First experience of panic

[zenheadhunter]

sesna,
Were you nervous before the dives as this leads to anxiety and then panic like when a person gets lost they are ok at first then progressivly reach panic when they realize the have walked for hours and are in the same place they first knew they were lost.I am glad you are ok and able to tell the story yourself.I have a couple of questions if you would not mind answering.

1.do you think that being off the mainline affected your level of calm
2.When you signaled the lead person and did not get a direct response ,what effect did this have on you.
3.were there any safety checks before your initial dive that should have caught the faulty bc.

Thanks,
Vince

 

[TSandM]

The safety record is very good, largely because the dives are really very benign, as overhead environment dives go. There is always some view of light, even though it may be dim and behind you. The depths are shallow, so your gas reserves are enormous -- even if you panic and bolt for the ceiling, there is a lot of gas to salvage the situation, if you don't hold your breath. The majority of people don't panic during these warm, clear water, guided dives.

I am completely nonplussed at you being off the line, though. You didn't answer me -- could you see it at all? You should never, ever have been anywhere in the dark where you were not within eyeshot of a line. The only time I could see a guide NOT being on a line is during the last few feet of the swim out of the cavern into the open water. (For example, in Grand Cenote, it is more efficient to swim directly from the end of the line to the open water, than to retrace one's steps along the cavern line.)

Some of the posts make it sound as though there is something magical about overhead training. There isn't. All the training does is make you work through situations of malfunctions and problems, over and over again, until the instructor is pretty sure that you will remain calm and thoughtful when something goes wrong deep in the overhead. But the majority of cavern and cave students don't panic during their training. They may get flustered and make the wrong decision, or lose buoyancy control, team awareness or line awareness during simulated emergencies, but they don't panic, and they don't bolt. But no one is accepted for such training as inexperienced as you are, if your dive statistics are correct.

I am sorry this happened to you. You may have learned that cave diving is not something you ever want to do -- which is fine; one doesn't need to cave dive to find fantastic, breathtaking diving environments.

But I'm glad you posted your story, because it gives so much support for my position that new divers shouldn't be doing these tours.

 

[Skydiver1]

I am completely nonplussed at you being off the line, though. You didn't answer me -- could you see it at all? You should never, ever have been anywhere in the dark where you were not within eyeshot of a line.

We were off the line for those few minutes, I could not see it. It was the darkest time of the dive.

I clearly followed the line all the time during the first dive and kept constant eye contact with it.

Bolting was not in my mind, maybe it would have been a few seconds later. I was just thinking what the hell is happening. I was just thinking I need to breathe out, Im ascending and need to get back down. I was in panic though.

 

[Skydiver1]

sesna,
Were you nervous before the dives as this leads to anxiety .

I was a bit annoyed more so than anything else about the gear but perhaps had a bit of worry.

1.do you think that being off the mainline affected your level of calm

Yes probably slightly, I remember thinking I hope the guide is not lost. At one stage he turned around and I thought briefly it would be messed up if he was lost. Then I thought to myself, nah hes an expert on this, I got loads of air and I'm only at 8 meters. Then I thought of a story in a book (Diver Down?) about someone getting drowned in a cave. This was my first proper negative thought. That was just a passing thought [/QUOTE]

2.When you signaled the lead person and did not get a direct response ,what effect did this have on you.

At first nothing. Then I kept doing it. Then I thought why is he not responding, am I messing up the signal.

3.were there any safety checks before your initial dive that should have caught the faulty bc.

I knew it was leaking a bit, the bc was crap. I told the guide. Should have burned the damn thing after, it was a rag.

As I said, no one thing really freaked me out.

 

[knowone]

I feel we are acclimatized to speaking to others when in doubt, in order to garnish feedback and find resolve regarding important issues.

When conducting oneself on land there are many distractions, whilst, whether it be communicating, working, driving, etc, that occupy the mind and prevent it from wandering.

When conducting oneself underwater a frame of mind can exacerbate negative thoughts beyond reality, and without immediate resolve lead to panic which thankfully in your described situation did not become physical.

Under there, where I often find there is not much to do, I involve myself in interesting situations, or my mind loses itself in overdramatisation that leads to panicked thoughts, which I as quickly as possible, upon realization, regain control of and continue.

A self reliant mind, tackling situations before they occur, and ridgy-didge people with which to enjoy the experience, is a far cheaper scenario simulator.

 

[rollerboi]

I've been in a really uneasy spot myself before. I was doing an 80-foot dive at altitude (so probably closer to 100 ft), and we were following a mooring chain down into a reservoir. I was struggling with my buoyancy and trim, and ended up silting everything out. Couldn't see a damn thing. My first instinct (fortunately, a good one) was to grab onto the chain. I then just hovered there and waited, getting my breathing under control and hoping to ride out the silt cloud. My buddy, a far more experienced diver than I, grabbed me and we made our way back up communicating through touch signals.

That experience taught me so much, it was invaluable. When I feel nervous, alarm, or panic, I freeze, breathe, and think it through. It was critical and vital that my buddy and I had predicted the possibility of this happening and discussed touch signals before we hit the water.

There is no substitute for training, pre-dive communication, and established protocols. I'm glad you had that experience, and glad that you have learned from it without anything bad happening.

If only we could all have such "Come to Chthulhu" moments to help us grow as divers.

 

[Schizlor]

Was this at Chok Mool? Did the air pocket have a skylight hole opening up with a tiny bit of sun coming in?

When I dove Chok Mool I had many of the same thoughts you did. Luckily I brought all my own gear so I didn't have the jalopy BC, but I distinctly remember being led into some places and thinking "Really? This is what you meant when you said there would be no penetration, only open water? Because there's no way in hell I could make it back to the surface right now without knowing where I'm supposed to swim to" And if I had bolted I'd likely have knocked myself unconscious or impaled myself on a stalactite when I hit the ceiling.

The cenotes in general can be a little creepy at first, especially when you hit the halocline and have trouble seeing where you're going. I am not generally a panic-prone individual but diving Chok Mool made me more "uneasy" if you will than any other dive I'd ever done, even the 45 degree quarry with 4 foot vis, and it was absolutely due to the overhead environment. Like TSandM said, all-in-all they are very benign overheads (ie: if you were a local and had dove it 100 times, you'd know exactly where to exit from any point in the cavern should something happen, and they are extremely shallow, clear, and have virtually no current) but for a newcomer they can be a little daunting.

I find down there there is a general "Ahhh, you'll be fine" kind of attitude when you voice concern about the cenotes. The shop I dove with was great about making sure I knew I could choose another spot and do something else if I wanted to, but I don't feel like I was quite given all the facts beforehand. At least the DM saying, "Now guys, there will be a few spots where we'll be going into overhead environments for a few seconds, and if you have any issues with that let me know now", would have made me feel like I got full disclosure. I still would have gone having been given that breifing, but the feeling of "wait a sec....this is only a cavern dive, not a cave dive, right?!" should be one I had on land prior to splashing, rather than 30 feet underwater, where getting clarification from the DM was then impossible.

And I too will tell my dive friends who go, you will be going into an overhead environment, if only for a few moments, regardless of the assurances from the dive op to the contrary.

 

[ianr33]

I am wondering why open water is the only experience dive shops ask for to do these cenotes.

Simple but sad answer.

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