My first dive incident (long)

[Diver_A]

< Sheesh... would you have just sat back and laughed at their dilemma? Glad I don't have to dive with you...>
If what you meant by "getting them buoyant" was "ditching their weight belts" then you are correct. What you obviously missed was, I AM Diver_A. I was there. I was most definately not laughing. My panic was based entirely on the fact that my wife needed me and I was too far away, and at that moment was physically unable to help her. I know exactly how big a deal it was. Robert's wife had a point in saying it was a judgement call about how much trouble we were actually in. We'll never know if my wife would have eventually unfastened her weight belt by herself. We'll never know if she would have swam to shore on her own. I do think we all made the right decisions all the way down the line. Diver_B was right to abort the dive when she got winded. Robert was right in moving to help her immediately. Notice I use the word 'we' liberally! I didn't really do anything but swim to the platform, tire myself out doing it, ditch my weights and swim back to shore.
Cheers

 

[doole]

You did not screw up.

You made a couple of tough choices, and in my opinion, you made the right ones.

I totally agree.

The swimming on your back comment was a pretty good one, too. I just get a fix on a tree or something and find I can swim a goodly distance in the right direction before having to check.

Definitely keep at it. Maybe choose easier dives for a while. Try maintaining visual contact with the bottom - that will help.

Also, buddy teams limited to two divers are easier to manage. You may want to try diving with more experienced buddies until you get a little more seasoned yourself.

 

[Snowbear]

< Getting them buoyant was the exact right thing to do.>
Gosh! Do you really think so! How buoyant do you suppose you can get on a surface swim? Can you actually walk on the water? If you are already floating on the surface, how do you do the exact right thing by "Getting them buoyant"? The more of these sycophantic posts I read, the more I realize what a joke this board is, as well as a complete waste of time. Please, get a freaking life already.
Diver_A

Diver_A - why the defensiveness?

Establishing positive buoyancy for a struggling/panicing diver on the surface is pretty much universally what the rescue classes teach as the first thing to do once physical contact is made with the person in trouble. It's amazing to me how much a person will work and struggle to keep their head above water when all they need to do is add a shot of gas to the BC or if necessary, drop some lead. Establishing positive buoyancy has a tremendous calming effect on someone who is afraid they're about to drown.

Again - thanks for posting your side of the story so we can all discuss and learn from your and Diver_B's experiences.

Snowbear

 

[Diver_A]

<He clearly said that their perception was that they couldn't keep their heads up and breathe.>
Actually, thats not what he said at all. My wife said she was having a problem breathing. <I tell her, "get bouyant, put air in your bc.> When you take into consideration that we were already floating on the surface, her BC was probably too small and was restricting her breath, advising her to put more air in it when she was already buoyant had the net result of making it even harder to breathe! Ditching the weights was the key, and then ultimately, letting air OUT of the BC because it was no longer needed to counteract the weight belt was the combo of choices that worked. Of course it is easy to monday morning quarterback this experience now, but if you look at my original post, it was letting air OUT of my BC that eased my dilemma. During the swim we were fine while we were horizontal, it was the added effect of going vertical and having the weight belt pull DOWN on us that did us in.
Cheers

 

[RP Diver]

<He clearly said that their perception was that they couldn't keep their heads up and breathe.>
Actually, thats not what he said at all. My wife said she was having a problem breathing. <I tell her, "get bouyant, put air in your bc.> When you take into consideration that we were already floating on the surface, her BC was probably too small and was restricting her breath, advising her to put more air in it when she was already buoyant had the net result of making it even harder to breathe! Ditching the weights was the key, and then ultimately, letting air OUT of the BC because it was no longer needed to counteract the weight belt was the combo of choices that worked. Of course it is easy to monday morning quarterback this experience now, but if you look at my original post, it was letting air OUT of my BC that eased my dilemma. During the swim we were fine while we were horizontal, it was the added effect of going vertical and having the weight belt pull DOWN on us that did us in.
Cheers

Sorry, I had forgotten that you were the principal in this situation. Chalk it up to reading too many threads this AM and then seeing your comment as a bit too much, when what Robert was trying to do was the right thing. I've been in a too tight 7mm wetsuit before (in the Blue Hole, Santa Rosa for my OW certs years ago), and I know what you guys were feeling. No matter how hard you try, you can't seem to catch your breath. Add some exertion and it can be a real problem. I finally ended up partly unzipping the top (shorty) half of the wetsuit to alleviate the problem. The cold was preferable to the constriction.

Please accept my apology for jumping so firmly with both feet.

 

[Wijbrandus]

From what I could see, I believed Diver B was not going to sink. On the other hand, when someone panics, it's not easy to tell them they aren't going to drown when everything in their head is telling them otherwise. They focus entirely upon getting their head as far out of the water as they can, in this case by flailing around like a madwoman. Perhaps overinflating was a problem, but the root cause was a murderous weight belt. When that went away, she was able to regain control.

Ill-fitting gear and too much weight was the main culprit here. I'd also point out that 30 lbs of lead, on a weight belt, is a hell of a burden. We were unable to rent BCDs with integrated weight. If we'd had those available, there would have been much less of a problem with the push me/pull me effect. Not that this negates the need for proper weighting, but I think anything more than 10 lbs on a belt is more than should be there.

Too much weight is common among new divers, we all know this. Unfortunately, we were not smart enough to keep this in mind when we rented our gear, and simply asked for what we'd used in our OW class. We did bouyancy checks, but that was just to make sure we could sink. Not to see if we were packing ten pounds more than needed.

On the other hand, we were noobs, and didn't know what we didn't know. We've all learned a lot since then. A big one being not to get so far from your buddy that you can't help quickly when there is a problem.

We are going to lick that pond this summer I think.

 

[RP Diver]

One other comment. It is a good thing nobody tried to go back and recover the weight belts. The odds are you'd have had to walk them back to shore, if you were lucky enough to find them at all.

I had to fetch a heavy belt once from the bottom of the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa after it slipped off a plump OW student. I didn't have a lift bag, and my BC wouldn't lift the 32 pounds on the belt. :11: I ended up slinging it over my shoulder and going 60 feet hand over hand up the mooring rope to the platform, then with the instructor's help, we got it cinched back around the student.

 

[RiverRat]

Good job Wijbrandus! I was shakey in my OW class. Same idea, heavy belt, tight wetsuit, anxiousness. Instructor led me down the wall for a visual reference. Boy did that help. I learned to RELAX, stop, breathe, think and act. After I paused, a couple slow, deep breathes worked wonders! Totally took my anxiousness away! I would ease into the low vis dives until you all get a better comfort level. It can take awhile. You did a fantastic job as a new diver taking control of the situation and getting everyone out of the water safe. I recommend the Rescue class also as you've already learned what can happen out there.
.

 

[fishfry2]

Money can be replaced while your friends safety can not. I can say that I sometimes can be uneasy when we first dive after a long time out of the water. I would try and do some pool time in the wetsuits and the weights before going out. Don't second guess your decision.