"Spare Air" - Experience in its use
- Thread starter scubaseeker
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Ok, some serious questions from an inquiring mind:
What are the added risks associated with having these Absence Seizures underwater?
I generally always breathe harder after a seizure, with some being the natural anxiety that goes with them, and some being deep controlled breathing as I regain my composure. I know what *can* happen, which is why I take precautions. It's important to understand that the type of seizure that I have is rarely ever noticible by anyone else... Most of the time they are so slight that I barely even detect them.
Is there a chance of loss of consciousness as a result of a seizure (even for a second or two)?
Rapid breathing and disorientation may occur, but never unconcioussness. I may lose a blip in time that is a fraction of a second, and in an absolute worst case scenario could lose a couple of seconds of time but I have never once experienced that.
Is there a chance of a seizure causing your regulator to escape from your mouth?
Not the type that I have.
How does a 19cf Pony Bottle (which includes a separate Regulator) address the problem better than using a larger tank? Seems less gear would be better so if you just need 19cf more air why not buy a couple of 100cf tanks?
I'm planning to do just that next year, but obviously diving doubles is a whole different element which requires a lot of extra gear. For now, the 19cf is just fine and God forbid I should ever need it, it's right there at the ready rather than having to burn my buddy's air and potentially place him/her at risk.
As a diabetic diver I know what the concerns of my condition are and how to ensure I'm diving safely. I also make sure my buddies understand that I'm diabetic, where my glucose tablets are kept and what to do in case I start acting "unusual" or become unresponsive.
Exactly -- Just because we have medical conditions that others don't understand, doesn't mean that WE don't understand and take the necesasry steps to cover all of the necessary bases... This past weekend I did a lot of "shared water" solo diving, because my buddy was unable to equalize and therefore unable to dive. Hell, he's the healthy one!
-Tim
What are the added risks associated with having these Absence Seizures underwater?
I generally always breathe harder after a seizure, with some being the natural anxiety that goes with them, and some being deep controlled breathing as I regain my composure. I know what *can* happen, which is why I take precautions. It's important to understand that the type of seizure that I have is rarely ever noticible by anyone else... Most of the time they are so slight that I barely even detect them.
Is there a chance of loss of consciousness as a result of a seizure (even for a second or two)?
Rapid breathing and disorientation may occur, but never unconcioussness. I may lose a blip in time that is a fraction of a second, and in an absolute worst case scenario could lose a couple of seconds of time but I have never once experienced that.
Is there a chance of a seizure causing your regulator to escape from your mouth?
Not the type that I have.
How does a 19cf Pony Bottle (which includes a separate Regulator) address the problem better than using a larger tank? Seems less gear would be better so if you just need 19cf more air why not buy a couple of 100cf tanks?
I'm planning to do just that next year, but obviously diving doubles is a whole different element which requires a lot of extra gear. For now, the 19cf is just fine and God forbid I should ever need it, it's right there at the ready rather than having to burn my buddy's air and potentially place him/her at risk.
As a diabetic diver I know what the concerns of my condition are and how to ensure I'm diving safely. I also make sure my buddies understand that I'm diabetic, where my glucose tablets are kept and what to do in case I start acting "unusual" or become unresponsive.
Exactly -- Just because we have medical conditions that others don't understand, doesn't mean that WE don't understand and take the necesasry steps to cover all of the necessary bases... This past weekend I did a lot of "shared water" solo diving, because my buddy was unable to equalize and therefore unable to dive. Hell, he's the healthy one!
-Tim
TheScubaBOB
Contributor
Tim,
First thank you for the answers, I think most divers associate convulsions & regulator loss with the word Seizure. I know I did, even after reading about it on the internet I wasn't sure if there were serious enough convulsions to cause you to drop your regulator.
Now, regarding my question about the pony bottle over a larger tank... When I mentioned a couple of 100cf tanks I wasn't thinking of doubles. I assumed you dive standard rental tanks which are AL80s so if you simply purchased a 100ct tank or two (so you don't need to hike for air after every single dive) then you would be carrying the same amount of air without the extra gear to wrangle and I've yet to find a place that charges more to fill a 100 than to fill an 80. Additionally HP100 Steel tanks can be got used for around the same cost as the pony setup.
First thank you for the answers, I think most divers associate convulsions & regulator loss with the word Seizure. I know I did, even after reading about it on the internet I wasn't sure if there were serious enough convulsions to cause you to drop your regulator.
Now, regarding my question about the pony bottle over a larger tank... When I mentioned a couple of 100cf tanks I wasn't thinking of doubles. I assumed you dive standard rental tanks which are AL80s so if you simply purchased a 100ct tank or two (so you don't need to hike for air after every single dive) then you would be carrying the same amount of air without the extra gear to wrangle and I've yet to find a place that charges more to fill a 100 than to fill an 80. Additionally HP100 Steel tanks can be got used for around the same cost as the pony setup.
halocline
Contributor
My earlier comment had nothing to with your medical condition. Rolling off a right hand valve, if that's what you did, requires a VERY tight constriction. You almost have to be moving backwards to do it. Any diver that puts himself in that situation with no serious overhead training and without the right gear and team effort is asking for trouble. This is especially true for a new diver.
If you find the right cavern/cave instructor, I suspect (hope) that your respect for the danger of overhead diving will increase. Otherwise, seizures or not, you likely won't be doing it long. I almost never post statements like this, and in general I do think that many SB posters over-dramatize the danger of diving, but I have to say that I'm a little surprised more people have not jumped on you for you description of rolling off a right hand tank valve due to overhead restrictions a few months after being certified.
Maybe something else caused your tank valve to close, like possibly you didn't have it open very far from the beginning of the dive.
If you find the right cavern/cave instructor, I suspect (hope) that your respect for the danger of overhead diving will increase. Otherwise, seizures or not, you likely won't be doing it long. I almost never post statements like this, and in general I do think that many SB posters over-dramatize the danger of diving, but I have to say that I'm a little surprised more people have not jumped on you for you description of rolling off a right hand tank valve due to overhead restrictions a few months after being certified.
Maybe something else caused your tank valve to close, like possibly you didn't have it open very far from the beginning of the dive.
Rather than commenting on something that you clearly know absolutely nothing about, how about taking the time to LEARN before you speak..? If either of you had paid any attention a page back where another person commented on the seizures and then did his homework to discover that there are many different types, you both made assinine assumptions. Hence, I could personally conclude from this that you're both too stupid to be diving, but I since I don't know either of you or anything about you (other than 1 of you being a DM that should certainly know better than to make stupid assumptions about something that you quite obviously know absolutely nothing about), I would never do so!
-Tim
If YOU had paid any attention,I asked a simple question, and you answered it and then chose to go on into your rant. :baby:
Hemiplegic Migraines causing Absense Seizures... I'm PADI certified through a local shop and I answered the medical form completely and truthfully, then included a medical signoff from my physician who also happens to be a diver.
I knowingly accepted the potential for added risk that I face, and then took the initiative to plan accordingly by carrying a 19cf Pony with a completely redundant set of regs. This next year I plan to get into full doubles. I have not and will not ever dive with someone without first making them fully aware of my condition, and then giving them an opportunity to decline diving with me... I was a wilderness guide for several years, and know better than most that communication is key. I also know that we have to be able to at all times be in a position to "self rescue", which is why I carry the Pony.
Rather than commenting on something that you clearly know absolutely nothing about, how about taking the time to LEARN before you speak..? If either of you had paid any attention a page back where another person commented on the seizures and then did his homework to discover that there are many different types, you both made assinine assumptions. Hence, I could personally conclude from this that you're both too stupid to be diving, but I since I don't know either of you or anything about you (other than 1 of you being a DM that should certainly know better than to make stupid assumptions about something that you quite obviously know absolutely nothing about), I would never do so!
-Tim
Tim, let me know once you have contacted DAN and enlightened them on this, since you are clearly an expert. I look forward to an upcoming magazine which outlines which types of seizures are OK to have underwater and how people who have not attended medical school can differentiate those from the types that can kill underwater. In particular, I am really looking forward to the quotes and guest articles from you that will be in that issue.
DevonDiver
N/A
I agree. Apart from the qualified MDs in the board, it is grossly unfair to speculate about medical conditions.
Thanks for sharing the info on seizures... it's nice to learn something new.
I must admit, that I would also have normally associated the word seizure with an unfitness to dive. I might still do that, even with your type of seizure for certain types of diving.
For instance, I would want an expert (diving medicine doctor) opinion on the issue before I took someone technical/overhead diving with that condition....and I would want to know the exact implications of the condition, not just a 'ticked box saying fit to dive'. That's because my safety would be in your hands on the dive.
From the perspective as an instructor...or even as a potential buddy... I would always make the assumption in the worst case scenario (unfit to dive) and the onus would be on the diver concerned to prove otherwise.
Similar threads
