Had a little scare this weekend

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Deefstes, if you held your breath, it is possible to have pulmonary barotrauma. Dull pain in the chest can be a manifestation of pneumothorax or pneumomediastinum (have personally seen cases of both, one of them in a fellow diver). Pneumomediastinum generally resolves without sequelae, but pneumothorax does not. I would see a physician. (BTW, dull pain that resolves with aspirin, which did not come on with exertion or stress, and in someone your age, unless you are a poorly controlled diabetic or have other unusual risk factors, would not rank high on my suspicion list for coronary artery disease as a cause of the symptoms.)

And just going back to the bag shoot, it is actually a LOT easier, and probably safer, to shoot bags from reasonable depth, than it is in the shallows. Not only do you have to fill the bag more in shallow water, but your own buoyancy is more tenuous.

The big lesson from this experience, I think, is how much care you have to take to make sure the line and bag are completely clear of you, and to keep your fingers where they won't get caught. One of our former regular SB contributors, Rick Inman, took a 75 foot ride to the surface after getting caught in a big bag. Bag shooting isn't difficult, but must be treated with respect.
 
...And just going back to the bag shoot, it is actually a LOT easier, and probably safer, to shoot bags from reasonable depth, than it is in the shallows. Not only do you have to fill the bag more in shallow water, but your own buoyancy is more tenuous.

The big lesson from this experience, I think, is how much care you have to take to make sure the line and bag are completely clear of you, and to keep your fingers where they won't get caught. One of our former regular SB contributors, Rick Inman, took a 75 foot ride to the surface after getting caught in a big bag. Bag shooting isn't difficult, but must be treated with respect.

All true, but if the bag actually pulled you up 15 feet at that depth, then it sounds like you put more air into the bag than was necessary. The less air you put in the bag, the safer it is and the more forgiving it is for errors.

In other words, if you screw up with a gallon of air in the bag (at depth) you should be able to easily kick down, resolve the problem.. or even dump air from your BC (if you are diving in a thick wetsuit).

I myself got a ride to the surface via an unsecured octopus getting caught in a lift bag used to recover a 50 lb object at depth.
 


A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Moved to Diving Medicine, as the OP requires a medical response
 
All true, but if the bag actually pulled you up 15 feet at that depth, then it sounds like you put more air into the bag than was necessary. The less air you put in the bag, the safer it is and the more forgiving it is for errors.

You're absolutely right and this is one of the reasons I prefer shooting the SMB from deeper. For some reason, on this dive, clever me decided to put an unnecessary big blast of air into the bag.
 

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