Is it painful?

[scubakiddo]

Okay so I hope I am putting this in the right section. I have been hearing about alot of things hitting close to home so to speak about dive accidents latley. I have a loved on the dives everyday and I start to get a little concerned sometimes about stories I hear. They say diving accidents are painful....but is that true in all cases?

Thinking about if something were to ever happen and to those that it has happened to and are no longer with us...was it painful - did they suffer?

Im thinking death on a rebreather may not be painful....this is something I have to worry about a lot for my other half. Im always scared when he goes out on that thing I will get a phone call later. I would think that by the time you hit the critical point since there are no warning signs your brain would not function you would not feel pain even if you convulsed and began to drown. What are your thoughts on this?

Also DCI - and O2 Tox.....it sounds painful but thinking medically into this would it really be? By the time you hit not return would your brain be able to transmit pain to you?

I dont know call me a worry wart but I would just feel better knowing the pain responses and levels of dive accidents.

If anyone has had previous close calls or can offer a medical opinion, please post it here.

 

[don Francisco]

Scubakiddo
If you dwell on the dangers and fret every time your loved ones dive, you'll make yourself crazy, and for nothing.

Compared to many of life's activities scuba, even on a rebreather scuba is basically safe compared to the everyday risks of life. Unlike many of these everyday risks, the risks of scuba can be managed and are less like a lottery.

Compare scuba to driving where no matter how carefull you are, there are the risks posed by other drivers, or living in California where earthquakes occur unannounced, living anywhere with crime, terrorism, or any manner of potential catastrophe. How about unknown risk of stroke or cardiac arrest. I'd go on but I don't want to make you paranoid, simply to give you some perspective.

A few years back the New York Times commissioned a poll on peoples wories and perceptions of the dangers around them, and compared it to statistical risks of injury or death. The interesting result was that folks were most worried about some of the lowest risks and perfectly willing to live with and ignore the greatest risks, many of which it was within their power to reduce.

Don't think about how your SO might die diving, but about how much it adds to his life, how happy it makes him, and how it makes him more interesting to know and love. Trust him to be wise and prudent in his diving and to come back to you in one piece.

The alternative is to worry yourself sick, try to discourage him, making him miserable and if he gives up diving, move your fears to the next item on the list of dangers.

 

[300bar]

Scubakiddo,

Don't let your mind runaway with thoughts about scuba accidents,they are very rare.
Ofcourse you will read about them on a scubaforum,we are all divers so we talk about them.
But in the mainstream news you won't hear much about them.
Scuba is one of the safest sports on the market.
Compare it to US football,EU soccer,skydiving,full contact martial arts just to name a few.

 

[Hoomi]

You know, compared to the slow death my dad is experiencing right now, I don't think diving offers that much to worry about comparitively.

I know that really doesn't help much, but in perspective, we can avoid "dangerous" activities and still wind up suffering a miserable death.

I think the most horrible death of all is living afraid of what might happen.

 

[WetCell]

You know, compared to the slow death my dad is experiencing right now, I don't think diving offers that much to worry about comparitively.

I know that really doesn't help much, but in perspective, we can avoid "dangerous" activities and still wind up suffering a miserable death.

I think the most horrible death of all is living afraid of what might happen.

I could not agree more and I am sorry to hear about your dad. My son is my scuba buddy and his biggest fear is that something might happen to me--I told him, that's funny, that's my fear about him! But we still love to dive. If I go, it might as well be during my happy time. We both joke that a "bad day diving beats a good day at work/school". We have never had a bad dive and I hope we don't. Your attitude is where it is at.

 

[themagni]

Some people say you should live as though you're going to die tomorrow. That's ridiculous. You might die later today.

There are other concerns that are more important. When was the last time your SO had a full medical exam with a prostate check / PAP smear? Do they wear sunblock, smoke, exercise, or eat a balanced diet? Do they take any street drugs? Do they have a stressful job or a long commute?

You might get a bad sandwich and get listeriosis or e. Coli. A drunk driver might run you down in a crosswalk.

It's inevitable, but it will be a surprise in almost all cases. You'll be blindsided by it, and the only way to live your life is to accept that. You can't worry about it or you will go mad with worry. It's rough to keep your mind away from that train of thought, but you should try your best.

As for diving, I would imagine that it would be a peaceful and quiet death. My father has said that he'd prefer to drown when he's too old to continue living - he'd just go to the ocean and swim out as far as he can, then keep going.

You buddy might take exception to your premature departure. Yes, sometimes people die while diving. All of those are going to be from diver error or equipment failure. By checking your equipment and knowing what you're doing (and not doing things you're not trained for) you can dive very, very, very safely. It's safer than driving, which kills about 40,000 people in the US every year.

 

[almitywife]

if i was to die while scuba, i would hope it dont feel it as im blissfully unaware (ie, narked out of my gord) and not sitting there knowing ive stuffed up and im going to die soon due to lack of air. i think about the divers that die in caverns and wrecks and i cant imagine how horrible it might be

i once said that drowning is a pretty quick 3mins but someone pointed out to me it might be the longest 3mins of my life and ive always remembered that

personally i dont think about dieing while on scuba .... i keep my gear in good condition, im working on my fitness, i dont task myself with my dives and my plan is always to come back safe

cheers

 

[nereas]

Okay so I hope I am putting this in the right section. I have been hearing about alot of things hitting close to home so to speak about dive accidents latley. I have a loved on the dives everyday and I start to get a little concerned sometimes about stories I hear. They say diving accidents are painful....but is that true in all cases?

Thinking about if something were to ever happen and to those that it has happened to and are no longer with us...was it painful - did they suffer?

Im thinking death on a rebreather may not be painful....this is something I have to worry about a lot for my other half. Im always scared when he goes out on that thing I will get a phone call later. I would think that by the time you hit the critical point since there are no warning signs your brain would not function you would not feel pain even if you convulsed and began to drown. What are your thoughts on this?

Also DCI - and O2 Tox.....it sounds painful but thinking medically into this would it really be? By the time you hit not return would your brain be able to transmit pain to you?

I dont know call me a worry wart but I would just feel better knowing the pain responses and levels of dive accidents.

If anyone has had previous close calls or can offer a medical opinion, please post it here.

Well if you think about the mechanism of death, in each particular circumstance, then you can figure out what it would be like.

Deaths involving unconsciousness are most certainly painless. These would include Ox Tox siezure, arterial gas embolism siezure, CCR loss of consciousness, heart attack, and stroke.

Deaths involving drowning while conscious, such as running OOA, is where inhalation of seawater would cause gaging and throwing up and eventual loss of consciousness within about 10 seconds due to oxygen starvation of the brain (hypoxy).

DCS, if severe, would also be a painful death, due to nerve and muscle spasms, but it is extremely difficult to get enough DCS to cause death. Paralysis is a much more likely worse case in this scenario, rather than death.

It makes sense to get good training, plan carefully, stick to the plan, and be prepared to deal with contingenices.

 

[rawls]

It makes sense to get good training, plan carefully, stick to the plan, and be prepared to deal with contingenices

Pretty much says it in a nutshell...

 

[underwaterfrank]

Hi,
when I was 19 I drowned after being trapped underwater for too long. No it was not painful, apart from the first gasp of water which felt like a cold knife in my chest. However the intense need for air, the convulsive gagging and coughing at the start were more than intense enough. It got a lot easier towards the end when I felt great and felt like as if I could breathe the water for probably the last 10 seconds or so, but the first 30 seconds or so were certainly some of the most intense of my life.
Also took me 2 days to recover from a lung infection afterwards.
In the end I suppose I still feel it's a better way to go than most other ways of dying. It hasn't scared me away from diving anyway.