Diving Accident, Self-Responsibility and Balance

[MrChen]

I'd go with the recommendation of Mr Duke Medical if it was me. I want to say thank you very much for sharing your incident. Hopefully it doesn't scare you away from diving again. I had my first panic attack in December, a small one in comparison, and even though I quickly recovered from it and enjoyed the dive and one after it, it was definitely on my mind for a good 6 weeks. Don't get to caught up in further internet diagnostics, as the above posters claim they aren't real doctors, they just slept in a Holiday Inn last night. Getting bashed for self diagnosis on the internet is no better than be diagnosed on the internet by individuals who aren't doctors.

Also, hopefully this thread doesn't scare you away from the forum. This type of heated debate happens often and typically at the expense of the OP. It's easy to forget we are talking about people, but the goal here is to figure out what there is to learn and individuals are going to have different opinions and will argue it to no end. So with that said, welcome to the forum and happy diving in the future.

 

[gianaameri]

That was your instructor's job.

If he didn't teach you, you should go ask him.

I do not have the PADI Panic Cycle C-card (my fault).

Let us say (hypothesis, not fact) that Thea stumbled on a bad instructor and missed that one part of essential training... can you help her?

 

[TONY CHANEY]

Gianaameri, you might be doing more harm than good to this lady. I never said that she should not get checked out by an MD. I also suggested that she seek a better life style by taking better care of herself. If you continue to be so vocal in taking her side in her blaming boat staff and an acute medical condition then she may never get the point that we are trying our best to get across. As for my take on the situation, I am not only a DM, Rescue diver, O2 provider, certified in BLS, PALS, ACLS but also a Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) working in ICU/ER/PICU/Cardiovascular recovery and Trauma ICU. I think that I know alittle about what I am talking about. Please allow her to take some time, look very close at what has been said, watch the video again and take away the good points and learn from it. At this point you are just silting up the water by finning and going nowhere.

 

[gianaameri]

Gianaameri, you might be doing more harm than good to this lady. I never said that she should not get checked out by an MD. I also suggested that she seek a better life style by taking better care of herself. If you continue to be so vocal in taking her side in her blaming boat staff and an acute medical condition then she may never get the point that we are trying our best to get across. As for my take on the situation, I am not only a DM, Rescue diver, O2 provider, certified in BLS, PALS, ACLS but also a Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) working in ICU/ER/PICU/Cardiovascular recovery and Trauma ICU. I think that I know alittle about what I am talking about. Please allow her to take some time, look very close at what has been said, watch the video again and take away the good points and learn from it. At this point you are just silting up the water by finning and going nowhere.

I think the rescue by the dive staff was very good.

It was successful, whatever the root cause of Thea's problem.

Where I think Thea has a point is that she may have an underlying heart/lung condition which it would be best if she has checked such that it can be ruled out or treated.

The cyanosis is primarily what concerns me, this in conjunction with her recount and the low O2 readings.

Panic attacks do not make your feet go blue.

 

[TONY CHANEY]

Let us say (hypothesis, not fact) that Thea stumbled on a bad instructor and missed that one part of essential training... can you help her?

Yes and we have been trying to help her by offering several ideas and not all were mine. i.e.
get a checkup
stop smoking
exercise
lose weight
end the dive before things get to the point of panic
don't multi-task to the point of panic
stay calm
know your equipment
know the enviroment into which you are diving, to include sea conditions
slow down on the drinking the night before the dive
get rest the night before the dive
pratice dropping your weight
pratice inflating your BC
start carrying a SMB
get with a buddy
etc.

And you offer what?

 

[gianaameri]

Yes and we have trying to help her by offering several ideas and not all were mine. i.e.
get a checkup
stop smoking
exercise
lose weight
end the dive before things get to the point of panic
don't multi-task to the point of panic
stay calm
know your equipment
know the enviroment into which you are diving, to include sea conditions
slow down on the drinking the night before the dive
get rest the night before the dive
pratice dropping your weight
pratice inflating your BC
start carrying a SMB
get with a buddy
etc.

And you offer what?

Thea,

consider having your heart valves checked (and your lungs and arteries) by non-invasive techniques (i.e. CT Scan + echocardiogram).

Does not seem like panic to me, and if you did not have O2 handy and administered it could have been pretty bad.

What was the colour of your skin (as reported by those who recovered you)?

If you were blue, you'd definitely need to look further into it before diving or doing other sports.

Nothing further to suggest.

 

[TONY CHANEY]

I think the rescue by the dive staff was very good.

It was successful, whatever the root cause of Thea's problem.

Where I think Thea has a point is that she may have an underlying heart/lung condition which it would be best if she has checked such that it can be ruled out or treated.

The cyanosis is primarily what concerns me, this in conjunction with her recount and the low O2 readings.

Panic attacks do not make your feet go blue.

Yes it can: Could Panic attack cause Cyanosis (Skin discoloration - bluish) - eHealthMe.com

 

[gianaameri]

Studies show cerebral hypoxia associated with hyperventilation, but no peer-reviewed study show cyanosis.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Pragmatically, or as the medical community calls it, diagnostic parsimony; says the simplistic solution that explains the situation completely is most likely. Panic explains everything from her loss of buoyancy control to the shortness of breath and cyanosis.

There red remains zero evidence in favor of a medical event, other than the OPs attempt to shift the blame to a rarer cause like EIB.

Yep, being in the medical community myself I'm familiar with the concept.

There's also a phenomenon called "tunnel vision" in which multiple relevant issues present themselves but an individual focuses only on one and ignores the rest, often to the detriment of the patient.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[flots am]

I do not have the PADI Panic Cycle C-card (my fault).

Let us say (hypothesis, not fact) that Thea stumbled on a bad instructor and missed that one part of essential training... can you help her?

This is pretty good.