my near drowning

[SparticleBrane]

Does everyone inflate their BC when they ascend? I was taught the opposite.

Depends. I can completely inflate my BC to go up, as long as I vent it on the way. Obviously this is an extreme example of something I'd never do, but it can be done.
Personally when I want to go up I just take a slightly larger breath than normal and then start breathing again as normal.

 

[Jeff Toorish]

Welcome to ScubaBoard.

That's quite a first post, by the way. I echo the others regarding your handling of an obviously dangerous situation.

I am curious about a couple of things, though.

-You mentioned inflating your BC before ascending, is that what you meant or did you surface and then inflate?

-The DM who came to your rescue, could you elaborate on that a bit? (As a DiveCon, I'm interested in what other DiveMasters do in these situations.)

-I'm also curious about the DM or instructor who brought the group back up upon noticing you were missing. That is exceptional service, normally when a pro is working with a student, the student is pretty much the focus to the exclusion of others so I am very impressed with that.

ScubaBoard is a terrific learning tool and your story is ripe with information that will help us understand accidents and how to ensure they don't go from dangerous to tragic.

Again, welcome to the board and thank you for sharing.

Jeff

 

[shellbackdiver1]

Does everyone inflate their BC when they ascend? I was taught the opposite.

Depends on the current. Some places have a down draft. Or maybe if trim is not perfect and you are facing the current new divers may need to over compensate and add air to the BCD.

 

[BIGG_BUDD]

I totally hear you guys...when the situation calls for it, then you do what you gotta do. It's just not the first thing I do when I decide to go up.

 

[Packhorse]

If at 10-15ft at the start of a dive and some major problem manifests its self (like breathing water) I dont see any problem with inflating BC as long as you are exhaling (water?). Id rather be at the surface with a full bc coughing up water than passed out slowly sinking down. Doing this at 30-40ft at the end of a dive is a diffrent matter.

 

[diebeste]

When the surface current is strong, sometimes you will be quite negative before entry, to ensure you drop beneath the current as soon as possible. If you then experience problems, you have to inflate to assist with the ascent.

 

[HilaryRN71]

I'm assuming that you weren't stressed at this point, so I must ask the question. Does everyone inflate their BC when they ascend? I was taught the opposite.

I also am curious as to how you began breathing water. Was their an equipment failure of some sort?

Glad you are alright.

That's interesting....I've had this question come up before. I used to deflate to ascend, and I'm pretty sure that's what I was taught. And in cold water, steel tanks, etc, had to swim like hell to get off the bottom. (was probably overweighted like most new divers.) It was stressful, tho. My last instructor taught me to start ascent at neutral. Once I started doing that...I had alot easier ascents.

Hope to hear from the original poster...the suggestion for doing some mask off exercises was a good one. It's something we'll all face diving. Alot of people think if they can just get thru the mask off test in their cert dives...they are done. But at SOME point...we've all had a full flood or have been kicked and lost or half lost a mask.

 

[Dash]

I sure hope this person comes back and answers these questions because as a brand new diver, I'm not just curious to know what happened, I need to know!

Why did a mask flood cause a loss of regulator?
Why did you pass out? Did it take so long to reach the surface that you ingested that much water?
Did you inflate the BC to ascend or just fin? or both?
Was your signal to the DM a concientious signal, or was he just signalled by your behavior?

Please help me understand. Thanks

 

[Scubydoo713]

I'm assuming that you weren't stressed at this point, so I must ask the question. Does everyone inflate their BC when they ascend? I was taught the opposite.

I also am curious as to how you began breathing water. Was their an equipment failure of some sort?

Glad you are alright.

If you were a fairly new diver, with only 70 dives, and at the start of a dive, at 10-15', with a flooded mask, couldn't see and started breathing water, I'd be willing to bet that you'd be jumping on the elevator up button also. Why would you assume she wasn't stressed? I can't think of a more stressful situation than to be breathing water and not be able to see. Granted, that isn't the normal ascent procedure, but when you can't see and you're breathing water, at least at that shallow of a depth and only a couple minutes into a dive, I think surfacing as quickly as possible, before you drown is a good idea.

I also agree that you need to practice mask clearing, not just clearing water, but taking it off and putting it back on underwater until it becomes no big deal, because sooner or later you're going to get your mask flooded. someone will kick it off, or hit it with their hand, or the strap may just break. You may be 20 minutes into a 100' dive when that happens, and if you start breathing water, shooting to the surface would not be a healthy choice.
Overall, I commend you for getting back to the surface and signaling the boat. Obviously, the DM was on the ball and as luck would have it, there was someone close by with medical experience as well. Glad you're OK!

 

[BIGG_BUDD]

Why would you assume she wasn't stressed?

Because she didn't express distress until after inflating her BCD and starting her ascent:

tried to clear but still flooded and decided to inflate BC and surface as only 10-15 ft down...As I went up realized I was breathing water, broke the surface signaled for DM on boat who saw me and started to release boat to come to me when I passed out.

I'm not saying she did anything wrong, just noticed that the first thing she did once she decided to head up was inflate her BCD. I understand there are situations that call for that, and this certainly could have been one.

My question was more out of curiosity about how others had been trained to ascend. I'm not throwing stones.