Thinking about the "what ifs"

[sbrooks]

The "What If's?" are always on the minds of (most) divers - and rightly so. Diving, like other sports, has an inherent risk ... Maybe more, and maybe less that other "extreme sports" ... Accidents/incidents/fatalities do occur. It would be quite a feat to stop all accidents. Comparable to driving: it may not be you that gets in the accident - its the other guy that gets in the accident with you; everytime you drive on the road, there is a risk that you will get into an accident. Similar to diving, proper knowledge, training, maintenance, and not exceeding your own personal boundaries are some of the best ways to avoid risk. Let me say again, AVOID risk. There is always the CHANCE that something will happen - I don't think anyone can argue against that. Taking all the precautions is the most we can do.
All we, as divers, can do is minimize the risk and enjoy our sport.

 

[SparticleBrane]

One thing that helps cover the "what-ifs" is to go pick up and read some DAN accident reports--get several years' worth and just peruse through them. Most of the stupid crap that someone can do on scuba is right there. They're great to help ward off complacency.
I'll guarantee you that none of the people in a DAN accident report wanted to be there...but they are nonetheless. Use them as examples of what not to do.

 

[The Horn]

Outside of diving my job is a whole bunch of what ifs and contingency plans. This carries over into diving and other aspects of life as well. Attention to detail is a big issue and "fix it now...properly" BEFORE it becomes a problem.

I was on a drift dive...first one in some fast current.....unexpected serious effort to move across the bottom hand over hand to the drift release point so burnt a bit of air. Dive plane was to go around twice coming back on the Eddy. Went around and back up the Eddy and then crawled out to the release point: This was gut check time

Whats air like...iffy, situation...potential dangerous due to iffy air (68 foot depth)......group of divers gradually getting out of visual range.

I picked the closesest diver and signalled I was bailing and compass navigated back to the dock. Came up with 700 PSI and safely back. Less experienced diver had an OOW 3/4 of the way around and surfaced further away and really flustered.

His "what if" wasn't firing on all cylinders and (rightly so) was really angry with himself. A valuable lesson was learned

 

[1_T_Submariner]

Training, Practice, Preperation and Attitude go a long way in overcoming the "what if's". When I was on Subamarines we used to drill and drill and then drill again. Most of the new guy's (Me included) complained about the continuous drilling, up for days with little sleep/food etc... You get the point. The crew gets to the point of fatigue etc.. that what they are doing is natural. Most don't appreciate how valuable this training is until soemthing happens. I have experienced a Fire and Flooding underwater and afterwards during debriefing it is just amazing that everyone performed just as we had been trained, practiced and prepared. If the mechanics of what to do are second nature it is much easier to figure out when to use them.

 

[Gary D.]

"What ifs" are good things to keep running through your head as long as they don't become over powering. Most will start "What ifs" when they start planning a dive or dive trip.

But, how many "what if" the trip to the dive site? There are more potential problems getting to the dive than on the dive itself. Then add a passenger who preoccupies you a bit. Then there is the driver’s best friend, the cell phone.

If people put as much thought into their trip to the site as they do once they get to the site we would live in a much safer world.

Gary D.

 

[Cacia]

Although I always ask myself in that fleeting moment, before a dive "What is the most likely way I could screw myself?...and have a plan for that, I tend to put my diving in a larger hierarchy of risks in my life.

I personally don't carry an extra mask, frankly, because I think I am much more likely to get hit by a car on my bike....etc, etc.

I did buy a EPIRB and that used up all my safety effort for a while.

I don't want to get so "task-oriented" about safety that I miss the big picture. What are the things that are REALLY most likely to get me? Cancer, heart attack, car accident...so I try to focus on that stuff and let the redundancy for all things go. because...you can, drive yourself nuts.

Two lights, two knives, two divers, two tanks...gosh, now Dennis feels he needs two
cameras! Kidding...kind of. I believe when I feel a compulsion to attend to every contingency, it is a diminished return.

I know DIR divers (here on Oahu) that are religous about their gear and drive around on bald tires, with shot suspension and drink like fish, but have everything in the correct pocket. Sometimes, it is just better to focus elsewhere, it can get a little neurotic. Unless you are doing 150+ and caves...of course.

I am pretty comfortable going into a wreck and sizing up the silt factor without having a concrete rule to pull out a line in every circumstance. Could I miscalculate? I am sure the answer is yes...but how likely? Has not happened yet, but I have been hit by two drunk drivers. So I am more likely to stay off the road on July 4 than carry two of anything on a dive.

On the other hand, if you find attention to detail an exciting mental challenge..that is entirely different. Then it becomes sort of a challenging game. But if the what ifs/ and their contingencies are an honest desire to cheat death, then I think the effort is better spent staying fit or eating healthy or any number of other things.

For the depths I dive. And I don't go over 140 or so ever.

If people put as much thought into their trip to the site as they do once they get to the site we would live in a much safer world.

Gary, right on.....I know people that smoke that tell me to carry a pony bottle.
And I just don't know what to say to that sort of thing, except "are you processing this world at all?"

 

[PaulChristenson]

I did buy a EPIRB and that used up all my safety effort for a while.

Yeah...I understand you will be getting the battery for it real soon now...

 

[KMD]

Probably some of the best learning for dealing with the What Ifs is in controlled stress situations. When the instructor is consiously stressing the divers to determine how they rightly and wrongly react and then discussing the solutions with the divers afterwards.


Thinking about What Ifs dont stop when you reach the water. It can be something as simple as, "What if the buddy I have been following for 25 minutes turns to be and signals 'I have no idea where we are, which way to the boat?'" to something as scary as, "What if my buddy O-toxes in the first few minutes of our deco?"

 

[TSandM]

I think a lot of us DO think about the what ifs when we're driving. We buy cars with seatbelts and airbags, and ABS braking systems. We pay attention to tire tread and we fix burned out taillights. And there are some people who don't . . . Who drive on bald tires and worn-out brakes.

And there are some people who are conscientious about their gear and keep their emergency procedures sharp and fresh, and who do their planning, and there are those who do 200 foot bounce dives with no deep training.

All I want to do with a thread like this is maybe persuade some other divers -- new or experienced -- to examine how they think about the dives they do, and the preparation they have for those dives, and the equipment they have for those dives, and whether all of that adds up to a good risk-benefit ratio for those dives.

At the end of three intense days of training for wreck penetration, the instructor looked at the four of us and asked, "Do you guys feel like you're ready to go penetrate a wreck now?" And four sets of heads shook vehemently. What three days of training DID was to show us the dangers we might not have thought about, and how utterly horrible it would be to be trapped inside a wreck in zero viz, trying to do a lights-out exit with the skills we have.

Too bad we can't simulate being out of air at depth as easily as being blind on a line.

 

[NJScubaDoc]

I think a large portion of managing the scope of those "what if" scenarios is staying within your comfort zone. Last summer I would not even hazard to penetrate the wrecks that I frequently dive here in New Jersey. After getting a number of dives under my belt, fine tuning my buoyancy, and a very pleasent experience with wreck penetration while diving the St. Lawrence, my comfort zone expanded to where I was ok with penetrating.

With that being said I'd like to share a story...
2 weeks ago I was out diving on an artifical reef, about 3-4 miles off the coast of central NJ, beautiful day, seas may have actually been in the negatives it was so flat, and the sun was shining. We tied into The Rockland County, a river faring tug that had been sunk as part of the NJ Artifical Reef Program. Viz was in the 10-15 foot range, temps in the high 50s, plenty of natural light on the wreck, which lies in roughly 75fsw. I made my first dive, penetrated the wreck succesfully without incident. I was nearing the end of my second dive, had roughly 1300 PSI left in a 95 cu ft tank. I had had my fill of this particular site and decided to get going when out of the corner of my eye I saw a blackfish that looked as though it'd been left over from the mesozoic era...it was huge. I quickly took chase, speargun in hand, as he went behind a staircase and over an old electrical unit. I had passed this space a couple times before on this and the previous dive and avoided it because it presented the possibility for entranglement (some old wiring was hanging down and some rebar was collapsing) This time, despite the little voice that said otherwise, I chased this fish over this spot and bam, I got stuck. I tried to wiggle free but made no progress. At this point a bunch of what ifs started buzzing through my mind. I didn't have a buddy with me (save the flames, its a choice I make, and one I'm comfortable with) and I was lower on air then I would like to be. I did have my nice fat pony, but that wasn't going to do me much good if I didn't get free. My mantra when diving, as reflected by my avatar, is don't panic. When I realized I couldn't wiggle myself free I did just that. I kept my cool and thought back to my open water training. Think through the entanglement. I could feel that I was hooked on the first stage of my pony reg. I didn't hesitate to doff my kit, which freed me up. I gave a slight push and I was out of this sticky spot (Ideally I would've like to backfin out, but I can't quite get that skill down yet...anyone have any tips please PM me!). After I was freed I had roughly 700 PSI left, I like to make my ascent with 1000, but it was fairly shallow and I had my pony if things got dicey. They didn't, did my halfway stop and my safety hang and everything turned out well. Definately was one of those situations that makes you think, what if it didn't turn out so well, but I'm glad I had good training and did what I had to do. Oh, and I didn't get the fish either....heheh