I would like to explore one of the items mentioned previously and lead to what I think is the biggest problem new divers face.
Let's start with running out of air.
Interestingly enough, running our of air itself is not what usually causes the problem--it is what happens next.
Many new divers run out of air when they first start to do deeper dives and and don't realize how fast they go through their air. As you learned in your OW class, if you go to 100 feet, you will go through your tank in about half the time you did at 33 feet. New divers are often surprised by that, and they are shocked when they finally look at a gauge and see how low they are or, worse, feel their regulator suddenly getting very hard to breathe.
So we have an emergency, but it is what happens next that matters.
Hopefully that diver has stayed near a buddy and can get help. It is important to remember that once an alternate air source is obtained, the emergency is really over. Check your buddy's air to make sure there is enough for the two of you and make a calm, controlled ascent together. There is no reason to make a panicked claw to the surface now. A panicked claw to the surface is more dangerous than the OOA emergency was to begin with.
But what if you made another beginner error and strayed too far from your buddy? The tendency is to make a panicked sprint for the surface, perhaps holding your breath. That breath-holding sprint to the surface is the most dangerous thing in scuba. If you read the DAN fatality reports, you will see that an embolism is a leading cause of death, and embolisms are born of such actions.
Depending upon which agency certified you, you were probably taught to do a CESA, and you should have been taught that it can and should be done from recreational depths in a calm and controlled manner, exhaling all the way. You may not have been taught that your tank is not actually out of air. The problem is that the regulator must deliver it at more than the pressure you are under from the water at your depth. As you ascend to less water pressure, your regulator will be able to give you some air. Finally, even if you lost the tank and had absolutely nothing in your lungs or nothing to breathe, there is enough oxygen in your blood to get you to the surface without breathing.
Thus, even in the worst OOA scenario in open water, there is no reason to panic. You will get to the surface and all of its air just fine, assuming you don't lose control and make that panicked, breathless, embolism-inducing sprint.
Once you are on the surface, the problem is not over. There have been several stories recently of divers reaching the surface in just such a situation, panicking because they could not inflate their BCD with their inflator, and then submerging because they could not stay afloat. Once again, you were taught everything you need to know in your OW class to avoid this:
- If that is happening to you, then you were overweighted from the start. A diver with an empty tank should float easily on the surface with minimal to no swimming effort. If you have done a proper weight check before diving, this cannot happen to you.
- You can easily inflate your BCD orally. You should have had to do that several times in your pool sessions and at least once in your OW certification dives.
- You can drop your weights. If you drop your weights while wearing normal OW gear, you will not be able to sink, even if you try.
In summary, the most significant problem a new diver faces comes when he or she panics in an emergency and forgets all that training received while certifying. Panic is your greatest enemy.
