Runaway Ascent & 60 Seconds of Terror - A Dive Master's Nightmare

[jagfish]

Runaway Ascent & 60 Seconds of Terror - A Dive Master's Nightmare
This hair-raising incident highlights the potential tension between a dive operation booking divers who are not safe to dive (due to long layoff or?) and need a refresher. Dive ops can sometimes pressure DMs to take these divers on a regular dive. This near-miss incident illustrates how that behavior (and me being weak) can go sideways in a hurry.

 

[Edward3c]

My ‘panic’ moment was not because of a student, but my overconfidence.

I took a student in for mask clearing practice, and an exploratory dive. That was the plan.

A fresh water lake, in February, max depth 6m. With the BSAC system we ‘demo then do’. Having got settled at 6m (when I still did drills kneeling). This wasn’t the first open water mask clearing practice, and the student had agreed we would skip the partial flood stages and just do the remove and refit. I proceeded to remove my mask. Then the cold (4’C) hit me like a sledgehammer between the eyes, my breathing stopped, all I wanted was to be on the surface.

Somehow I managed to stay with my student, it seemed like forever, I managed to breath in gulps and calm myself down. Eventually, I replaced the mask and after at least 10 attempts I got the water out. Miraculously my student was still there, patiently waiting, totally unaware of my stress and near panic. I signalled that we would go for the exploration dive. I wasn’t putting my student through such a ordeal as I’d just had.

At the debrief, my student explained I had looked calm and composed and couldn’t understand why I had aborted their mask clearing exercise. The incident lasted, for me about 10 minutes, for my student less than 2. The thought going round my head the whole time was I can’t leave my student alone on the bottom.

I believed I was an experienced instructor, the experience taught me how naive I really was.

 

[jagfish]

My ‘panic’ moment was not because of a student, but my overconfidence.

I took a student in for mask clearing practice, and an exploratory dive. That was the plan.

A fresh water lake, in February, max depth 6m. With the BSAC system we ‘demo then do’. Having got settled at 6m (when I still did drills kneeling). This wasn’t the first open water mask clearing practice, and the student had agreed we would skip the partial flood stages and just do the remove and refit. I proceeded to remove my mask. Then the cold (4’C) hit me like a sledgehammer between the eyes, my breathing stopped, all I wanted was to be on the surface.

Somehow I managed to stay with my student, it seemed like forever, I managed to breath in gulps and calm myself down. Eventually, I replaced the mask and after at least 10 attempts I got the water out. Miraculously my student was still there, patiently waiting, totally unaware of my stress and near panic. I signalled that we would go for the exploration dive. I wasn’t putting my student through such a ordeal as I’d just had.

At the debrief, my student explained I had looked calm and composed and couldn’t understand why I had aborted their mask clearing exercise. The incident lasted, for me about 10 minutes, for my student less than 2. The thought going round my head the whole time was I can’t leave my student alone on the bottom.

I believed I was an experienced instructor, the experience taught me how naive I really was.

Wow, thanks for sharing this valuable experience!

 

[Graeme Fraser]

Runaway Ascent & 60 Seconds of Terror - A Dive Master's Nightmare
This hair-raising incident highlights the potential tension between a dive operation booking divers who are not safe to dive (due to long layoff or?) and need a refresher. Dive ops can sometimes pressure DMs to take these divers on a regular dive. This near-miss incident illustrates how that behavior (and me being weak) can go sideways in a hurry.

Sinus squeeze / baratrauma can often cause a subsequent nosebleed. Saw a diver yesterday surface with a mask full of blood. Looked like he'd done 5 sounds with Mike Tyson.

 

[NothingClever]

There’s still a bit of Max Headroom effect to the editing but the sincerity is great.

 

[jagfish]

There’s still a bit of Max Headroom effect to the editing but the sincerity is great.

Yes, this vid got voice and video accelerated at an early stage of editing, and it was going to be too difficult to go back and fix. You live, you learn...thanks for the patience with my learning curve...

 

[Celt]

I don’t put my mask on until I’m in the water but even if you dip your hand in and wet your face you’ll avoid the cold water shock.

 

[fisheater]

My "OMG This is REALLY, REALLY bad" experience got written up and published in DAN's Alert Diver magazine. Alert Diver | Where's Dave?

 

[wheeledgoat]

My "OMG This is REALLY, REALLY bad" experience got written up and published in DAN's Alert Diver magazine. Alert Diver | Where's Dave?

I was mildly disappointed to read that and not find a Cheech & Chong reference, but obviously that would detract from the seriousness and value of the lesson. Still, it's nice to live in my reality.

 

[fisheater]

Leaving out a direct Cheech and Chong reference was a conscious decision. The "Where's Dave" title was enough. Also, this is a totally real story and my dive buddy's name was really Dave. So, the title sort of wrote itself. After all, I was raised on Cheech and Chong.