Scary OW certification weekend

[flots am]

I am extremely surprised that you managed to drain a tank with a failure on the HP line.

Yep.

It's not especially relevant to the injury, but being OOA had very little to do with the HP leak. There is a tiny (pinhole) orfice in the HP hose fitting where it attaches to the regulator. Draining the tank from a HP leak takes a really long time even if the hose is cut right off in the middle.

Everybody involved should have kept a better eye on the tank pressure.

flots.

 

[SnorkelLA]

i'm not singling you out, i just don't have the time to get all the posts that assume the story is true and blame the instructor

IMO we should refrain from name calling, insulting and laying blame on the instructor until we find out with certainty that the OP's story is indeed true, there's always two sides to a story and we haven't heard the other yet

That's why I put "From reading this thread, I've come up with the following". But, it's also the OP's LIFE we're talking about; this type of thing is something that needs to be reported to the respective agency. Any instructor that just allows a student to get back in the water after what is certain to be a lung overexpansion injury should not be instructing.

I put the first sentence there as a bit of a disclaimer that what I wrote ONLY comes from reading the thread, assuming everything in the thread is true and not exaggerated.

Sorry if I was vague, probably should have put a bit more of a disclaimer, who knows, there could be more to the story than we know. I just hope the OP is still healthy and around now to answer any questions

 

[TwoBitTxn]

The first mishap happened on our first dive Saturday. We were about 40ft down were after we demonstrated our 7 basic skills we took a tour around the hole. I was cruising around enjoying myself when i decided to check my depth and see how much air i had used. When i grab my guage to look at it all of a sudden air starts spewing where the hose attaches to the SPG. I grab my instructors attention, and show him what was happening. He tried to fix it underwater but was unable to. I was quickly losing all my air! My SPG showed i had about 500 psi left. Instructor signaled everyone to start going up. I ended up having to air share with my instructor, and we went up to the surface after making a safety stop. When we got back up my air tank was completely dry.

This section is garnering some attention. To a new diver, the profuse bubbles from a leak like this really would seem like all their air is going in a hurry. So, at 40 feet and 500 psi he develops a high pressure leak. He then states he is sharing air with his instructor and they do a (lets assume here) 3 minute safety stop. I know he doesn't state how long, but I think it's a safe assumption. I think it's reasonable to approximate 4-6 minutes from noticing the leak at 40 feet to surface. Air tank completely dry? Maybe not. Air not hissing rapidly from the blown o-ring at the SPG giving the appearance of a totally empty tank? Possible?

I've seen Kurt Bowen's study. I've seen the Scuba Toys videos on You Tube. I'm not going to pile on with regards to the rest of this dramatic story.

 

[nimoh]

That's why I put "From reading this thread, I've come up with the following"

I put that there as a bit of a disclaimer that what I wrote ONLY comes from reading the thread, assuming everything in the thread is true and not exaggerated.

Sorry if I was vague, probably should have put a bit more of a disclaimer

I think everyone who posted intended the same disclaimer, t4e just grabbed yours as an example. I agree with t4e, that name calling should be avoided and blame should be deferred until all the facts are in.

---------- Post added ----------

This section is garnering some attention. To a new diver, the profuse bubbles from a leak like this really would seem like all their air is going in a hurry. So, at 40 feet and 500 psi he develops a high pressure leak. He then states he is sharing air with his instructor and they do a (lets assume here) 3 minute safety stop. I know he doesn't state how long, but I think it's a safe assumption. I think it's reasonable to approximate 4-6 minutes from noticing the leak at 40 feet to surface. Air tank completely dry? Maybe not. Air not hissing rapidly from the blown o-ring at the SPG giving the appearance of a totally empty tank? Possible?

I've seen Kurt Bowen's study. I've seen the Scuba Toys videos on You Tube. I'm not going to pile on with regards to the rest of this dramatic story.

when the OP was at 500psi, then noticed a leak, it likely scared the crap out of them causing heavy breathing while trying to get the instructors attention. The OP may have breathed the tank down to almost nothing, then, while sharing air to the surface, the HP leak took care of the last little bit.

Now, I'm not saying this is what happened, I wasn't there. Just trying to present a scenario that may support the OP's story. It was probably a traumatic event for the OP and I would expect some facts to get mixed up. That being said, I have no suggestion to support that it is a good idea to go back in the water after coughing up blood

 

[dfx]

when the OP was at 500psi, then noticed a leak, it likely scared the crap out of them causing heavy breathing while trying to get the instructors attention. The OP may have breathed the tank down to almost nothing, then, while sharing air to the surface, the HP leak took care of the last little bit.

Of course, with the SPG blown, there was no way of knowing how much pressure was really left in the tank.

 

[nimoh]

Of course, with the SPG blown, there was no way of knowing how much pressure was really left in the tank.

unless it stops leaking

 

[DanLW]

It's probably going to be a while before the OP gets back to us if he heeded our advice. He'll probably be in the hospital for a little while if what really happened is as serious as it sounded in the post. I'd love to hear more of this story. If what really happened is as serious as how we're all reading this, action must be taken.

 

[silvana]

instructor turns off your air, and you swim like crazy to the surface, and manually inflate your BC.

Oh my god. I love my instructor.

 

[Laurie S.]

In my SSI OW class, we had our air turned off and had to go to the surface, but it was done in the deep end of the swimming pool.

 

[RonFrank]

I was certified at BH and know most of the instructors at the shops in ABQ. I do not think any instructor would knowingly allow an OW student to continue diving after a pulmonary type of incident. I think it best to wait until the facts are in rather than more speculation.