HELP!! Need Advice!!!

[Trwmodela]

Purchase your own equipment, NEVER use rental equipment. Yes, I bought my gear during my OW course. I learned wearing it and dive with it.

Next, find a good OW instructor, if you don't feel comfortable with one get another. Then, have the instructor throw your mask into the deep end of the pool. You then enter the pool from the shallow end working your way underwater to the deep end. Locate your mask at the bottom of the deep end, put it on and clear it.

 

[RonFrank]

MOD POST

I have merged these two threads. SB TOS does not allow duplicate threads, so I have merged them into the Accidents and Incidents area.

MOD POST

 

[TSandM]

I think one of the best lessons I learned in my OW class was having the experience of screwing up a mask clear, choking, and wanting to bolt, and being forced (although in my case, it wasn't physically forced) to remain at depth and solve the problem. I learned a bunch of things from that experience -- that I could choke and cough and still breathe underwater, and that I could control my anxiety and solve problems at depth. That lesson has stood me in very good stead on a couple of subsequent occasions when much more perturbing things have occurred.

I think that somebody who has represented themselves as ready for their OW dives could be assumed to be able to flood and clear a mask in the pool. I don't think that was an uncalled-for request, although it's not clear to me what the instructor was doing with respect to the OP and her companion. (Was he doing a refresher, or just supervising, or just meddling?)

And it is not clear from the original story, whether the person who tried to control the rapid ascent was a professional at all, or just a student who was in the water and saw something they thought was dangerous. If the latter, they were probably out of line; if the former, it may have been a real attempt to prevent an accident and teach a lesson, which backfired because the rescuer didn't know the OP and didn't realize her state of mind.

It was an unpleasant experience, but it's highly unlikely to be duplicated in subsequent diving, UNLESS the OP has the experience of bolting again, and a responsible buddy tries to stop it. So it's a good idea to work through issues until the desire to bolt is controllable.

Diving's well worth the effort to get these things solved, but comfort with and without a mask, and with a little salt water in one's throat, are important goals to reach for safety.

 

[wreckchick]

I'm going to agree with everyone that says that the dive shop representative (the helper) was justified with everything except the "hey girl". If the OP is doing her check-out dives and bolts she will absolutely have someone hanging on her trying to prevent a very rapid ascent. Once on the surface she will also have someone in contact until that person is sure that the panic has subsided. What perhaps she, and some of you, aren't aware of is that when dealing with a panicked, bolting diver it scares the CRAP out of the instructor. It takes a lot of control for US to remain calm and fix the situation too. If the 'helper' hadn't seen any or many similar situations, the brusqueness on the surface was likely HIS emotions getting the better of him because he was concerned for the OP.

Mask skills aren't something that are only important in the pool and check-out dives. It is the one skill that as divers we deal with on an every dive basis and the foundation has to be solid or there is a bad thing coming down the pike.

I'm glad no one got hurt. I'm sorry the OP sees this as a negative experience as far as scuba is concerned but the reality is, it doesn't sound like she is ready for open water until these problems are fixed.

Rachel

 

[NancyLynn]

of adult beginning swimmers, I can tell you that the fear of drowning is a particularly deep seated and difficult fear to overcome - particularly when it has been exaggerated by another person deliberately dunking or holding you underwater. Individuals who have had this experience are, by far, the most challenging beginning swimmers to teach because the fear is so hard to overcome.

Absent consequences of a life threatening or serious injury nature (and yes, in scuba there may be such consequences), in my opinion it is inexcusable to hold someone underwater without advance discussion and consent. In my opinion, the likely consequences of this particular bolt to the surface from relatively shallow water, in the midst of a coughing fit (meaning the airway was open) were not sufficiently severe to justify holding you underwater.

That said, accidentally breathing through your nose underwater - and reacting in panic - suggests to me that you might well benefit from some additional time not only practicing basic scuba techniques - but also just getting more comfortable and competent in the water as a swimmer.

 

[sassalin]

Thanks for the advice. Just to clear up some of the questions...

The gear used has been used many times before and not the best quality. I am a small person and most of the time the regulator fit but not this time. It was heavier than I was use to. The instructor and helper did know that myself and my buddy were not certified. I told them this myself. Their response is "we will have to watch you". The gentleman in question was not an instructor but from what I gather was certified.

Last, I never said I was ready for open water. In fact that is why I am going to the pool to practice the skills I need extra instruction on. I am glad that some of you have never had the urge to bolt to the surface but I think that is the minority. It's instinct and that takes time to overcome especially when someone is holding on to you and you have no idea why.

Again, Thanks for the advice.

 

[Damselfish]

The gentleman in question was not an instructor but from what I gather was certified.

could they have been a Divemaster?

 

[Trwmodela]

Ok, I know my instructor grabbed a student during an OW checkout session. The student panicked when he reached the bottom around 40 fsw. He started to dart to the surface holding his breath. The instructor grabbed his legs and stopped him. Then they both slowly ascended to the surface. He never completed the checkout dives.

Also, I grabbed one of my dive buddies once. We had just completed a safety stop from a mooring line at 15 fsw. He started to the surface not realizing a boat with twin outboards just arrived above us and was connecting to the ball. Yes, the props we turning and I reached quickly to grab his legs and STOP him.

 

[DivingPrincessE]

I would agree. If she was in open water. But the pool is not open water and there's really no need to start grabbing people there. That's why this stuff is practiced in the pool, so that if someone screws up they are in a shallow, controlled environment where if they do shoot to the surface, they really aren't going to hurt themselves.

I was responding to the OPs question

If I was to dive do I have to worry about people doing that to me?

My answer to that was YES, you would be lucky if someone was willing to risk their own safety to hold you down.

 

[DivingPrincessE]

While he was totally justified in taking the situation "in hand", he did make a mistake. That mistake was in the impromptu "test" of a skill in the deep end, one that he did not personally witness mastered in shallow water first. The first rule of good instruction is to teach, THEN test and do not assume a student has mastered a skill until you witness it, preferably more than once. The deep end is not the place to see it for the first time from anyone.

This wasn't her first time in a pool. She had already passed the pool session prior, meaning she had done the mask clearing the deep end already. I think it was fair for the instructor/divemaster/whoever to assume that she could do this skill...especially if she didn't indicate prior to dive that she couldn't. What about referral check out dives? People do that all time time. The instructor hasn't witnessed any of the skills him/herself, and they're not just doing it in the deep end, they're going right to 27-30 feet.