Saltwater Aspiration Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bubbleornothing]

Please help! I'm currently on Bonaire. Made the first dive of my PADI certification and somehow managed to aspirate some seawater. I don't remember getting a wet breath at any time, but about 20 mins into the dive at about 30 fsw, I began having extreme difficulty breathing and ended up spending 5 hrs in the hospital being treated as a near drowning patient. I have no idea what happened and can only assume I aspirated small amounts over the course of the first 20 mins. I'm reluctant to go down again as I have no clue what I did wrong or...more important...what I could do to avoid the situation next time. I had no problem with pool dives and blew bubbles between the pool session and the c-card dive without a single incident. I'm running out of time here and sure hope someone has some advice. Internet time is limited to a cafe here...but I'll be checking posts in the am.

Thanks in advance for any help. I'll post any results or solutions I come up with.

Desperately wanting to dive!

 

[Laurence Stein DDS]

Could be your regulator. Are you using your own or is it a rental. Either way it should be serviced on time...mor often if it is used frequently.

Here is a link to Dive Medicine Online, Salt Water Aspiration Syndrome.

http://www.scuba-doc.com/saltwasp.html

Hopes it helps.

Laurence Stein DDS

 

[Padipro]

I have to agree that is sounds like the regulator was to blame. Is the reg you used on the pool dives the same one you used on the openwater dive? If on the openwater dive you used a different reg then you used in the pool, and you had no troubles in the pool, that would seem to narrow it down somewhat.

If the reg was a rental ask the shop that provided the equipment for the openwater dive which reg you used. They usually keep track of that to make sure they get the right equipment back when you return it. Then make sure you tell them the problems you had after using it. They should check the reg out for any trouble before renting it to anyone else and you should make sure that you don't get the same one back for another dive, just incase.

Good luck with the rest of your training.

Scott

 

[beche de mer]

Agree. If you don't remember breathing water in, the reg is suspect. Make sure you don't get the same one next time.

And get your own kit as soon as you know you're committed to the sport. You'll be sure you have reliable equipment, you'll know exactly where everything is located and you'll be much more comfortable on every dive. (And you'll have a snappy colour scheme which matches your personality.)

At any time during the dive did you have your reg out of your mouth &/or buddy breathe? If so, did you purge before taking a breath? Did you keep a good lip-seal around your moutpiece? (Most beginners do.)

90% of cases of SWAS (salt water asp syndrome) remember taking in water, but not all.

Question is, when do you dive again?

SWAS has a spectrum of severity. In the more severe cases, the sputum is pink tinged. Quite often there are measurable differences in your pulmonary function tests. You need to be sure that all parameters are normal before you next dive.

Where's Bonaire? Suggest you contact a diving physician if there is one available.

Good luck.
ut:

 

[redacted]

I'd be looking for a small leak around the mouthpiece where it gets directly into the breathing air stream.

 

[Laurence Stein DDS]

awap,

I think you may be on to something. Regulator mouthpieces tear or get pinhole perforations where the are connected to the orifice--next to the tie wrap. You have to pull the tabs to find the problem. Air rushing thru the mouthpiece creates a partial vacuum (Bernouli's Principle) and will suck water into the air stream. This water will become atomized and easily inhaled. Heck, did you ever see the mist when you purge the reg...and that is expected?

Padipro, just because there was no problem in the pool doesn't mean that regulator is not suspect. Pool water is usually fresh and I would doubt that in a two hour pool session, you are actually breathing through the reg for more than 30 minutes. Pool diving is less stressful. Your environment is controlled, your instructor is right there. In the ocean you are on your own, contending with current, surge and anything else that might come along.

It's easy to get upside down or hang onto the tag line waiting for other divers to exit. Often times divers are taking the reg out of the mouth and replacing it during the wait.

Beche de mer, try this link:

http://www.geographia.com/bonaire/

They have some beautiful, easy diving there. The pier is beautifully encrusted. There is a wall literally 100 yards off the hotels in some areas. The island is near Cuacau and Aruba. It is very close to Venezuela.

They have lizards everywhere!

bubbleornothing, please be careful...you don't get over SWAS overnight. Don't let your enthusiasm color your judgement. Your body thinks you have just drowned. Most drowning victims are not back in the water within a week. I don't think it would be wise to return to the water this visit. Heck, you've already been to the hospital. Did the docs at the hospital tell you it was ok to return to diving immediately?

Regards,

Larry Stein

 

[Padipro]

Laurence Stein DDS once bubbled...
Padipro, just because there was no problem in the pool doesn't mean that regulator is not suspect. Pool water is usually fresh and I would doubt that in a two hour pool session, you are actually breathing through the reg for more than 30 minutes. Pool diving is less stressful. Your environment is controlled, your instructor is right there. In the ocean you are on your own, contending with current, surge and anything else that might come along.

I didn't mean to imply that the reg used in the pool wasn't suspect. IMO all rental equipment is suspect. I've been around enough dive shops to see the way they maintain their rental gear. I was just stating that in most operations I've been associated with students don't use the same set of gear during the entire class. The gear is handed out prior to each pool session and openwater dive and it's usually first come first served just grab the gear off the rack and hand it out.

With that in mind I was assuming that bubbleornothing was most likely using a different reg during the openwater dive then he was using during the pool session. Since there didn't seem to be any trouble during the pool dives, and he had no recollection of inhaling any water during the openwater dive, it would, by the simple process of elimination, stand to reason that a small pin hole in the mouth piece, exhaust valve or diaphragm of the regulator would be the most likely cause.

I guess I should have elaborated a little more on the reasoning behind my statements.

Scott

 

[Laurence Stein DDS]

Padipro,

Not a problem. I thought that...

If on the openwater dive you used a different reg then you used in the pool, and you had no troubles in the pool, that would seem to narrow it down somewhat.

...meant that you might have been suspicious of the pool reg.

I think it is important that while the regulator is suspect, it doesn't have to be the cause. There are other ways to get salt water into the lungs. The regulator is probably the most likely though.

Hey! Where in South Florida are you located? I'm near Kendall.

Cheers.

Larry Stein

 

[The Iceni]

bubbleornothing once bubbled...
. . . , I began having extreme difficulty breathing and ended up spending 5 hrs in the hospital being treated as a near drowning patient. I have no idea what happened and can only assume I aspirated small amounts over the course of the first 20 mins.

Hi bubbleornothing,

There are several posible explanations for these symtoms and SWAS due to equipment failure is only one of them. Others on this forum will be aware that certain medical conditions predispose to shortness of breath, the most extreme being pulmonary barotrauma but there are others.

Have you been checked out by a diving physician?

 

[DandyDon]

The Iceni once bubbled...
Hi bubbleornothing,

There are several posible explanations for these symtoms and SWAS due to equipment failure is only one of them. Others on this forum will be aware that certain medical conditions predispose to shortness of breath, the most extreme being pulmonary barotrauma but there are others.

Have you been checked out by a diving physician?

If you can't find one, or - just want another dive physician's opinion, call DAN's 24 hour line: First U.S.A access, then 919-684-811 collect. You don't have to be a member, but - join later anyway.

good luck, don