Saved my DM at 80ft. in Palau

[pelan-pelan]

Yes - time to check the O-rings again. No bad thing to be reminded.

I've seen it happen once - in a pool thankfully. Spectacular - looked like the pool was boiling. Gave the trainees something to think about.

As for things that go bang underwater - thought that was what had happened when we were at about 10 metres in Sabah. About 6 of us all looking at one another trying work out what was happening and going through the keep calm and follow your training mental process. It was a very loud bang. Dynamiting makes fish float to the surface. It can have a similar effect on nearby divers. We were not impressed.

 

[colsonn]

My instructor had his O-ring blow in the pool, right after lecturing a student on why you always check your 0-ring before you dive. The look on his face afterwards. HA!

 

[valligurl]

Hung out with Terry and the Big Blue crew in June. He's a great guy. Happy to hear he came out OK. Thought he was going to take a break. Glad to hear he's back. We had a great time with him and Gat. I can just imagine the look on his face..............

 

[boogeywoogey]

Interesting to read.....

We went to Palua 2 years on the trot, back in 91 and 92. Each time we were there for 3 weeks I dived (my wife is a very nervous diver so didn't do too much).

What a place...it's the best warm water diving in the world.

I was only BSAC and PADI OW when we first went there in 92 but had about 100 dives, 30 deco dives fro the cold waters in Europe, but it was really a case of get down there to 40m and sometimes 50m. I was comfortable with that but I can imagine many would not be.

We were on one of the many walls, I forget now, and the dive guide, a local, a DM I'm sure, had a ruptured hose at 40m. It was a LP to his second stage. He came bolting towards me, I offered my alternate and he waved and headed stright upwards towards the boat, breathing off his alternate. Not so spectacular bubble wise but interesting.

The next year, we were kitting up nad suddenly...POP BANG...o ring blows on someones tank. I said thank crivens that blew on the boat and not under water and someone asks why.......oh my god....it was me the previous year.

Palau is a stunning place and it can be a very very dangerous place to dive (pelileu) and add a few inexperienced divers, throw in high prices and turnover you're bound to have some incidents.

I always buy hoses rated to 400psi, stick clear of the cheap ones rated to 250psi.

boogey

 

[ParamedicDiver1]

...We made the decison not to ascend, but to return to the float and then ascend. This decision was made given due consideration to the length of time and amount of air available. The option of the long surface swim was available, but we would have been fighting the river current at the surface and ended up a long way from the entry point.


I have received some criticism for not surfacing as per the procedures outlined in the diving manual. We sometimes forget that blind adherence to procedures can lead to other hazardous situations.

I am not sure about other agencies, but SSI teaches that sometimes you and your buddy may have to buddy swim while sharing air under the surface for a while before you can safely surface. Examples cited are diving in a active surface traffic area or when the surface conditions are not favorable. Bottom line, you and your buddy had enough air, you did not panic, and you safely surfaced after safely buddy swimming under the surface. So you get a NICE JOB from me.

 

[2Tours N Iraq`]

Just for the record, my NAUI instructor also taught me the same thing about making a buddy swim sharing air. My hat goes off to NAUI for giving their instructors the latitude to increase the standard.

 

[scubapolly]

Thanks for the post Mars2u. You really showed the importance of keeping a cool head, and not panicking in a diving situation.
I like to use what a former instructor of mine calls the rule of six.
Once you have 6 things go wrong, no matter how minor you call the dive. Anytime you have that many "little" problems signals your mind, or the rest of your dive teams mind, just isn't in the game. I firmly belive this has saved my butt in the past.

 

[ExactFunctor]

"Dude, you're really going to want this since you've just disintegrated your O-ring".

I'm glad that everything turned out well...but in context this is probably the funniest sentence that I've read all morning. Awesome.

 

[ScoobaDoo]

Hello!
I am new to the Board and Diving. I would like to know how this could have been prevented? During my training we were taught to examine the O-ring. But I guess I either didn't pay close enough attention or I wasn't informed properly. Would there be any signs that it should be replaced? Before the dive, when the diver checked his tank and it looked ok then, then what would cause this to happen?
On my 9th dive, I watched a diver bolt from about 50 feet to the surface. She had logged over 50 dives and she claimed that her BC infalted on its own. We could hear her screaming though her regulator on her way up. The dive leader waited to make sure she was ok at the surface and then continued with us. They repaired a valve that had apparently gotten stuck and she dove again after our surface interval. I really want to learn as much as possible to prevent any accidents, although I know you always can't. The one thing I belive is that you must stay calm, STOP, THINK, ACT/REACT. Thank you for your story.
Good job!

 

[2Tours N Iraq`]

Just a learning point, I'm pretty certain the little mantra goes: stop, BREATHE, think, act. Additionally, I would like to point out, it isn't "react." Reacting isn't necessarily the best thing to do as it isn't always a logical thought process. Also, during the "act" phase I say to myself, "slow is smooth and smooth is fast." It's really cheesey but it works. By making your movements deliberately slow, you make them precise and you are not reacting and trying to force the results you want. Just some things that have saved my six o'clock in combat and made doing all my required skills in my OW cert a snap.