Should I be dead? (Last night's dive)
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ZenSquirrel
Guest
So how did you get so tangled up in line? I'm curious because
I dive this site and don't want any fish hooks in me.
SCDiver
Contributor
DOH!! Thanks Uncle Pug I completely overlooked that statement...
"Should I be dead? (Last night's dive)" ~ Yes, probably... and if you don't correct what I am about to tell you... and you continue to dive... you probably will be a *diving accident statistic* one of these days (or nights.)
I'll leave out the details of the ascent as they have already been addressed. Lots of folks have made these mistakes... and most lived. Your real problem is something much more serious.
You exhibited exteme passivity when faced with a potential emergency. I say potential because it wasn't an emergency until your passivity turned it into an emergency.
Upon seeing that you only had 500psi you communicated to your buddy that you needed to surface (no emergency yet)... but instead of doing so you passively took your buddy's octopus thus putting you both in jeopardy.
Upon reaching the surface you reacted out of fear... your reaction was further evidence of your passivity in letting the event control you instead of the other way around... and of course the choice to dump your buoyancy was totally wrong and pushed the event further into an emerging emergency.
This is where your passivity really becomes glaringly apparent.
With 500 psi still in your tank... you go blank. You can't remember because you were totally passive... the mouse in the cat's mouth.
You stated that on the way back down:
"IF I had gotten any kind of signal to put my own reg back in, I would have been forced back into operation mode and been able to assess my situation."
You were so totally paralyzed by passivity that you could not even think for yourself! (You actually seem to be blaming your buddies' lack of telling you what to do as part of the problem... denial, while predictable, is not a promising sign.)
My prediction is that you will indeed die during a scuba diving related *accident* unless 1) you quit diving or 2) deal with your inclination to become passive under pressure and instead learn to become proactive in taking charge of the situation.
I don't know if it will be possible for you to convert from passive/regressive to active/assertive... but my assessment is that this is the crucial matter.
I don't mean to be unkind but I must be forthright... ignore, rationalize or argue this at your own peril.
I'll leave out the details of the ascent as they have already been addressed. Lots of folks have made these mistakes... and most lived. Your real problem is something much more serious.
You exhibited exteme passivity when faced with a potential emergency. I say potential because it wasn't an emergency until your passivity turned it into an emergency.
Upon seeing that you only had 500psi you communicated to your buddy that you needed to surface (no emergency yet)... but instead of doing so you passively took your buddy's octopus thus putting you both in jeopardy.
Upon reaching the surface you reacted out of fear... your reaction was further evidence of your passivity in letting the event control you instead of the other way around... and of course the choice to dump your buoyancy was totally wrong and pushed the event further into an emerging emergency.
This is where your passivity really becomes glaringly apparent.
With 500 psi still in your tank... you go blank. You can't remember because you were totally passive... the mouse in the cat's mouth.
You stated that on the way back down:
"IF I had gotten any kind of signal to put my own reg back in, I would have been forced back into operation mode and been able to assess my situation."
You were so totally paralyzed by passivity that you could not even think for yourself! (You actually seem to be blaming your buddies' lack of telling you what to do as part of the problem... denial, while predictable, is not a promising sign.)
My prediction is that you will indeed die during a scuba diving related *accident* unless 1) you quit diving or 2) deal with your inclination to become passive under pressure and instead learn to become proactive in taking charge of the situation.
I don't know if it will be possible for you to convert from passive/regressive to active/assertive... but my assessment is that this is the crucial matter.
I don't mean to be unkind but I must be forthright... ignore, rationalize or argue this at your own peril.
I must agree with UP on this one.
You must keep trying to sort out the problem and LIVE right up to the point that the problem is solved or you are actually dead.
I used to fly hang gliders. Part of the training is how to use the reserve parachute. The shop I used most had seminars every 6 months (repack time for unused chutes) on chute deployment including deployment in a simulator, instruction by people who had used their chutes for real and a professional repack.
One of the instructors told the story of one time he broke his glider in flight. The first try to deploy failed as the chute didn't come out of the deployment bag. Following procedure he yanked on the line again and again untill the chute was in his hand again and threw it again. He repeated this action three times and the chute opened on the third throw. The chute inflated less than 2 seconds from impact.
Had he given up or stopped trying (even for a moment) he would have been severly hurt at least.
He told us, "Keep trying until you wake up in the hospital, or dead. If it works you will know it because you are still in one piece."
Never give up!
You must keep trying to sort out the problem and LIVE right up to the point that the problem is solved or you are actually dead.
I used to fly hang gliders. Part of the training is how to use the reserve parachute. The shop I used most had seminars every 6 months (repack time for unused chutes) on chute deployment including deployment in a simulator, instruction by people who had used their chutes for real and a professional repack.
One of the instructors told the story of one time he broke his glider in flight. The first try to deploy failed as the chute didn't come out of the deployment bag. Following procedure he yanked on the line again and again untill the chute was in his hand again and threw it again. He repeated this action three times and the chute opened on the third throw. The chute inflated less than 2 seconds from impact.
Had he given up or stopped trying (even for a moment) he would have been severly hurt at least.
He told us, "Keep trying until you wake up in the hospital, or dead. If it works you will know it because you are still in one piece."
Never give up!
At that time, vis in Travis was pretty good, 40+', until you got down to about 90'. Then it closed in and there was a severe thermocline.
We were recovering a float anchor and bomb we used for teaching recovery. Some students had taken the bomb out too far and unclipped it from its lift bag. The bomb, filled with rocks, embedded itself about 2' into the silt in the midst of the pecan trees. This pecan grove is from before the dam was built.
There are some large, and I mean large, stripers and catfish living down there. So it was a popular fishing spot when divers were not around. Remeber, this was 10-12 years ago when divers weren't there everyday.
The trees were littered with fishing line, hooks, lures, sinkers. We didn't realize how bad due to the low vis, then it got worse from trying to attach the lift bag, dig mud away. We were using a seperate tank for filling the lift bag. Trying to guide the bag/bomb out of the branches, it got to be a nasty situation.
Don Brode's became the site of choice after that. Love feeding the catfish on the house boat.
Right, this is what I call a dangerous post. The kind of commercial diving referred to here is called "bursting bladder diving" when literally translated from spanish. It's commonly used by coral hunters in the Med.
Before you all go off hollering at me, NO!, I'm not a coral hunter. I know some licenced ones though.
If ever you want to see what deep air diving does to people, go talk to these guys. Permanently glassy eyes, shaking, speech impediments,...
In water recompression isn't even advisable in real emergencies. Far, far better just to administer oxygen and call for help and a medivac.
Please, do us all a favour: read up on the theory, take a couple of courses (the DAN courses would be advisable) and forget about comparing commercial and military diving to rec diving. Us regular divers simply don't have the same physical condition as those guys.
And please, never, ever forget that tables and computers are theoretical models. Most of them have no connection whatsoever to reality.
Heck, we don't even know for sure what the mechanism behind DCI really is. If you don't believe me, check the european issue of Diver's Alert Magazine (3rd quarter 2003).
Damselfish
Contributor
that post did mention he was going on a business trip for a couple days...
I missed this while reading the thread.
Seems like asemili recognized his/her passivity (but doesn't nail it as the problem.)
So... for the rest of you folks... how would you deal with a buddy who's SOP is to go limp and let you save the day?
Perhaps he has unusualy large eustacian(sp?) tubes?
It could possibly account for some of what he's describing.
Some lucky people can equalize very easily just my moving their jaw. Others have to work at it and use the valsalva (hold nose and blow gently) to equalize.
My cousin is in her mid thirtys and still gets childhood type earaches due to the tubes never fully developing properly. She has no desire to dive and tries to avoid any water getting in her ears at all. She HATES flying as her ears don't clear easily no mater what she does.
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