My first experience with panic

[Lobzilla]

Thanks Kingpatzer for the honest account.

Aside from the physiological killers like hypercapnia, hypoxyia, narcosis, etc. the worst enemy for a diver is his/her own brain. Our instinctive response to the (perceived) threat of running out of air is to ascent rapidly. Bad move after a certain depth and/or duration. And even worse move with breath holding.

During OW training we get told what to do and what not but nowhere in the training curriculum is the need to rewire our brain addressed. Even GUE does not allow (anymore?) that an instructor removes a student's mask or closes one of his redundant air supplies (unless an emergency requires closing/isolation).

It is assumed that as we build experience in, mostly eventless, dives we will automatically mature from instinctive to rational responses.

I think this is a dangerous fallacy especially if it coupled with the assumption that our buddy is going to save the day when (not if) we act stupid.

I have spend the last 20 years in the skies and can assure you that aviation training is much more suitable to prevent instinctive aggravation of events. Not perfect, as we still have the occasional smoking hole in the ground, but better.

A 'must have' attitude regarding checklists and solid contingency plans are part of the equation. The more valuable part is that in primary flight training and later in the simulator the student's response under stress will determine his/her progress, rank, and paygrade. Again, this is not a perfect selection system but better than dive training. When was the las time you got actually failed in a class? Never, because we are all perfect, right.

When the news about Capt. Sullenberger's successful emergency landing in the Hudson river broke I wagered a bet with a friend that this 'guy' either had serious combat experience or must have flown gliders. I was correct on the second count. There is no substitute for training in 'one shot and one shot only' scenarios. The potential of flunking out of your life/health right in your face is even more instructive than the potential of flunking a class.

Pilots also learn early on to fly solo and have the opportunity to deal with the angst of having ultimate authority but also ultimate responsibility.

The experience requirements for solo dives delay the development of responsible self-control in my opinion. There was a thread a while ago that a DM candidate bolted after getting 'lost' in open water with plenty of air and no technical malfunction. He was lucky to surface in front of a rescue class and close to a chamber.

In contrast, a student(!) pilot must conduct a set of solo cross-country flights to learn that competent pilots do not get lost - just temporarily disoriented .

How can we achieve this realistic training in diving without creating a temporary spike in the accident statistics and getting someone's shorts twisted over violating the 'must have buddy/nanny' mantra?

Kingpanzer, you taught you brain a very important lesson by 'punishing' yourself for a stupid move. If our instructors or buddies are not yelling at us we have to yell at ourselves for even the slightest goof. Once our brain fears the pain of (self)humiliation more than temporary choking we will not bolt anymore.

In my case, a simple whack over the head with a chart from my instructor tought my brain once and for all that the instinctive response of slowing down an airplane is a really bad idea when things are getting out of control.

I would like to have similar wake-up calls as a novice diver. Maybe an 'invisible fence' collar monitoring the ascent rate should become a PADI training aid

Anyone having better ideas? I honstly cannot see myself continue to dive with this "just keep logging dives and dive with a buddy and everything will be fine" attitude.

As Kingpanzer proved, Mr. Murphy may (and will) throw us a curve ball at any point in our tenure and it is our rational assessment and appropriate response that has the power to save the day and nothing else.

So how do we train this 'rational assessment and appropriate response' early on?

 

[Puffer Fish]

Kingpatzer - first off, thanks for posting your story.

Being human is to be able to panic.. we all can and if we do enough stuff, will get to experience it. Train as much as you want, you will reduce the reaction. You can "expect" a lot more things, but it is still going to be part of each and every one of of us.

Mine was mud..7 or 8 ft of it. Sort of like really dirty water at the top and really thick pudding at the bottom. Sink into it and the vis goes to zero... not close to zero... not 1 inch, but zero... no light, nothing. Your legs will not move..you want out, but you cannot kick, you cannot see... I know what I did the first time in it...and it was not pretty (assuming one could have seen me)..but oddly when I went back, it did not bother me.

So I got the brilliant idea, after each dive class was done, lets have a special class on panic... and take anyone that wanted to see how well they could control themselves out to that area and make a controlled dive.

I took hundreds of people out that. New divers, experienced divers, other military divers and assistant instructors of mine....told them what to expect, told them to watch for the feelings... not one - not a single one ever managed to get thru it without bolting to the surface the first time.

I gave classes on how to control panic...using the latest understanding at the time... no effect. Told them, as best I could what it would feel like...did not make a bit of difference. Even had others that had been there talk to people.

There was something about it, that freaked everyone out. I'm sure the pitch black was part of it, but that feeling on your legs, where if you tried to move them quickly, would stop you seemed to be the biggest issue.

Afterwards, some wanted to go back, and if they did, none ever had an issue. Some wanted to forever stay away from the place.

Today, I believe panic is the result of some unexpected series of events, where:

1. We believe we are in danger, usually life threating danger.

2. We don't see, due to the unexpected nature of the event(s) the path out.

The only way to completely eliminate it, would be to have practiced every possible event.. so that everything that happens is that second time in the mud.

In my young and stupid days, our favorite "trick" was to carefully swim up behind someone and:

1. Pull their mask off.

2. Pop the CO2 cylinder (Horse collar BC's had them back then).

3. Turn off their air.

The trick was to do them with the perfect timing that they were worried about their mask while you turn the air off and then hit the CO2...The first time someone does that to you, it is usually not pretty and potentially life threatening. After that, it is just figuring out how to get even.

Today, while the military still teaches divers to expect the unexpected, we don't. And that may be safer, but it will also result in people far less prepared for that one combination that we did not expect.

 

[gypsyjim]

I can not remember his last name right now, but when I was at Dutch Springs in July, preparing to take the GUE Fundies class with Bob Sherwood I got the chance to witness some of an Intro to Tech class taught by a young man named Trace.

Here is your failure based training you have been discussing. Mask and/or reg disappearing, first stage failures, entanglements. Combinations of various failures and problems, happening at unexpected times, to test your ability to function under stress, but under controlled conditions. Helps the diver learn to think and resolve issues that could easily create panic were they to occur "in real life".

I was impressed, and plan to do some training with Trace myself in the future.

 

[Lobzilla]

Kingpatzer - first off, thanks for posting your story.

Being human is to be able to panic.. we all can and if we do enough stuff, will get to experience it. Train as much as you want, you will reduce the reaction. You can "expect" a lot more things, but it is still going to be part of each and every one of of us.

Mine was mud..7 or 8 ft of it. Sort of like really dirty water at the top and really thick pudding at the bottom. Sink into it and the vis goes to zero... not close to zero... not 1 inch, but zero... no light, nothing. Your legs will not move..you want out, but you cannot kick, you cannot see... I know what I did the first time in it...and it was not pretty (assuming one could have seen me)..but oddly when I went back, it did not bother me.

<snip>.

There was something about it, that freaked everyone out. I'm sure the pitch black was part of it, but that feeling on your legs, where if you tried to move them quickly, would stop you seemed to be the biggest issue.

Afterwards, some wanted to go back, and if they did, none ever had an issue. Some wanted to forever stay away from the place.

Today, I believe panic is the result of some unexpected series of events, where:

1. We believe we are in danger, usually life threating danger.

2. We don't see, due to the unexpected nature of the event(s) the path out.

The only way to completely eliminate it, would be to have practiced every possible event.. so that everything that happens is that second time in the mud.

Even if we could provoke every possible scenario we would probably get killed in the training process. But maybe we can prepare for certain scenario GROUPS.

My bet is that the 'mud pool' experience increased your ability to deal with loss of viz and/or entanglement situations in general.

Stupid me got entangled in my own buoy line on my first lobster dive but that was a non-event because as a technical climber I had learned to dis-entangle myself. Did not even consider using a knife. Once you have seen a similar(!) thing before, there is a 'boiler plate' plan available. OK, I got 30 minutes of air left, I think I can spend a couple on resolving this self inflicted mess and the good news is I am not even hanging on my fingernails off a mountain face.

Descending with the snorkel in my mouth after a longer surface swim (to save bottom air) was a different story. I was totally unprepared for the possibility of swallowing water rather than air. Since then, the first breath in a new scenario (descend, regulator switch) is always a cautious one. In that respect goof-ups can build good habits as long as the goof-up is not big enough to end your learning curve prematurely. This stupid move also prompted my WAM checklist before breaking the surface. "Weights - Air - Mask". I touch the weights (yes. they can be dropped), touch my mouth (yes, it is a regulator and not a snorkel) and SPG (holding pressure while breathing), touch my mask, and off/down I go.

BTW: For you aviators lurking here, FIT as in "Fuel (correct tanks, boost pump) - Instruments (Attitude Indicator, DG, Navigation, Radios) - Trim (and freedom of controls)" is an excellent final check before moving the throttle(s) forward)

 

[Lobzilla]

I can not remember his last name right now, but when I was at Dutch Springs in July, preparing to take the GUE Fundies class with Bob Sherwood I got the chance to witness some of an Intro to Tech class taught by a young man named Trace.

Here is your failure based training you have been discussing. Mask and/or reg disappearing, first stage failures, entanglements. Combinations of various failures and problems, happening at unexpected times, to test your ability to function under stress, but under controlled conditions. Helps the diver learn to think and resolve issues that could easily create panic were they to occur "in real life".

I was impressed, and plan to do some training with Trace myself in the future.

He may be Trace Malinowski. Fortunately, there are several top notch instructors in the North East. I am going to attend a basic dive control workshop with Ed Hayes this coming Saturday and will ask him about the earliest, realistic possibility to transition to "what to do when the solid matter hits the fan" training.

 

[NC Wreck Diver]

Hello Kingpatzer:

First off, I'm glad you're OK. Second, thanks for sharing this post with all of us. I have, and I believe everyone else learned from your experience. I think sharing it helps you 'decompress' from the situation, and remind us that anyone can panic. It's human. I carry a lot of gas, and a pony, with a lot of redundancy, but anything can still happen.

Please don't beat yourself up about it, since you got your head back and recovered quick. I can see that you have loads of experience, and you can pass this reaction onto your students. Maybe not the exact situation, but the discussion that panic is inherit to all of us. I've seen and heard very experienced divers making bad mistakes (sadly, deadly on very few occasions).

Your honesty in this makes us all realize never be complacent about our sport, and our training and practice makes it safer.

Safe diving to you. Thanks again for the eyeopener.

 

[stakanak]

OK guys, I just tried the clucking method to clear my reg last night on a dive. I could not get it to work. Will someone please explain it to me as it seems like an excellent drill to be proficient with.
Get Wet!

 

[Walter]

OK, I'm confused.

Your legs will not move..you want out, but you cannot kick...............I took hundreds of people out that. New divers, experienced divers, other military divers and assistant instructors of mine....told them what to expect, told them to watch for the feelings... not one - not a single one ever managed to get thru it without bolting to the surface the first time.

How did they bolt if they couldn't kick?

 

[Walter]

I just tried the clucking method to clear my reg last night on a dive. I could not get it to work. Will someone please explain it to me

I'll try. With your mouth open, put the tip of your tongue flat against the roof of your mouth. Push up with your tongue, you'll almost feel as if it is sticking. Quickly pull your tongue back and down. It will produce a clucking sound. It will also push enough air into your second stage to clear it.

 

[tracydr]

Were you deep enough that narcosis was a factor?