Do You Agree?

[sabbath999]

I have to ask why the kid was mask clearing in the quarry to begin with. I would assume if he had problems there then he had problems in the pool. Should have never been in the quarry in the first place. Just my opinion.

Here's another thing to consider...

Many people find mask clearing MUCH more difficult in cold water. I don't know where the original poster is from, so I don't know how cold the water was, but if it is this time of year in most of the country the water in quarries is quite brisk... an entirely different experience than one would find in a nice warm swimming pool like the person had in training.

The first time 60 degree water hit my face (I was doing mask clearing drills) it was really shocking. Fortunately, I find mask clearing to be about the easiest of the basic scuba skills (I learned to swim wearing a snorkel and swim goggles that didn't cover the nose so it's like second nature to me to have water on my face and around my nose).

Just a thought.

 

[scarefaceDM]

safe to say it was the right thing to do.
Regardless he had a panic moment. Was uncomfortable with clearing his mask. He could have inhaled water made him freak and bolted...or was stunned by the cooler water and again bolted...assumptions of why he was there - let sleeping dogs lay.... Obviously he was with someone more skilled that him and they acted accordingly. I get bothered by my bubbles going up my nose...still to this day full mask removal is bothersome unless I deviate the bubbles with my hand...I want to sneeze because the bubbles tickle my nose...I am....just ticklish... I do not even open my eyes underwater. Wearing contacts prevents me from doing this....

 

[Dr Neil]

One thing I learned from a "seasoned" instructor was to hold on to students and young divers when doing mask clearing exercises. The temptation to bolt to the surface is there, but that resistance given by the buddy generally helps reassure the diver removing the mask.

 

[SubMariner]

One thing I learned from a "seasoned" instructor was to hold on to students and young divers when doing mask clearing exercises. The temptation to bolt to the surface is there, but that resistance given by the buddy generally helps reassure the diver removing the mask.

This kind of goes hand-in-hand with what TS&M was saying. You can try to control a bolting diver (in my case, it's usually a student) preventing them from rocketing to the surface. But sometimes they ARE GOING UP, no matter what YOU think!

For example, once in TGWN I had a student who, during mask re & re in 50F water, threw it aside & started upward. Now, I already had a hold of her BC as well as 3 fingers on her reg, so there was no danger of her spitting out her reg, or going to the surface unless she was prepared to drag me up with her. As it happens, that's just what she did, because nothing I was going to do was going to "unpanic" her. Once on the surface I still couldn't quite get through to her, so I inflated her BC & talked to her until she calmed down. While one of my DMs brought up her mask (the other was with the rest of my students about 20' below us), we discussed, then solved her issue. At that point we descended for her to complete her skill. (Which she did quite satisfactorily, BTW.)

So, as in most dive situations, the keys are PREPARATION (anticipation?) & CONTROL. Which is what it sounds like the original poster witnessed.

 

[Blu Diver]

Having hold of the diver to stop the ascent, while using your other hand to make sure the regulator doesn't get spit out is crucial. Think of the Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent (CESA) skill. As an instructor you should be in postion, as this is what an instructor has been trained to look for. If the instructor was using a DM the instructor should have the DM strategically placed to oversee the other students. An issue like this can have many phases and deteriorate quickly. If you are able to stop the ascent near the platform then have the student solve the problem U/W. If you are able to gain control of the bolting diver and find yourself closer to the surface than the platform. Then slowly ascend to the surface and converse clamly with the diver. There is risk involved and you must remain calm so you too don't become part of the rescue.

 

[vladimir]

totally pull him back under. This process also works well on kids who won't clean their room. It's just a "different" version of waterboarding.

 

[Web Monkey]

I was recently diving in a local quarry. Me and my buddy were on a platform at about 20-25 feet when we look over and see a teenager struggling with clearing his mask. He began to panic and bolted to the surface. His buddy (obviously older; DM, father, not really sure) grabbed his fin and pulled him back down . Eventually the kid settled down and relaxed. I'm not really sure what to think of this...

It's a tough call and nobody who wasn't there can really answer the question.

If the teenager was still breathing OK, and had been shallow for the entire dive, surfacing from 20' isn't amazingly dangerous even if done faster than recommended, and chances are that he would have popped up on the surface and nothing really bad would have happened.

On the other hand, if he was holding his breath or was on his way up from a deeper dive, bolting for the surface is dangerous.

And if you still have any hands left, if he wasn't breathing because he was OOA and someone pulled him back down, he might have drowned.

I'm sure there are other situations that may apply, but the short answer is that nobody who wasn't there really knows.

While ideally, it's nice to fix problems underwater, recreational non-decompression dives can be ended at any time for any reason, and underwater problem solving, while nice is not mandatory. Only dives that have a ceiling (a decompression or overhead dive) require that all problems be fixed underwater.

In fact, most of the Open Water safety procedures (out of air, lost buddy, etc.) involve the diver ending the dive and doing an ascent (sometimes faster than normal).

Terry