped here. I'll try to add some tips when I have more time, later today.

Whilst my ears were OK I didnt realise that because of the all the exertion of going up and down and blowing my nose so hard it had actually made me breathless. As we finned down this path to 15 metres I was very aware of my regulator making a constant sound like a steam train. This alarmed me. I checked my guage - yes I had air - so why was I finding it hard to breathe? I breathed harder, desperately trying to get air in my lungs but felt like I had none. I looked for my instructor but he was finning ahead of the group.

Being new, having taken the fast track, and from what you are now saying about being afraid to dive, it looks like you had a basic lack of confidence in you abilities.

The second step in panic is when something goes wrong. In your case, it was the problems with equalization combined with being chilled. When things go wrong, a diver will either have confidence in their ability to handle the problem or they won't. If they do have confidence, they'll solve the problem and move on.

If they lack confidence, they will become scared and as a result start to hypoventilate. Hypoventilation is rapid shallow breathing. It is often, incorrectly, called uncontrolled hyperventilation. These are the next two steps in panic. Hypoventilation causes a buildup of CO2 in the lungs. This is because shallow breathing does not purge the lungs of CO2 on exhalation. As CO2 builds, the urge to breathe becomes even stronger. Hypoventilation increases making the feeling of not being ablr to breathe even worse. This is what makes some divers think they are over breathing their regulator. Once hypoventilation starts, full panic is often seconds away. Once the diver is panicked, he will often take inappropriate and usually dangerous actions such as bolting to the surface.

An understanding of this cycle can allow a diver to break it and prevent panic. Most agencies teach divers, Stop, think, act. Some teach it as, Stop, breathe, think, act. This is wonderful, but it doesn't explain why and while the concept is a good one, a better understanding of the panic cycle is essential to breaking it. If a diver feels himself starting to hypoventilate, he needs to know this is an important step that can lead to his (and his buddy's) death if he doesn't take immediate action by slowing his breathing. Slow deep breaths are a life saver.

Panic sticken I signalled to my buddy that I was going up - I knew I was not supposed to leave him but my mind was in overdrive. I made a quick ascent although I finned up and was breathing all the time. On the surface I felt immediate relief when I could get that regulator out of my mouth and breathe fresh air.

You were not panicked, you were still thinking and taking action. You signaled an ascent. Any diver can abort any dive at any time. Your buddy should've ascended with you. You did not leave your buddy. Your buddy should've ascended with you.

Obviously, I was gutted as it meant that I didnt complete my course and I know that I have to re-take that last dive. I was cross that my instructor didnt ask me what had gone wrong under water and that he hadnt noticed my distress - he just asked if I was OK. When I looked at my dive profile afterwards, it showed that I had used 100bar of air in 10 minutes. Thats a lot of air! However, worse to come, when I got home that evening, after having a shower and a bite to eat, I came over all tight chested and felt I couldnt breathe. I collapsed on the floor and my husband called an ambulance and I was taken to hospital. Stayed in over night but after all the tests they concluded that I had had another panic attack and I was fit to return home. I am now left with a really bad feeling. I was so keen to get through this course and was excited about all the diving I could do and had ahead of me and now I feel scared to get back in the water. The Dive Club have suggested I go back for some more pool sessions before embarking on my final dive to complete my course but at this precise moment I cant even face that. Am posting this message in the hope that I am not alone on this one and for reassurance that when I do get back in the water I dont have the same experience again. Many thanks in advance for any posts.

You sound like someone who actually stopped panic in a very unpleasant situation without the necessary training. That is a rare trait. Because of that, I believe you can not only dive, but you can become an excellent diver. I hope you don't let this experience stop you from experiencing the sea.

 

[TiaMaria]

Many thanks to all of you who have posted replies and I am taking all your suggestions on board. Has made me feel a lot better all ready about the whole thing and not such of a freak! Yes, the dives were done in Stoney Cove - not a place I wish to revisit in a hurry, but like you said, perhaps when its warmer and I have done a few more pool sessions I can finish my course with a different and more patient instructor. Thanks again all. I'm glad I found this discussion board

 

[craborn]

When I have a student come in asking can you get me certified in a hurry I tell them
"NO". Even though you can and I am sure did learn everything perfectly and I am sure your instructor did everything perfectly. The only way to become a good, safe and confident diver is to dive. That is why most courses are set up to be over a few weeks or months. It allows us to have time to absorb all of this. PLEASE !!!! go get in a pool with an instructor and just breathe air. WHen you feel comfortable again then go practice your skills and practice all of the emergency situations. YOU CAN DO THIS if you WANT TO> Good Luck and please feel free to ask questions........

 

[Walter]

As promised, a little information on equalization techniques.....

The most common method of equalization is the Valsalva Maneuver. Named for Antonio Valsalva, this technique involves pinching off the nostrils and blowing gently into the nose. Never blow forcefully while attempting this method as a too forceful Valsalva Maneuver can result in the rupture of the eardrum, round window or oval window. This will usually result in immediate vertigo and hearing loss, which can be permanent.

The Frenzel Maneuver was named for developer, Herman Frenzel of the Luftwaffe in World War II. This method is preformed by closing off the vocal cords, pinching the nostrils and an effort is made to make a "guh" sound.

The Toynbee Maneuver is simply pinching of the nostrils while swallowing.

Beance Tubaire Voluntaire (BTV) or Voluntary Tubal Opening is the preferred method of equalization once mastered. It feels very much like the begining of a yawn and a difference in tonal quality of sounds will be noticed when successful. The muscles of the upper throat are used to pull open the Eustachian tube.

You should employ equalization techniques immediately upon descent and continue them regularly on descent. If any pain is experienced, you should ascend until all pain disappears and begin again.

Another equalization technique divers find helpful is to gently massage the area under the ear, just behind the jaw. This is most effective when used in conjunction with one of the methods discussed above.

Often divers find it useful to chew gum or eat crunchy foods such as apples or carrots prior to diving. You should not attempt to chew gum or eat while diving.

Good luck, young lady, keep us informed of you progress.