Equipment Near Drowning off Ft Lauderdale, full face snorkel mask

[jadairiii]

You wont see this in the paper. I went out Monday morning, early, for a 2 mile ocean swim. the ocean was flat calm. At the very end of my swim I came across a woman in distress, on the verge of downing, with a mask on. A full face snorkel mask (the one pictured from Walmart, she told me she bought it there). These masks have been involved in other drownings. They can fill with water, are hard to remove, possibly have CO2 retention issues, and can create a panic situation in untrained swimmers.

My rescue was just that, young woman had drifted quite a way from shore, beyond the vessel exclusion buoys, about 150 yards from shore (give or take) she was wearing the mask/snorkel, full suit rash guard and a life vest like one would see on skiers or small boats (not a dive vest), no fins. She was exhibiting the "standard" exhaustion/drowning attributes, oddly calm and quiet. I approached her, told her she shouldnt be outside the buoys and knew instantly she was in distress. I tried to get her to take the mask off but I could tell that was causing more stress, worse, that mask was not easy to get off quickly. So I told her I would swim her in, and continued to talk with her to make sure that she could breath, during that period she relayed to me that she did get water in the mask and had issues getting it clear, but I could tell it was clear and I continued to speak with her to verify no water was in the mask. She was borderline incoherent when I first got to her, but as we got closer to shore, and she was not expanding any energy swimming, she was more coherent. I got her to the beach, got the mask off, she couldnt stand up, as I was assessing my next option, an off duty life guard came swimming up (who was also just doing a morning swim). He then took over, he went to the nearest tower while I helped her to the get there, she could not walk on her own. He got her on oxygen and had a bystander call 911. All's well that ends well. This 26 year old woman was very lucky this weekend.

Since was was just doing a ocean swim I had no cutting device, had I, I would have immediately cut the straps. But as stated, as I attempted to get the mask off I could see it was causing more distress than just leaving it be.

And I relay this story to warn others, its not about me, I've had lifeguard training, first aid training, its not my first water rescue, and it was nothing to swim her in. I'm just glad I was there.

If you have one of these masks throw it in the trash. If you are at a resort, DO NOT USE IT. Be safe out there.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Thank you @jadairiii for very possibly saving a life. Good on you for seeing, acting and not just ignoring the situation.

As to these masks, I hate them with a passion and tell all of my family and friends who will listen to NOT use them.

 

[coldwaterglutton]

Great job on your part. Those masks need to be banned.

 

[lowwall]

I'm going to copy the parts of the following posts related to FFMs for those who didn't last to page 7 of this thread: ROPE - I have not heard of this snorkeling problem

by @Dr Simon Mitchell
...Full face snorkel masks have been raised in this thread several times. You may be interested in a study we recently published exploring their propensity for generating hypoxia or hypercapnia in comparison to a normal snorkel. See attached or https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10735670/pdf/DHM-53-313.pdf ...

by @lowwall
Thanks ... for the article which is further evidence of the unsuitability of full face snorkel masks. If nothing else, it puts to rest the claim that the inclusion of one way valves completely prevents rebreathing of exhaled gases. Further, your test may well be a best case scenario for these things in that your subjects were experienced snorkelers, the testing was done in the dry so anxiety induced shortened breathing cycles were not an issue, and the testing was cut off as soon as subjects hit a threshold oxygenation level which prevented discovery of just how bad things could get. Even so, the increase in CO2 and decrease in blood O2 saturation when using these masks was alarming.

And this would just be the triggering effect in an incident. What happens next is what I feel is the real culprit. People using standard snorkels normally respond to breathing or O2/CO2 issues like shortness of breath by removing the snorkel. This is trivially simple with a snorkel, you just spit it out. But it can be a major undertaking with a snorkel mask, requiring at least one hand and typically two. Worse, a major reason people chose these masks is they are afraid of immersing their faces in water. These people are going to be loathe to even attempt removal until it's too late.

... IMO, these full face masks are dangerous and defective when used for their intended purpose.

 

[Chavodel8en]

I feel like these masks give people a false sense of safety - after all, your entire face is completely protected from the water. And the one way valves protect against water entry. Great, I'm completely protected. So people uncomfortable with water prefer these over traditional snorkels,

I've heard people discuss traditional snorkels and masks as something they need to learn to use, whereas they think FFSMs are easy to use -- you just put them on and breath normally - no problem.

And all of the problems with FFSMs mentioned in this thread are not immediately evident.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

A couple months ago I "rescued" a full face mask/snorkel combo off Cove 2 in Seattle. Given where I found it (deeper water, not at or near the exit beach) I'm guessing the following happened:

Either an open water swimmer or snorkeler checking out the breakwater/retaining wall (not sure what you call this style of armored beach, it's basically piled boulders) got in trouble and jettisoned the mask in a panic. It sank, and they swam in. Nobody heard about the event.

I don't think it was an "oopsie" kind of thing because those tend to happen at entrance and exit. I can't see how it would have ended up where I found it by drifting off the beach after it was lost. It was fairly dense (neg. buoyant) and the dive site is so popular that if I hadn't picked it up, somebody else would have within 24 hours of its loss.

And that's not counting the number of times I've seen people have issues with them while on vacation in Hawai'i. All ended well, but I just don't see that kind of thing with standard mask and snorkel.

I debated long and hard about posting a "found mask" on our local divers' Facebook groups, but I also thought the more noble thing would be to just chuck it. It's still in my garage, but now is in the garbage bin.

 

[Marie13]

Damn. I occasionally get questions about those full face masks from people who are planning on snorkeling during a trip. I always tell them hell, no. I tell them to go to a dive shop in their area to try on a regular mask in person.

 

[lowwall]

And all of the problems with FFSMs mentioned in this thread are not immediately evident.

I hadn't heard of these things until two of them showed up at our house several years ago. My wife had ordered them for our kids before a trip to Hawaii based on an Amazon recommendation.

I took one look and returned them. They are so obviously unsafe if you know anything about snorkeling. The problem is they have an immediate appeal to those who don't.

 

[jadairiii]

The problem is they have an immediate appeal to those who don't.

I read the study you posted, and found it quite informative, especially since my "victim" checked all the boxes:

1. novice snorkeler
2. bought FFM due to the low price at Walmart
3. 26 year old female
4. very low BMI,
5. very small features, "small boned", skinny
6. poor or non-existent swimming skills (life jacket was a dead giveaway)
7. ethnic (African American or Black)

So based on the study, very good chance the mask did not fit right and she was not physically adapted to the exertion of swimming. And now looking back at her actions and reactions, good chance she was experiencing hypercapnia and/or hypoxaemia.

 

[USdiver1]

A couple months ago I "rescued" a full face mask/snorkel combo off Cove 2 in Seattle. Given where I found it (deeper water, not at or near the exit beach) I'm guessing the following happened:

Either an open water swimmer or snorkeler checking out the breakwater/retaining wall (not sure what you call this style of armored beach, it's basically piled boulders) got in trouble and jettisoned the mask in a panic. It sank, and they swam in. Nobody heard about the event.

'Course being from the PNW, it is just as likely that said FFM snorkeler was ingested by a GPO or Orca,

Just Sayin'