I made 2 big mistakes!!! thank god it was in a Pool... I think!

[TennisCoach]

Hello Guys,

I think I made the 2 biggest mistakes that a Diver can do, and I want to know what you think.
Ok let me start by the first mistake. We were doing the share air drill. I was the diver running out of air. So everything was fine and dandy until I started to get a cramp in my leg. We were already on the way up He had some air in his BC and so did I. We were at about 10' deep when I tried to tell my buddy that I was getting a cramp in my leg. He was not keeping Eye contact with me and was not reacting to my signals. While I did this I got the idea in my head that I was at depth of 60' and that I was really depending on this guy to get me to the surface. I tried getting control of my body and tried to stretch my legs so that the cramp would not get worst. But while I was doing that my buddy lost control of me. He was not reacting at all, so I just let go of him and signal up to the instructor and went up. When I got to the surface I informed the instructor that I had a cramp in my leg. Keep in mind that I had done the drill twice already before that one and my buddy actually did it better than me when it came to remembering the steps like never let go of the inflator hose or the regulator and stuff like that. Then we went down and did the drill 2 more time with no issues. But my question is on this one how do you deal with this situation at 60'? What do you do if everything goes south like in my case no air, cramps and non responsive rescuer? I know I cannot just fly to the surface like I did in the pool to relax the leg and stretch it.

And this brings me to my second mistake and question.
Like I said I was using my own equipment for the first time. So I wanted to try everything. At the end of the pool session I went to the deepest part of the pool because I wanted to see how the rate of ascent worked on the computer so I inflated the BS and went up like a bullet. It hit me on the way home what a stupid move that was. So to my question. Up to what depth is safe to just shoot up to the surface if you run into a major problem? In my head I am thinking one atmosphere or 33' but I am felling that answer is extremely wrong because of the nitro intake. I did this at the end of the class I started with 3000psi and went up the last time with 900psi. So why is it that nothing happened to me?
Like always thank you in advance for your help.

CC

 

[b1draper]

You got lucky! There's no safe depth to "shoot" to the surface. A lot of the decompression hits that people take tend to happen in less than 33 feet. Some divers push the ascent limits all their lives and are fine. Others do it once and get a DCS hit.

There are other divers that never push the limits but still get a DCS hit.

 

[SDiggy]

Well, as a relatively new diver myself, please take this with a grain of salt.

I'm not so sure on the first scenario, but as you said, you can't just fly to the surface from 60'.

In the second case, bear in mind that all of this occured in a pool, so maximum depth was what, about 12 feet? Because you're regulator is giving you air at the same pressure of the surrounding water, it'll be at a relatively low pressure (< 0.5 atm). I believe the nitrogen in your system would be pretty low, so the likelihood of a DCS hit should be very low.

I think that even though you're pool session did not go as smoothly as you would have liked, it seems like you've learned a few important lessons that will make you a better, safer diver in the long run.

1. In the first scenario, one thing you should take away from this is that in a real emergency that requires air sharing, it's important to maintain extra vigilance with your buddy, whether you are the rescuer or victim.

2. Another thing to think about, and this could be something to cover in a pre-dive plan, is how you'll get your buddy's attention in a troublesome situation.

3. Probably the most important lesson, and because you are asking these questions in the first place, you're using it, is although you have a dive computer on your wrist or console, you need to make sure you're using the computer between your ears. A thinking diver is a safer diver.

 

[b1draper]

Well said...

Well, as a relatively new diver myself, please take this with a grain of salt.

I'm not so sure on the first scenario, but as you said, you can't just fly to the surface from 60'.

In the second case, bear in mind that all of this occured in a pool, so maximum depth was what, about 12 feet? Because you're regulator is giving you air at the same pressure of the surrounding water, it'll be at a relatively low pressure (< 0.5 atm). I believe the nitrogen in your system would be pretty low, so the likelihood of a DCS hit should be very low.

I think that even though you're pool session did not go as smoothly as you would have liked, it seems like you've learned a few important lessons that will make you a better, safer diver in the long run.

1. In the first scenario, one thing you should take away from this is that in a real emergency that requires air sharing, it's important to maintain extra vigilance with your buddy, whether you are the rescuer or victim.

2. Another thing to think about, and this could be something to cover in a pre-dive plan, is how you'll get your buddy's attention in a troublesome situation.

3. Probably the most important lesson, and because you are asking these questions in the first place, you're using it, is although you have a dive computer on your wrist or console, you need to make sure you're using the computer between your ears. A thinking diver is a safer diver.

 

[Web Monkey]

The pool is a great place to learn!

Unless you do a ton of training and diving with a particular buddy, there's no way to know how he'll react in any particular situation. Unattentive buddies are very common, although in this situation, I'd be willing to bet that he was either very anxious or didn't understand the skill.

All you (both) need is a little more practice.

Terry

 

[gNats]

2. Another thing to think about, and this could be something to cover in a pre-dive plan, is how you'll get your buddy's attention in a troublesome situation.

Let's count the ways to get the attention of our buddy during an OOA who is obviously fascinated with something more important, like his belly button lint.

(Sorry, I couldn't resist. The belly button lint was posted by another member on this or another forum. I still laugh at it.)

1) Wave a hand in front of his face then point to your eyes and to his eyes and back to yours.

2) Pull his regulator out of his mouth and GLARE at him HARD. :shocked2:

3) A fin in the shin should work nicely. (sort of rhymed there)

4) Throw shiny pennies in front of him. No, wait. That may only cause more distraction.


Okay, those are not nice and this was a really good thread posting.

It is a good lesson though - the power of communication by actually paying attention to your buddy is very important.

I'm curious OP: Did your buddy have any comments as to what he/she was thinking about or why you did not have his / her attention? Maybe that person was advance forwarding to life saving skills 101 and was thinking about sending up a flare gun?

My smart aleck comment does have a point. As much as we want to consider what we should do next, we should stay in the here and now when assisting our dive buddy. As much as we are forced to multi-task our brains at work and home, we should train ourselves to focus on the task at hand and only the task. At least until many of our skills are second-nature and we can do it properly.

Great postings OP and SDiggy.

 

[TennisCoach]

Thank you guys for your answers. Now I know I got lucky, and trust me it will not happen again. On the first scenario I have to think that because it was in a pool and we knew it was an exercise he was not in a panic state neither was he worried about my safety or his. So I do not blame him for not getting control of me. Now one question that just came to mind. In a case like the first one, is it ok for me to take control of the dive and tell the rescuer what to do?

Thank again
Carlos

 

[ligersandtions]

Once you're fully certified and able to go out diving with a buddy who is not your instructor, one of the first things you should focus on (and I mean really focus on) is your buoyancy. Make sure you know what it feels like to be neutral, slightly positive, slightly negative, more than slightly positive/negative, and how to get back to neutral.

In the case that you are sharing air with a buddy (hopefully this is for a drill rather than the real deal), you should be able to make a controlled ascent to the surface, which means you should be close to neutrally buoyant. Say you get a cramp as you're making your way to the surface....at this point, being neutrally buoyant or maybe slightly positive, you should be able to stretch the cramp out by pulling back on the fin. You probably won't need much, if any, help from your buddy in this situation, and he should not be moving excessively faster than you. Also, if your buddy is your regular buddy, you will start to develop non-verbal communication underwater, even if it's not with hand signals. I'll bet an attentive buddy who is not so caught up in the moment of learning and trying to remember the "steps" will notice that something's not quite right, slow down, and help you out.

As for shooting to the surface, I would say it's really not a good idea from any depth, with or without nitrogen loading. You run the risk of forgetting to keep the airway open and developing an embolism. You run the risk of a DCS hit if you have enough nitrogen in your tissues. You should learn (or maybe you already have) how to do a CESA....and even a CESA does not consist of "shooting" yourself to the surface. It's a controlled ascent that requires you to dump air from your BC so you don't end up shooting yourself out of the water like a cork!

It's great to see you reflecting back on your training sessions to think about what went right, what didn't go so well, and how you want to change things. Always keep this level of awareness and interest in learning and you will go far. I'm still a new diver and am always learning and reflecting on what I'm doing or have done. It's treated me well so far, and I'm sure you'll find the same thing!

 

[diver 85]

To your 1st problem', bad things can happen in a pool-----click link below..(I won't say anything else--this accident happened in I believe a ??17' pool))...

Scuba Instructor Charged with Murder - Diving News

Concerning the 2nd 'problem', alot feel like in an OOA situation, it's better to battle DCS, embolism etc etc on the surface in chamber &/or hospital vs letting your S.O.s take care of the funeral arrangements/bills etc....ie--learn proper ESAs(or 'blow & go' as we used to call them)....

You should have learned some valuable lessons----now remember them....good luck in your further diving education & go have some fun now!!

 

[TSandM]

Well, the first piece of advice is always to monitor your gas supply, so you don't end up DOING an OOA ascent

Seriously, any time in diving, in any situation, if you have a problem that needs to be solved, you have to solve it. If your buddy isn't responding to signals, you have to ramp up the signalliing. In this case, I don't know what you were doing to get your buddy's attention, but since you were in touch contact, you had the option of hitting or shaking them, or even pushing your signaling hand right up in front of their mask. It's hard to ignore somebody who's attached to you, if they really want your attention! I have swum up to people who were ignoring signals and grabbed and tugged on a fin or an arm -- it's always at least gotten them to glare at me, which means they were LOOKING at me.

Also remember that a cramp hurts, but isn't going to do any permanent damage in the time it takes to get to the surface. If your life is depending on executing a competent out of air ascent, you always have the option of ignoring the cramp. You have to prioritize things. Air and ascent are survival; pain relief isn't.

As far as ballistic ascent goes, it's never a good idea. You will probably get away with it, IF you remember to exhale, from the bottom of a pool. Once you have absorbed significant nitrogen into your bloodstream, your ascent rate should always be controlled. Even when they teach you the CESA in your class, they will teach you to control your ascent rate.