DM's drowned by students

[CamG]

Greetings robb I have dealt with several divers on their way to panic and both were easily controlled with proper technique and quick reaction.
One was handled with verbal commands then contact with a tow.
The other required physically taking control via tank cradle, establishing buoyancy, holding reg in, towing back to the boat!

It was as real of a scene as I have encountered and it was totally unsuspecting with a diver I had dove with many times.
When verbal commands are ignored you best be getting yourself in rescue mode!
If they have reached the flailing unseeing stage you want to approach them from below and or behind and use the cradle.
These are skills that you will learn in a Rescue Class that I would recommend taking.

It is not ever suggested in training to allow a panicked diver to drowned you thus you are trained to deal with them.
If your rescue training did not go over this I strongly suggest seeking more training!
The biggest advice I could offer is to be prepared if I had not been things would have gotten bad very quickly!
As a DM, Rescue diver you need to intervene and STOP the panic cycle before it turns into a full blown situation!

CamG Keep diving....Keep training....Keep learning!

 

[bracko]

Haven't been drown, but does getting punched count?

ha... I've had a girl refuse to acknowledge me for a few hours after i said she had floaty legs, even for a girl...

way to take it personally :/

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

While DM'ing recreational divers, I have stopped some from bolting, but that was it. I have watched the start of panic and have cut it off, and helped them sort out their anxiety and make a slow assent if they couldn't. I was climbed once at the surface by a tired diver who couldn't fight the current and needed help. I just kicked them off and sank down a bit, came back up away from them closer to the boat, and let them chase me to the drift line. It worked. Thankfully, nothing more serious.

 

[2 Big 2 Fail]

I am a physician, and you are correct. Not all drownings result in death.

In 27 years as a paramedic, I have never known drowning to be defined except as death resulting from immersion in liquid and near-drowning as the period of survival of circumstances that would otherwise constitute drowning, although CDC uses "drowning" in the general sense and "non-fatal drowning" for long-term survival near-drowning. It figures there's no agreement. I think the common usage in EMS is on account of the fundamental that they're not dead until the physician makes them dead, so unless medical control officially offs the patient enroute, it's "near-drowning" during treatment and transport.

 

[diverdoug1]

In 27 years as a paramedic, I have never known drowning to be defined except as death resulting from immersion in liquid and near-drowning as the period of survival of circumstances that would otherwise constitute drowning, although CDC uses "drowning" in the general sense and "non-fatal drowning" for long-term survival near-drowning. It figures there's no agreement. I think the common usage in EMS is on account of the fundamental that they're not dead until the physician makes them dead, so unless medical control officially offs the patient enroute, it's "near-drowning" during treatment and transport.

During my career I have treated a number of drowning victims, and sadly, most did not survie, but some did. In fact, I golfed 9 holes with one last week.

 

[TSandM]

It has previously been the medical definition that drowning implied fatality, but since it leads to a great deal of confusion, it appears that that is changing -- at least according to the last couple of CME things I've seen on the subject.

 

[divermike1011]

No one has tried to drown me thus far in my DM internships, only had a problem with a panicked diver once, and it was long before I started DM. I was very lucky, and managed to get myself and my panicking buddy safely to the surface, but it's not something I'd ever want to do again. I don't have a lot of experience with students / clients, but it is something I think about (the panicking not the being drowned) before every dive I do now and I talk myself through ways to both spot and mitigate problems before they arise and what I will do if something goes sideways.

The incident with the panicked buddy led me to start asking a LOT more questions about my recreational dive buddies then I ever did before (such as have you ever dived in the ocean? deeper then 30 feet? in current? etc. etc.).

Michael