Near-drowning is a term used to describe almost dying from suffocation under water. It is the final stage right before actual drowning occurs. On November 12th, I was involved with the rescue of a near-drowning victim in a spring that I’ll leave unnamed. The victim survived, but I am posting this report of my observations of the event here in the A&I forum because I think there are some very valuable lessons to be learned, especially for newer divers.
Description of Site
The site is a shallow basin, approximately 150’ wide, fed by a first magnitude spring. Water temps are 72° and with visibility usually in excess of 200’, it makes for a very popular training location. There is a deck with multiple sets of stairs leading to the water, and frequently divers and swimmers will be congregated around the stairs. Most of the basin has a depth averaging 3 to 5’ deep, but in the center of the basin there is a bowl-shaped depression with a drop to a depth of 15’. The side of the “bowl” that is closest to the stairs is a flat wall with a sheer drop to maximum depth, and the side furthest away from the stairs has a gradual sloping floor. The sheer wall is no more than a dozen feet from the closest set of stairs. There is a cavern beneath the basin that extends underneath the surface and beneath the deck, the entrance to the cavern is on the sheer wall closest to the stairs.
Details of the Incident
I was teaching a cave class that day and on the far side of the basin from the stairs with a student. We were conducting a pre-dive briefing when out of the corner of my eye I noticed a diver bobbing up and down by the sheer drop-off, approximately 100’ away from me. I observed his head drop beneath the surface, then come up and gasp air. I then watched his head descend under the surface a second time, at which point I put my mask underneath the water. I saw that the diver was holding his fins and mask in his hand, with his regulator out of his mouth and saw him kick for the surface. I told my student that I would be back in a moment, and swam over to the diver as he was beginning to descend a third time. I reached him as he lost consciousness, brought him to the surface, and notified several people on the surface that I had an unconscious diver.
I proceeded to tow the diver to the nearest set of stairs. Luckily, a rescue class had just wrapped up at the site for the day and the students took over the extraction of the diver. The diver began to revive as they were carrying him up the stairs. Once he was brought to the deck he was given oxygen, and local EMS were activated. The diver was treated by paramedics and released without transport to a hospital.
Personal Observations
The diver was wearing a jacket style BC with an integrated weight system and he was overweighted with ballast. During the rescue I noticed large quantities of air leaking from the pull dump on his corrugated inflator hose, so it appears that he had taken his mask and fins off, while floating on the surface right next to the drop off, when the pull dump failed. My best educated guess is that once he lost the ability to maintain positive buoyancy, he began to sink uncontrollably.
I find this incident interesting for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that there were two scuba divers standing in the shallow area no more than 5’ away from the victim that were unaware of the problem unfolding next to them. Either one of those divers could have easily assisted the victim before he lost consciousness. If the diver had simply shouted for help after the first or second time he went underwater they would have likely been able to assist him.
The second reason is the diver had a fully functional regulator and air in his tank, but because his hands were occupied holding his fins and mask, he was unable to put a regulator in his mouth. If he had simply dropped his fins and mask, he would have been able to put a regulator in his mouth and dealt with his situation.
Lessons to be Learned
I think the following lessons can be learned from this incident:
First and foremost – you should never wear so much ballast that you cannot maintain buoyancy if your BCD fails.
Second, if you are having an emergency don’t hesitate to shout for help.
Finally, and most importantly, if you are in a situation like this, your priority should be to get a breathable air supply so you can then have the time to properly deal with the situation. In this case, the situation would have been resolved by ditching his ballast when he had time to realize his BC had failed. Losing a pair of fins or a mask is a small price to pay compared to potentially drowning; several years ago an active member of the TekDiver Mailing List drowned because he was so focused on keeping his mask he made an error in judgment (RIP Robert Wolov, you are remembered).
Description of Site
The site is a shallow basin, approximately 150’ wide, fed by a first magnitude spring. Water temps are 72° and with visibility usually in excess of 200’, it makes for a very popular training location. There is a deck with multiple sets of stairs leading to the water, and frequently divers and swimmers will be congregated around the stairs. Most of the basin has a depth averaging 3 to 5’ deep, but in the center of the basin there is a bowl-shaped depression with a drop to a depth of 15’. The side of the “bowl” that is closest to the stairs is a flat wall with a sheer drop to maximum depth, and the side furthest away from the stairs has a gradual sloping floor. The sheer wall is no more than a dozen feet from the closest set of stairs. There is a cavern beneath the basin that extends underneath the surface and beneath the deck, the entrance to the cavern is on the sheer wall closest to the stairs.
Details of the Incident
I was teaching a cave class that day and on the far side of the basin from the stairs with a student. We were conducting a pre-dive briefing when out of the corner of my eye I noticed a diver bobbing up and down by the sheer drop-off, approximately 100’ away from me. I observed his head drop beneath the surface, then come up and gasp air. I then watched his head descend under the surface a second time, at which point I put my mask underneath the water. I saw that the diver was holding his fins and mask in his hand, with his regulator out of his mouth and saw him kick for the surface. I told my student that I would be back in a moment, and swam over to the diver as he was beginning to descend a third time. I reached him as he lost consciousness, brought him to the surface, and notified several people on the surface that I had an unconscious diver.
I proceeded to tow the diver to the nearest set of stairs. Luckily, a rescue class had just wrapped up at the site for the day and the students took over the extraction of the diver. The diver began to revive as they were carrying him up the stairs. Once he was brought to the deck he was given oxygen, and local EMS were activated. The diver was treated by paramedics and released without transport to a hospital.
Personal Observations
The diver was wearing a jacket style BC with an integrated weight system and he was overweighted with ballast. During the rescue I noticed large quantities of air leaking from the pull dump on his corrugated inflator hose, so it appears that he had taken his mask and fins off, while floating on the surface right next to the drop off, when the pull dump failed. My best educated guess is that once he lost the ability to maintain positive buoyancy, he began to sink uncontrollably.
I find this incident interesting for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that there were two scuba divers standing in the shallow area no more than 5’ away from the victim that were unaware of the problem unfolding next to them. Either one of those divers could have easily assisted the victim before he lost consciousness. If the diver had simply shouted for help after the first or second time he went underwater they would have likely been able to assist him.
The second reason is the diver had a fully functional regulator and air in his tank, but because his hands were occupied holding his fins and mask, he was unable to put a regulator in his mouth. If he had simply dropped his fins and mask, he would have been able to put a regulator in his mouth and dealt with his situation.
Lessons to be Learned
I think the following lessons can be learned from this incident:
First and foremost – you should never wear so much ballast that you cannot maintain buoyancy if your BCD fails.
Second, if you are having an emergency don’t hesitate to shout for help.
Finally, and most importantly, if you are in a situation like this, your priority should be to get a breathable air supply so you can then have the time to properly deal with the situation. In this case, the situation would have been resolved by ditching his ballast when he had time to realize his BC had failed. Losing a pair of fins or a mask is a small price to pay compared to potentially drowning; several years ago an active member of the TekDiver Mailing List drowned because he was so focused on keeping his mask he made an error in judgment (RIP Robert Wolov, you are remembered).
