Diver Panic @ 135 ft. Rapid Ascent

[SCarolinaDiver]

SC & Scuba Steve are right...it would be unfair to assume the closest one is the shop. There are plenty of shops that travel long distances to dive that lake.

 

[ScubaSteve]

SC & Scuba Steve are right...it would be unfair to assume the closest one is the shop. There are plenty of shops that travel long distances to dive that lake.

Heck, I went to Gilboa (Quarry in Ohio) for some fun dives with friends and there were three Canadian shops that travelled 5+ hours each way to go there for their OW dives. Many shops will travel great distances to go somewhere a little different or better to help themselves and their students.

 

[tardmaster]

i am in agreement will a lot of you here. this was wrong from the get-go. unfortunately it happens waaay to often. i know because i was doing some of my dm'ing work with an instructor and had the exact same thing happen at the EXACT same site. THANK GOODNESS we had no one injured that day either. with my little experience (168 dive) and my divemaster training this would have never happened on my watch. that is BRUTAL COLD ASS water. even in my 7 mm, hood and gloves. no waty would i now take people down in all of those conditions. i also want to bring up something that hasn't been talked about. The op said the student "shot to the surface". he later said that his computer didnt yell at him. did he have his audible alarms turned off? it is FAR too easy to ascend faster than we are supposed to. i find that very hard to believe that his computer "did not say ANYTHING about".

as a side note..my origional instructor has now been expelled from padi and that is a good thing.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Come to find out, a young diver of 16 and the minimum dives for the class (Not to speak ill of him, I am 22 and only had the minimum number of dives for the class) Had reached depth and began breathing rapidly and could not catch his breath or slow his breathing and shot to the surface. The instructor went up with him, ignoring ascent rate procedures, and no safety stop. The kid had a panic attack because of the cold and not being able to catch his breath and freaked out. His quick ascent didnt present a cause of concern to the instructor as his computer did not say anything about it. He threw up once he reached the surface and calmed down. The instructor went back down to avoid any ailments. The guy was fine when all was said and done.

@SCarolinaDiver: Jim Lapenta touched on this subject briefly. I'll address it again.

The instructor followed the student to the surface. The student vomited. Since the student's computer did not show a "too fast" ascent, the instructor proceeded to leave the student by himself at the surface...and re-descend..."to avoid any ailments."

Others have touched on the poor judgment shown by the instructor before the panicked diver's ascent occurred. I agree. I also think the instructor showed exceedingly poor judgment after the ascent. Why would the instructor re-descend at that point? I hope it was to check on the other students in the class. Please tell me it wasn't to minimize the possibility of DCS. I realize that the newer dive tables stipulate a "required" safety stop for a profile like this...but I think it shows poor judgment once again.

An experienced diver would be mindful that the #1 thing to worry about with an ascent of that nature is lung-overexpansion injury +/- arterial gas embolism -- particularly in the case of a novice diver who may not have had the presence of mind to maintain an open airway. A very distant secondary concern would be DCS, which would have been very low anyway considering the time spent at depth. I would hope that an instructor could appreciate that the panicked diver, even after reaching the surface, would still require close supervision. In your Rescue class, were you ever taught to abandon a panicked diver, who had just experienced a relatively rapid ascent, at the surface?

I don't mean to pile on here. I think that a lot can be learned from the incident. I hope that the instructor in question is considering how he could have prevented or better dealt with the situation. Thankfully no one was hurt.

 

[tracydr]

My husband is tougher on friends and even more so with me..best instructor I've ever had!
This dive was a poorly planned, trust-me dive. Instructor was there as a guide to show the cool stuff, not evaluate and show how narcosis effects you at 100feet, etc.
The things learned on this dive were related to what not to do.

 

[Jocassee Junkee]

I dive the Mount Carmel Church Cemetery at Lake Jocassee,SC quite often.I wish I could do it more but the charter company I use is very darn selective about who they take out there as they should be.This is a TECHNICAL Dive period. It is deep (136-145 feet at full pool), it is cold (always in the 50's), and it is dark (think twilight),the VIs whille normally very good (25-50ft)can go to Zero in an instant if a diver kicks up the mud bottom,and you will be narced.You need at least a 7ml or drysuit, gloves, hood,enviromentally sealed reg, and a good light.I had logged around 300 dives when a Tech Instructor (many of you know him) took me down there the first time and I had difficulty with the narcosis.I now do the Cemetery as a solo diver (my choice because of stories like this) and really enjoy visiting with little Doris Hamilton at her grave. I almost always end up with at least 8-12 minutes of DECO when using air.This is a challenging dive period.

ANY INSTRUCTOR who would take a recreational student to the Cemetery should in my opinion have his certification revoked !!!!! Yes, I have seen stupidity like this before with an advanced open water class (PADI). I ask the insturctors if they were familiar with this dive and told them I did not think it was a good idea. I am just a lowly DM (tech wannabe) and they told me to mind my own business.The result was the same with the chamber at Spartanburg Regional getting some new business.I will not do this dive with any diver I do not know---don't care how many C Cards they have, how much tech gear they have, etc.I have witnessed several Tech divers have trouble with this dive.This is not the place to do training dives---too much can go wrong and there are too many obstacles to overcome.

The Cemetery is a world class dive and I get very emotional down there (maybe narced).It was featured in the May issue of Scuba Diving Magazine and the book "American Waters". It is beautiful in it's own way but please RESPECT it.

In memory of:
Doris Yvonne Hamilton
Nov. 27, 1934 Nov. 12, 1936
I Pray to the Lord My Soul to Keep

She is resting peacefully 138 feet under the cool,dark waters of Jocassee.