Question How to not panic/tunnel vision

[crofrog]

Brain is weird and people do a lot of stupid things underwater. I shut off my valves repeatedly. First time was scary, later it’s just “omg not again, I guess I shouldn’t breath until I open it”. Recently I took my rebreather mouthpiece out, looked around, enjoyed my surroundings and it took me few seconds until my brain registered - actually, I can’t breathe underwater, maybe I should get back on the loop or look for bailout

I've had something similar happen while diving at Ginnie. We had done so many dives that week and I was just exceptionally relaxed in the water. I put my face in the water to stretch my drysuit out and was just enjoying out peaceful it all was and went to inhale and felt the water fill my mouth. It was sorta funny like, oh hey dummy you need a reg to breathe underwater you're not actually a fish.

 

[boulderjohn]

So this happened in a rescue class? That brings a real wow!

If this had happened in a simulation during instructor training, the instructor would have been thoroughly chewed out for letting it happen. You should have been instructed to keep your regulator in, and as soon as you took it out, the instructor should have intervened and stopped the exercise.

In such a situation, you never take your regulator out until you are sure you have a working regulator ready to replace it. If this were a real situation and there was a failure in the OOA donation, your next step would be a CESA. You should always have your regulator in your mouth during a CESA. For one reason, if you feel a need to inhale during the ascent, the regulator will prevent you from inhaling water and drowning. The second reason is that if you feel the need to inhale during the ascent, you will almost certainly get air due to the decrease in ambient pressure. (Your tank isn't out of air at depth--the regulator just can't deliver air at that pressure any more.) You will get no air on ascent if the regulator is dangling by your hip instead of in your mouth where it belongs.

When I took cave sidemount training and was told to be OOA, it probably took about a minute for my buddy to give me the regulator because he had not yet properly set up his system for fast donation when he was not breathing off the primary. The instructor had noticed that and put me OOA for that reason. Because I was still actually breathing, I could wait however long it took, and the person who learned the lesson was the embarrassed donor.

 

[steinbil]

Brain is weird and people do a lot of stupid things underwater. I shut off my valves repeatedly. First time was scary, later it’s just “omg not again, I guess I shouldn’t breath until I open it”.

I did the same thing in my Tech 1 class, instead of fully opening the valve of my deco bottle I closed it. Never turned a valve on my doubles the wrong way, but somehow I got it mixed up with the slung bottle. Speaking of DIR, I'm glad I've done a million valve drills, because without even thinking about it, my necklace was in the mouth. Zero drama, just opened the valve again and did the switch. So, to bring it back to the topic - repeated practice will build muscle memory to handle these situations without even thinking.

 

[crofrog]

I did the same thing in my Tech 1 class, instead of fully opening the valve of my deco bottle I closed it. Never turned a valve on my doubles the wrong way, but somehow I got it mixed up with the slung bottle. Speaking of DIR, I'm glad I've done a million valve drills, because without even thinking about it, my necklace was in the mouth. Zero drama, just opened the valve again and did the switch. So, to bring it back to the topic - repeated practice will build muscle memory to handle these situations without even thinking.

I've ****** up a valve drill in practice, something distracted me in the middle of it, and I didn't switch back from my long hose, and the team didn't catch it. Then I closed the short hose valve... Def a moment of like "this is unexpected" and then just solved the problem by switching to the long hose. Doing the practice routinely is how it becomes a non-event and allows you to have the mental capacity to problem solve.

 

[dmaziuk]

... Moving forward, does anyone have suggestions to avoid the tunnel vision I seemed to have?

The major part of taichi practice is staying relaxed and calm while task-loaded. There are advanced meditation practices designed to break the literal tunnel vision, even. The downside is taichi was never designed to produce fast results and if you're doing it for a couple of hours a week, it'll be a while before you start noticing any effect. And since it's practiced in low-stress setting, it'll take even longer before it percolates to stressful situations.

 

[Mercracing]

I guess the next question, is what’s a good way to practice this without drowning myself?

 

[steinbil]

I guess the next question, is what’s a good way to practice this without drowning myself?

Simple drills in shallow water with a buddy. The basic drills of remove-replace regulator, change to alternate regulator and gas sharing drill – as well as the mask drills flood-clear and remove-replace are always good to practice. These drills are best done neutrally buoyant, horizontal, while hovering a few feet from a non-critical bottom, like sand. Extra points for maintaining a reference to something on the bottom to make sure you're hovering in the same area while performing the skills. Remember - one person does the drill while the other watches: both to make sure it's done correctly (and provide feedback), but also to render assistance if needed.

 

[boulderjohn]

Drills such as described above are always good, and at the risk of sounding like a zealot, it will be easier to work on regulator issues if you switch to a regulator setup that includes a bungeed alternate. By this I mean using an alternate air that is on a shorter hose that goes over the right shoulder and hangs from your neck on a bungee necklace. It should not be too long--some people who do this can actually make a switch just by tipping the face down.

Many people who do this have their primary regulator on a long hose--5 or 7 feet, but that isn't necessary for open water, NDL diving. For that kind of diving I have my primary regulator on a 40 inch hose with a swivel. It tuns under my right arm.

In an OOA emergency, you donate the regulator in your mouth--it should take about a second to do that, and there will never be the fumbling you had in your episode. The you take the alternate for yourself.

With that setup, you can practice switching over and over again during a normal dive, and the other divers will probably not even realize you are doing it.

 

[KenE]

I would like to point out another avenue to learn. As former Law Enforcement and Military there is one thing that is consistently taught to overcome stressful situations. Where did your mind go when something went wrong? Your first thought was that you are in trouble and how are you going to survive. The first thought should be what is my next step to resolve the situation. Calmness in the presence of chaos comes from state of mind. You were trained what to do next, your mind just went right past it to panic. Start your thinking process that most things that go wrong underwater can be fixed underwater. Yes, we breath air, but fortunately for us, there are many divers before us who have figured out how to stay safe while diving. So, we have many options when things go wrong. You were out of air, your buddy is too far away, don't panic but find the next solution, in this case it was your octo, or maybe your primary with a sweep to find it. Your state of mind plays a very large role in your success underwater. Train as others have mentioned, but don't let your mind blow right past your training to panic. I know this is easier said than done, but with practice it is how first responders are taught to manage stressful situation.

I will add that practicing regulator swapping will help. Practice getting your regulator back after dropping it. This training helps with your state of mind, now you have a plan. Keep making those plans as you experience issues, more will come. As you read others experience, develop a plan of your own and practice it. Practice how to resolve a free flow underwater without an immediate surfacing. Identify what can go wrong and develop a mental plan on how to resolve it right where you are. When was the last time you flooded your mask just to practice a full clearing. These tasks don't take long and will be valuable when things go wrong unexpectedly. Soon you will find that instead of your mind going to panic it will be going to develop a plan, stress loses and you win! Keep diving!

 

[wtcreaux]

Diving (both SCUBA and sky), like aviation, have a common thread.

In an emergency - RELAX, you have the REST OF YOUR LIFE TO FIGURE IT OUT.

This may sound flippant. I assure you.... it's not. In aviation, ANY emergency requires the pilot to remember to FLY THE AIRCRAFT (it's literally written at the top of EVERY warning/caution light checklist).

Panic is the enemy because the brain ceases functioning rationally. Running scenarios through your mind (like a checklist ) helps you prepare for those OSM (oh $h moments). It's why we (aviation) routinely and out-of-the blue go through emergency maneuvers. It's also why at the beginning of each dive season I hit the pool..... and run through emergency procedures.

Kudos for recognizing the issue. A beginner is cautious because they know they don't know. A master is cautious because they know what they know and don't know. An intermediate is the most dangerous because they think they know but they don't know what they don't know.