Reading Diver Down

[gangrel441]

well... mitigating the damage done is integral to dealing with equipment failure.

there are lessons to be learned from divers who survived equipment failures.

my point was that they try to avoid those scenarios, as though equipment
never breaks... because they don't want to make new divers and potential divers
fear equipment and decide to stop diving or not start diving

i just think it's an interesting editorial bias, that they try to avoid mentioning
equipment failurers... of course, the bulk of their advertisers are equipment
manufacturers...

:33:

Very true. I do find it interesting in this month's issue that they referred to the divers as "reasonably experienced" divers, but clearly Jack weighted himself down enough to be a boat anchor, and Janet had "not made a dive since the late 1990's." Then when all is said and done, the lesson basically amounts to "Don't repair a BC. Buy and new one..." and "if you get trouble under water, get positive." How about "if you can't stay at the surface without inflating your BC, take about 20 lbs off your weight belt." Or, if they are going to push a class (like they do with Rescue in this one), how about "take Peak Performance Bouyancy, and memorize the textbook in the process."

 

[ScorpioScuba]

Hi Jen,

I too have mild asthma and I would definitely recommend seeing a doctor. They will be able to look at your peak flow, etc to determine just how serious it is.

I had a bad bout back in March where I was wheezing for two weeks with no relief from any medicine the dr's threw my way (this was prior to my OW certification). I went to the doctor since I needed his ok before I could take the class. I am now on daily preventative Rx's to prevent an asthma attack. These include daily singulair, twice daily flonase and twice daily advair. All of these combined have made a huge difference in my symptoms.

Like yours, my asthma is allergy induced, due to exercise or comes about after a particularly bad respiratory infection.

I made my first OW dives last weekend, 6 in all! I completed my cert and am now 2 dives into my AOW. I am happy to say my asthma did not bother me a bit but I felt reassured knowing that I was taking my daily preventative Rx's and carrying my inhaler.

Good Luck!

 

[mdmbike to scuba]

Hey,jen well the cost was free because I do asthma studys for this Doc. I also tell most people with asthma that they need to stay in shape all the time. I work out all the time and I have not had trouble with an asthma attack in 20yrs. My Doc told me to take my inhaler 15min before a dive. I didnt take meds on any of my dives,and didnt have problem one. All of your trigger are not under water so thats gooooood. We just have to relax and do a self check before we get into the water,if you feel chest being tight then dont get in the water. I'm going to keep researching things to make sure. Now the deepest I have been is 113ft and presure didnt effect me. From what I have gotten from DAN and others so far its a case by case thing. I dont thing you will have any problem at all. The biggest problem with people that have asthma is the ones that trap air in there lungs. That type is very very bad. Its like holding your breath all the way up and you know what happens next. If you dont mind what meds do you take for your asthma? sorry so long......Mark or mdmbike

 

[HilaryRN71]

Very true. I do find it interesting in this month's issue that they referred to the divers as "reasonably experienced" divers, but clearly Jack weighted himself down enough to be a boat anchor, and Janet had "not made a dive since the late 1990's." Then when all is said and done, the lesson basically amounts to "Don't repair a BC. Buy and new one..." and "if you get trouble under water, get positive." How about "if you can't stay at the surface without inflating your BC, take about 20 lbs off your weight belt." Or, if they are going to push a class (like they do with Rescue in this one), how about "take Peak Performance Bouyancy, and memorize the textbook in the process."

"Reasonably experienced" and hadn't made a dive in over 5 years??? Pretty contradictory statement. If I'm out of the water for over a month...I have a few minutes of re-acclimation to the water environment. That is why I don't subscribe to Rodale's anymore.

 

[Pez7378]

 

[Pez7378]

I too have read Diver Down. It is now in the hands of my future diving buddy. Clearly, most of the situations outlined in the book could, and should have been prevented, it just goes to show that even those with years of experience can still get into trouble. Murphy is everywhere and I guess it's not that you get into trouble, but how you manage the crisis, keep yourself calm and rely on your training to get yourself out safely. As far as the Asthma situation, I found some information while looking at a YMCA Scuba site that addresses divers with Asthma. Might give you a starting point to research. http://www.ymcascuba.org/

 

[mdmbike to scuba]

Thank for the web link I looked it up and sent any email to them for more info. Now I just got nitrox cert and I hope to use it on a dive in Oct. Need to find info on that too. Man I feel like im back in school doing research....Thanks Mark

 

[Pez7378]

No problem Mark, I am sure I will be asking for help much more than I can be helpful but that seems to be one of the great things about this community.

 

[Storm]

I too have read Diver Down. It is now in the hands of my future diving buddy. Clearly, most of the situations outlined in the book could, and should have been prevented, it just goes to show that even those with years of experience can still get into trouble. Murphy is everywhere and I guess it's not that you get into trouble, but how you manage the crisis, keep yourself calm and rely on your training to get yourself out safely. As far as the Asthma situation, I found some information while looking at a YMCA Scuba site that addresses divers with Asthma. Might give you a starting point to research. http://www.ymcascuba.org/

What I took away from reading Diver Down (which BTW my wife and primary diving buddy is now reading) was that all the scenarios were avoidable, caused by poor decision making The main thrust of the book was more toward the controlable part of dive accidents...the human factor...poor decision making, poor judgement, stu[pidity, and deciet.

Equipment failure's are generally outside of a diver's control, and hence usually unavoidable (unless its a maintainence issue which still leads back to the human factor).

I would like to see abook written about actual equiopment failures and the immedeate actions that shoudl be done. I think that type of book, combined with Diver down, would be an invaluable teaching tool.

 

[TheRedHead]

Equipment failure's are generally outside of a diver's control, and hence usually unavoidable (unless its a maintainence issue which still leads back to the human factor).

Dealing with equipment failures is part and parcel of being a prepared diver. My copy arrived today and I'm looking forward to reading it.