Panic during final open water dives at Swanage Pier ...

[Carpster61]

Last weekend I went to complete my PADI certification with a friend (girl) at Swanage Pier. UK. Equipped with my dry suit and about 24 pounds of weight, we entered the water. It was only about 6 meters maximum under the pier. Visibility was about 3 meters, the first day had been cancelled due to about 12 inches vis. I got on the bottom under the pier and was told to roll in the water to practice getting balance and purging the air from the drysuit so I didn't shoot to the top feet first. This went fine but when I rolled, the suit filled with freezing water via the neck. This was no major problem, I completed the whole dive (approx 1 hour) absolutely freezing. Couldn't feel my fingers or lips, I think water temp was about 5 degrees. Whenever I pressed the button to get air in the suit it went through the suit, out the neck and partially inflated my hood.

The final exercise before surfacing was the out of air / alternative air source, then orally inflating on the surface. I signalled 'out of air' to the instructor and took his alternative air source. So far so good. For some stupid reason, I went to the surface trying to support him, forgetting it was him meant to be supporting me. When I got to the surface, I let go of him to orally inflate and as soon as I let go I lowered back down and took a mouthful of water in. I mildly panicked and got my head above water as fast as I could and went to press the button to orally inflate. At this stage I realised my hands and finger tips were so cold that I could not physically press the button down to open the valve to breathe into the BCD. I couldn't get any air into the BCD and I was struggling a lot to keep my head above water. It amazed me how quickly it tires you at the surface. The weights were pulling me under and I half choked on another mouthful of water. I was exhausted at this point. Hypothetically, If I had been on my own I would have drowned I reckon. All this happened in the space of about maybe 20 seconds but it seemed like a lifetime. The instructor afterwards didn't know my suit had flooded and just said it was ok, he wouldn't have let me drown.

In a wierd way I am very glad it happened and I got to experience it. Due to the first day getting cancelled, I have 2 things left to do and that is mask removal and emergency ascent. They are going to be done at Stoney Cove on 16th June. Can't wait ... !!! ...

 

[Wineaux]

In a "real life" scenario you would drop your weights to stop sinking/make less work to keep at the surface.

You seem to have a good attitude. Personally I think it is good to experience some mishaps and anxiety in the classes where you have some stronger support available. It helps you to recognize and deal with future situations having already experienced it. (It has for me at least!)

Good luck with your remaining dives!

 

[Carpster61]

Yes, I knew all about dropping the weights for this sort of thing. I have read about loads of people knowing what to do but forgetting to do it in the heat of the moment. I thought 'how stupid'. Not anymore, I now know what it is like and in a panic situation you do not think straight. As I said I am glad it happened, it can only make me stronger in future. It turned out the drysuit was too small for me too. If my hands/fingers hadn't been so cold I would have had no problem in inflating the BCD.

 

[dytis-sm]

I think every single diver had encountered a situation in their early diving (maybe even later) that could have turned ugly....almost a near drowning experience. In my case as I jumped in the water from a boat I lost my concentration when I discovered that my inflator hose was leaking. Trying to reconnect it properly, I emptied my BCD completely and started sinking fast. While all this is happening my regulator was not in my mouth because I was too concerned about wasting air on the surface and all of a sudden I was sinking, had no air in my mouth and panicking. Thanks to my buddy who was screaming put "your reg in your mouth" I was able to recover and get back on the boat but not before I had swallowed plenty of water and exhausted myself trying to stay afloat. I still remember trying to float on the surface without air in my BC and the reg. just floating somewhere yet I could not think to reach for it. Could not think straight or focus, 100% tunnel vision. I could have drowned if I did not have a group of good divers around me performing their panicked diver rescue drills perfectly. Never forgot that experience and it had taught me a lot about panic, but mostly about equipment maintenance, dive preparation, and a proper buddy check.

Nothing to be embarrassed about. Every incident is a learning opportunity particularly when nobody gets hurt. The best thing I did that day was get back on the boat, catch my breath and then jump right back into the water and dive. I would have not been able to do that without the experienced people around who saved the day, and my diving future. I never forgot who my buddies were that day...

 

[TSandM]

I had a near-panic experience in my OW dives, when I tried the mask clearing skill and choked. I can still vividly remember how frightened I was, and how much I wanted OUT of the water. The instructor supervising me refused my repeated requests to surface, and I fought back the feeling and ended up completing the skills.

I think these experiences are actually quite valuable, so long as they don't frighten the student to the point of losing confidence in the class. I learned how quickly anxiety spirals up, and how bad it feels -- and I also learned that I COULD control it. This served me well about a year later, when I had a very scary experience that woke the reptile brain and had it screaming, "UP, UP, UP!!!" I stifled the urge and ended up solving the problem safely. I'm not sure I would have, if I hadn't been "vaccinated" against that kind of fear much earlier.

You also learned some very good lessons about the degradation in function that comes with cold. Not only does a cold diver have trouble with simple physical tasks, they don't think well, either. Staying warm is not just a matter of comfort -- it is a critical safety matter. In my opinion, your instructor should never have permitted you back in the water with a dry suit that was leaking badly enough to flood. Having been through THAT, too (read the blog of my OW class that's in my sig line), and looking now from the standpoint of instructional staff, I firmly believe that no student should be put back into the water if a dry suit flood is predictable. Not only does it ruin the student's experience and put them sometimes at physical risk, it's also harder to get the student's head out of the water, when the BC has to lift wet undergarments as well. Bad judgment on the part of your instructor, in my book.

I'm glad you still have a positive attitude toward the next set of dives. Please tell the shop from which you are renting your dry suit that you need seals that FIT before you get back in the water.

 

[openmindOW]

carpster61, you did well. you have absolutely noting to be embarrassed about.

you will pass. hang in there.

 

[Carpster61]

Thanx for all the support guys and girl ... ... I was not embarrassed in the slightest, as I said I welcomed the experience, (After the event). I can't really say it was the instructors fault either. Before my friend and I went down to Swanage, he gave us all the gear and we took it down in my car, tanks included, the whole lot. He gave us 2 drysuits each just incase one didn't fit and 2 undersuits each. When my drysuit flooded on the first dive I didn't signal to tell anyone, I just got on with it, it didn't bother me. Well I was absolutely freezing as I said. Was only when I got to the surface and had to squeeze the button to orally inflate, that I couldn't keep my head above water. Worse was of course that I couldn't physically open the valve to blow in as my hands and tips were so cold. When I got out, I got out of the drysuit and turned it upside down and at least 3 litres of water came out of the suit. I left that suit and undersuit over the railings and went back in and hour later with the second suit and undersuit.

The second dive was an hour and a quarter as well, the suit did let a tiny bit of water in but I knew what to expect from the previous dive. I finally left the water and chatted to the instructor telling him I was so glad it happened. My friend who came there with me couldn't even swim last September. I remember her standing in the shallow end of the pool terrified. She could swim in a pool comfortably by November / December, then she decided she wanted to do Scuba. We started our course in London in mid February. She had never been in the sea, even swimming in her whole life until last weekend. I thought she was panicking when it came to the final exercise for her, which was taking the BC off and putting back on at the surface. She was really struggling and she went to the jetty and got hold of it, telling everybody she didn't want to do it anymore, and she was never going to get in a drysuit again, etc, etc ... Ha,ha ... !!! The instructor calmed her down and told her they were going to go back to the bottom to finish putting it back on. She kept saying no, but eventually agreed and I looked underwater and saw them doing it successfully. It turned out she wasn't panicking at all, she was just exhausted. As she got out she said she hadnt signed up for this, she only wanted to scuba in warmer waters in a wetsuit. I am so proud of her, she handled it extremely well. She couldn't even stand up on her own under all the weight when she got back to the steps. She didn't panic at all, she just got on with it.

After we were all dressed and by the car we laughed about it all. I told her that these experiences are so valuable. The instructor told her not to worry and that she did really well. He said the water temp was about 5 degrees and vis was about 3 meters, it wasn't an easy dive and that if she can get through that then she can get through anything she wants to do. Apparantly if we can dive off English shores, then anywhere tropical will be a walk in the park.

In short our drysuit dives taught us hell of a lot. Luckily at Stoney Cove we wear less weight as it is fresh water, but it is colder ... Bring it on ... !!! ...

 

[TSandM]

Ah -- I feel MUCH better, hearing that you went back in with new, dry clothes! We have certainly done this with students in the past.

Nonetheless, I hope you did learn that cold has a lot of important impacts. I think we cold water divers, as a community, tend to discount this. I know that, even after my OW class experience, I HAVE stayed in the water after the onset of shivering, which is foolish. Physical clumsiness is accompanied by mental sluggishness, and the combination is not a good one for being under OR on top of the water.

 

[N.Grace]

Sounds scary but sounds like you handled this incident well.
(I'm a total novice and will be taking my Open Water this weekend) I had a similar problem during my pool sessions with the Dry Suit. The Instructor and Divemaster didn't realise how much my suit was leaking via the neck and I ended up so frustrated I was in tears and had to call it a day. When I tipped the Dry Suit up, what seemed like half the pool splashed out of it. Luckily this was only in pool sessions. I still haven't passed my Dry Suit course as I also found it painful to wear (it bunched up around my legs and pinched at my skin). Maybe I'll complete it one day but that experience was enough to put me off for now!