Hello From Tulsa! 3rd dive = Decompression Camber

[H2Andy]

After reviewing my dive dive table, it looks like I should have followed the "emergency decompression" rule. It says "If a no decompression limit is exceeded by no more than 5 minutes, an 8 minute decompression stop at 15ft is mandatory." I did not do the 8 minute decompression stop.

hold on, hold on.... so now you know that you exceeded your NDL??

i'm confused.

per the PADI table, a dive to 119 feet (i.e. 120 feet) requires a mandatory safety stop.
but unless you stayed at that depth for longer than 13 minutes, you don't need an
emergency decompression stop (8 mins at 15 feet)

so you mean you staid at 119 feet for 13 to 18 minutes?

or do you mean you THINK you exceeded your NDL since you got bent?

do you know the difference?

 

[mattr762]

hold on, hold on.... so now you know that you exceeded your NDL??

i'm confused.

per the PADI table, a dive to 119 feet (i.e. 120 feet) requires a mandatory safety stop.
but unless you stayed at that depth for longer than 13 minutes, you don't need an
emergency decompression stop (8 mins at 15 feet)

so you mean you staid at 119 feet for 13 to 18 minutes?

or do you mean you THINK you exceeded your NDL since you got bent?

do you know the difference?

No, I did not stay at 120ft that long. I don't know exactly buy it was no more than 2 minutes.

I think I'm getting confused now. Tony Robbins says that means you're getting ready to learn something!

 

[H2Andy]

ok... well... how fast did you ascend from 119 feet to 80?

then from 80 to 60?

how fast from 60 to 20?

i'm thinking your problem was a too-fast rate of ascent, not necessarily a lack
of safety stops or an NDL issue.

remember, a slow ascent is really a rolling decompression stop

 

[mattr762]

This whole thing just sounds like what I've seen on the few tropical dive boats I've been on, meaning, using one of the three methods of vacation dive planning:

1) Jump in and see what your computer says during the dive

2) Jump in and see what someone else's computer says during the dive

3) Jump in and follow the DM ("Trust Me" dive)

Happens every day. We're just talking about it because Matt got hit and wanted to tell us all about it.

On my Cayman trip I fell under #3. I trusted the DM and everyone around me. None of the 8 people around me said " You should not do this dive, since it's your first."

My nephew Ryan did the same dive with only 12 dives under his belt. Does that mean he's stupid for doing it also. We have the same PADi cert.

 

[mattr762]

Hi there Matt and a sincere welcome to the SB, I am sincerely glad that you are OK. As many have commented, you did put yourself a great risk. I tend to blame the dive operator and the DM for not verifying your past experience.

Al (in Canada)

The DM DID know this was my first "real" dive. I told him I just got certified the week before in a lake but this was my first ocean dive. HE KNEW!!!! I even talked to him the next day and he said I was well within profile. Even the doctors said I was within profile. On all our dives, we did not spend the whole 20 minutes at 110ft or 119ft. Those feet numbers were just the maximum we went. The majority of the 20 minutes was spend 60-80ft with only a few minutes below that.

By the way, thanks for everyones input. I do appreciate it. I hope others can learn from this.

 

[mattr762]

ok... well... how fast did you ascend from 119 feet to 80?

then from 80 to 60?

how fast from 60 to 20?

I can't tell you exactly. I simply don't know. Like I said above, I took the "Trust the DM" route. I'll never take that road again. All I know is I went up slower than 5 others in our group that did the same dive.

Without a computer how could you measure it without staring at your watch and depth gauge?

 

[H2Andy]

Without a computer how could you measure it without staring at your watch and depth gauge?

my first.... oh.... fifty dives or so (?) were done without a computer, and i
used my depth gauge to "gauge" my ascent. i never looked at my
watch.

what i'd do is i would constantly look at my depth gauge as i came up,
and made sure i wasn't going up more than one foot per second
(that's 60 feet per minute). and every ten feet, i'd pause for a few seconds.

(i know some agencies reccomend 30 feet per minute, but that is too slow for me).

i never had any trouble that way.

one time, my buddy-for-the-day and i lost the anchor line (sucked), so
we had to ascend without a line. he was going up way too fast. i grabbed
him and kept his bouyancy in check with mine, and did my usual slow ascent,
followed by a 3-minute stop at 20 feet.

when we got on the boat, he said to me "thank you for keeping me safe."
that's the best thing anyone has ever said to me diving.

 

[TekDiveGirl]

On my Cayman trip I fell under #3. I trusted the DM and everyone around me. None of the 8 people around me said " You should not do this dive, since it's your first."

Responsibility begins with you. Nobody else is responsible for your safety. Nobody else is going to pay for your medical bills. Nobody else is going to pay your household bills when you are hurt and can't work. Nobody else is going to go through the pain or do the physical therapy.

Get that book you got from your OW class out and reread it from cover to cover. You miised out on a lot of things apparently. Next time you take a class be sure you understand the standards of your certification. If you take Advanced Open Water class - and your next dive somebody wanted to go make a dive to 150' are you gonna go? You better be sure you know what your standards are next time, and take responsibility for yourself. Be a big enough person to say - nope. Call a dive - it is better than the possible alternative.

I don't mean to sound harsh - but things like this are some scary stuff... and this is all theory - none of it is an exact science... don't ever forget that.

My nephew Ryan did the same dive with only 12 dives under his belt. Does that mean he's stupid for doing it also. We have the same PADi cert.

Yes - you say you both hold the same PADI certification - which is Basic Open Water - which is a certification to 60' - so yes - he too was not only making a bad decision - but diving outside his certified depth range.

Kimber

 

[RonFrank]

The reality seems to be (correct me if I'm wrong).

You do NOT know how deep you were without the help of others.
You do NOT know how LONG you were there.
You do not know how fast you ascended.
You do not know how long the safety stops were.
You have zero clue about multi-level dive profiles.

So, you got hit. Regardless of who else you were diving with, and IF you think they SHARED your experience, the bottome line is there is no way to determine WHAT happened.

So, some things you may consider.

Buy a dive computer. Iif you dive them right, they will help prevent problems. If nothing else, at the end of the day, you can review what went wrong.

LEARN you OW training. What is amazing to me after reading this is NOT that you had a problem, but that you have no idea of what the heck was going on with your dive profile.

Good Luck,
Ron

 

[mattr762]

I'm beginning to see how stupid I was. I will for sure be safe on my next dive.

Could someone post their dive profile of a similar dive? 100ft or so muti-level. I know there's nothing exact I just want to see an example.

Thanks,
Matt