Diver missing at Cove 2, West Seattle

[MXGratefulDiver]

Well, I can only tell you a true story of a real dive. I was diving at Three Tree with two friends. One was a guy I'd been diving with for several months; he had about 40 dives, maybe 50 at the time. He'd taken some training beyond OW (I think he did NW Grateful Diver's AOW class, but it was a long time ago, and I'm not sure). At any rate, he had been diving regularly in the Sound and had always been a very solid buddy.

The three of us were down about 70 feet when he began to seem a little erratic -- he was fiddling with his mask, and not kicking steadily. We gave him the "okay" signal, and he returned it. About 60 seconds later, he turned 90 degrees and took off at high speed. The other two of us tried to chase him, but neither of us could come anywhere near keeping up -- this was a big, strong man, swimming as hard as he could.

My remaining buddy and I looked at each other and shrugged, and decided to execute the lost buddy protocol, so we made a steady but controlled ascent to the surface. When we got there, we found our third teammate just getting out of the water, quite a long way from where we were. We weren't thrilled with the surface swim back to the entry!

It turned out that our buddy's mask had flooded, and he was unable to clear it on the first attempt. The influx of cold water panicked him, and all he could think was that he needed to get shallower. (Why shallower would make a flooded mask better, I don't know, but the essence of panic is that it isn't rational.) By the time he got to shore, the panic had abated, and he was absolutely humiliated at what he had done; he almost quit diving altogether over the incident.

So there is a true story of a similarly experienced diver, who encountered something that he had no idea would cause him to panic, but it did. We will never know, I'm sure, what set this diver off the other day, but something did -- whether it was a reg that started breathing wet, or a mask flood, or feeling disoriented, or just letting his buoyancy get away from him (I had an uncontrolled ascent from 70 feet when I was just a bit newer than he was), something sent him to the surface, and he may well have held his breath.

Actually, he took my AOW class as a result of that incident. "D"'s experience was exactly what came to mind when I read about this incident. People who have never had to deal with a chronically-flooding mask in cold water will perhaps not understand what it does to some people ... particularly to a relatively new diver who doesn't understand what's happening.

Depending on susceptibility ... which varies among divers ... mammalian reflex will produce an increasingly powerful urge to bolt to the surface. At first it's an annoyance ... but if the problem isn't resolved quickly it can lead to a sensation that your regulator is breathing in water. After a minute or two you'll experience difficulty breathing ... and at that point the panic cycle sets in and the diver experiences an overpowering urge to bolt to the surface.

I've seen it happen in a few divers ... which is why I emphasize the mask clearing and removal exercises at the OW level (where the diver is in only 20 feet of water) over and over and over until the diver can remove their mask and replace it easily, and without showing any sign of stress. This effectively "rewires" the reflex.

In "D"'s case, the experience of the dive you describe almost caused him to quit diving. We spent about two hours working on it ... first by standing in chest-deep water and having him put his face in the water, maskless, and just breathing off the regulator ... and then by going deeper and having him first flood-n-clear, then remove-n-replace, then finally handing his mask to me and swimming around without it for a minute or so.

"D" went on to become a very competent tech diver. But he first had to "rewire" his instincts ... as do probably the majority of people who dive in cold water.

This might have been a cause in this case. Might not have had anything to do with it. We really do not know. But it's one reason why I don't like seeing the instructor blamed in this situation. We simply do not know what happened ... and it could have been something that many of us would handle routinely, but that a diver with 50 dives may never have experienced before.

The panic cycle is usually triggered when someone is faced with a problem they don't know how to resolve. It might be a very simple problem ... but if they haven't had to deal with it before, it's not simple to them. And once panic sets in, the diver is dangerous not only to themself, but to anyone who attempts to intervene.

First rule of rescue ... don't create a second victim. If someone bolts, usually the only good decision is to let them go, make a safe ascent, and render aid once on the surface. Sounds to me like this is exactly what happened in this circumstance.

In the absense of more information, we really need to keep this in mind ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[RK Ratfood]

Another thread on this here.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/411528-diver-missing-cove-2-west-seattle.html

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Threads merged
Rick

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It's surprising how many people are talking out of their ass and Leaping to conclusions.

A missing dive becomes BODY RECOVERY(.) As a member of a dive club that has Police Recovery Diver come and speak at our club meeting on a sime-regualar basis, Saltwater diving accidents (missing Diver) will result in death.

Standard Police and Fire Rescue will not break 100' level (.), after 100' it require Federal Rescue Diving issue.

If a diver loses control on assent, then there is nothing any one can do or they will put themselves in danger as well. All the buddy/instructor/DM can to is surface at a safe rate and hope to assist on the surface. Diving has its risks and anytime anyone dons gear and enters the water they are taking said risks. In the past few years team diving has taken off, but you must remember that ultimately you must rely on yourself.

 

[mdb]

"The Team" can seem real fun and fine while doing "drills" etc. It is a whole other thing when things go bad fast. I totally agree that you must rely on yourself.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Actually, he took my AOW class as a result of that incident. "D"'s experience was exactly what came to mind when I read about this incident. People who have never had to deal with a chronically-flooding mask in cold water will perhaps not understand what it does to some people ... particularly to a relatively new diver who doesn't understand what's happening.

Depending on susceptibility ... which varies among divers ... mammalian reflex will produce an increasingly powerful urge to bolt to the surface. At first it's an annoyance ... but if the problem isn't resolved quickly it can lead to a sensation that your regulator is breathing in water. After a minute or two you'll experience difficulty breathing ... and at that point the panic cycle sets in and the diver experiences an overpowering urge to bolt to the surface.

I've seen it happen in a few divers ... which is why I emphasize the mask clearing and removal exercises at the OW level (where the diver is in only 20 feet of water) over and over and over until the diver can remove their mask and replace it easily, and without showing any sign of stress. This effectively "rewires" the reflex.

In "D"'s case, the experience of the dive you describe almost caused him to quit diving. We spent about two hours working on it ... first by standing in chest-deep water and having him put his face in the water, maskless, and just breathing off the regulator ... and then by going deeper and having him first flood-n-clear, then remove-n-replace, then finally handing his mask to me and swimming around without it for a minute or so.

"D" went on to become a very competent tech diver. But he first had to "rewire" his instincts ... as do probably the majority of people who dive in cold water.

This might have been a cause in this case. Might not have had anything to do with it. We really do not know. But it's one reason why I don't like seeing the instructor blamed in this situation. We simply do not know what happened ... and it could have been something that many of us would handle routinely, but that a diver with 50 dives may never have experienced before.

The panic cycle is usually triggered when someone is faced with a problem they don't know how to resolve. It might be a very simple problem ... but if they haven't had to deal with it before, it's not simple to them. And once panic sets in, the diver is dangerous not only to themself, but to anyone who attempts to intervene.

First rule of rescue ... don't create a second victim. If someone bolts, usually the only good decision is to let them go, make a safe ascent, and render aid once on the surface. Sounds to me like this is exactly what happened in this circumstance.

In the absense of more information, we really need to keep this in mind ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Where have you come up with the idea that the mammalian diving reflex tends to cause people to bolt to the surface? As I understand it, the reflex has a self preservation benefit to a diver immersed in cold water ????

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Where have you come up with the idea that the mammalian diving reflex tends to cause people to bolt to the surface?

11 years and nearly 3000 dives in cold water. I've seen it, and at an earlier time in my diving, experienced it. During the years I've been teaching I've had to deal with two cases of full-on panic because of it ... both times in divers who showed no sign of distress doing exactly the same exercises in a warmer, confined water environment.

As I understand it, the reflex has a self preservation benefit to a diver immersed in cold water ????

We humans don't own an instinct that has a self-preservation benefit underwater ... we were never designed to be there. Instincts that evolved over millenia for the purpose of self-preservation were intended to do so in our natural environment ... which is above the water. Those same instincts can often get us killed in a hurry in an underwater environment.

Mammallian reflex was designed to keep us from accidentally drowning ourselves in an environment where we could remove ourselves from the danger by standing up ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

"The Team" can seem real fun and fine while doing "drills" etc. It is a whole other thing when things go bad fast. I totally agree that you must rely on yourself.

There is no indication that this incident had anything to do with team diving ... most recreational AOW classes don't.

A bolting diver can get away from their buddy in a hurry ... even when the buddy is within arm's reach.

I agree with the self-sufficiency sentiment ... but don't really see how it applies to this particular accident.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[openmindOW]

Mammalian Diving Reflex, as I understand it, relates to a slow heart and breathing rate that occurs due to cold water immersion, but I am not an expert. I would welcome an expert opinion from any expert reading this.

 

[EastEndDiver]

here are some articles on Mammalian diving reflex;

Mammalian Diving Reflex: A Cool Artifact of Human Evolution | Evolvify

Drowning Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention on eMedicineHealth.com

The Mammalian Diving Reflex

Unraveling the mammalian diving reflex (Part I) | DeeperBlue.com

Having been diving/teaching in cold water in the Northeast/Atlantic for over 30 years ,stopped diving cold water about 7-9 years ago,never heard of anyone bolting to surface due to Mammalian reflex.I have read several accounts of people,mostly children, surviving cold water immersion for extended periods of time due to it.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Technically accurate, but only part of the story. This article describes it more in context of what I'm talking about ... the physical responses that are apparent to the diver. The context of this article is in preparation for triathalon, but the principles are the same ...

Prepping For Your Cold Water Swim | Internal Mono(b)log

In the swim leg of the race, you may experience diving reflex as the feeling of the inability to breathe, gasping for air, the closing of the throat, cramping and panic. Clearly something you want to avoid

Fortunately, you can prepare yourself for the shock and teach your body to handle it in a manageable way.

When we’re scuba diving in very cold water, we’ll submerse our faces (with our masks off) and force ourselves to breathe through the regulator or a snorkel to get past the bradycardia and autonomic response to hold your breath or breathe quickly and shallowly in response to the cold and dive reflex. This body training will last 30-60 minutes after the “familiarization training” and greatly reduce your body’s negative reactions to the cold water. In much the same way, you should spend a few minutes pre-swim preparing your body for the shock of the water temperature.

Start by standing at a comfortable depth, bend over and with your goggles off put your face in the water and relax. Breathe out with slowly with your face submerged and turn your head as though you’re free-style breathing to inhale. Try to breathe deep and steadily, using your diaphragm, pulling air deep into your belly. Continue breathing in this position until you feel calm and relaxed in your breathing and comfortably accustomed to the cold shock of the water and air.

By acclimatizing yourself to the cold water on your face (including around your eyes), you’ll be much less likely to suffer negative reactions of mammalian dive reflex during the race, especially if you somehow loose your mask during the swim.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[EastEndDiver]

I still see no relationship to a diver bolting to the surface and the mammalian reflex.