That initial "oh god" moment.

[Storker]

I am not allowed to drive the boat anymore.

I wonder why...

 

[Diver0001]

Christ R. That's some crazy ****..
I think being trapped would feel worse,


Rocky

I found both of those experiences frightening after it was over. However, in my case, when stuff happens like this my brain goes into extreme puzzle solving mode and I don't feel any emotions until after it's over. Not only on scuba. It happens to me during any kind of emergency.

The only time I ever had the thought during a dive that I wasn't going to make it was during a rescue exercise. I was playing the victim and lying on the bottom in about 10m of water waiting to be "rescued". When the rescuer found me he was alone (as I said before, in the 80's we didn't care as much about silly things like safety protocol).

I was laying face down and when he rolled me over to lift me he knocked my regulator out of my mouth. I actually did have an octopus. By the mid 80's they were fairly common. However, the idea of actually attaching it where you could find it had not taken hold yet and it was behind my shoulder somewhere... along with my primary.

The rescuer then proceeded to carry out the most unusual lift you've ever seen..... actually it's a lift you used to see in first-aid books at the time but it wasn't the protocol his instructor taught him. He basically slung me over his back with my chest to his back and my arms extended over his shoulders. He had a good grip on me and started ascending.

I didn't have a regulator and I didn't have a hand free at that point. Initially I thought I would just sing it out and we'd be on the surface in a few moments. Students usually surface way too fast.... except this one.....

He took his bloody time. about 1/2 way to the surface, I started having serious doubts as to whether or not I could hold on. I started pulling an arm free to look for my reg but the harder I tried to get an arm away, the harder he held me. After the fact he said he thought it was a challenge associated to the exercise.

At no point did a voice in my head say, "oh God"... more like "sort this out or die".

so I let myself go limp and as soon as I felt his grip on my arms loosen I RIPPED my right arm away and used it to spin him around. Initially I opened my mouth and pointed to the opening where my reg should be and then tore the reg out of his mouth (demonstrating just how calm and collected I was at that moment) and put in mine. No standard signs, no standard protocols but pretty clear communication, if I do say so myself. LOL

This led to us buddy breathing (something we were taught in OW at the time) and surfacing like that.

Nobody got hurt but it did tell me one thing about myself. I'm pretty sure I have a breaking point at which I can panic. In fact, I'm pretty sure everyone has such a breaking point. I'm happy to know, however, that my breaking point and the point at which I die from not being able to solve the problem are probably only seconds apart.

R..

 

[CamG]

I can appreciate your comments about breaking points!
Had several OOA situations that are very poignant reminders of keep your training fresh and ready!
I had a buddy shut my air of at 45' to see how I would react.
I did what Iwas trained to do, signaled and retrieved his alternate.
What he did not factor in was that his alternate reg was a POS and leaked horribly with a very short hose.
It appeared as I was breast feeding from him.

Humorous now not so much at the time.
It lead to a serious situation that was handled very adult wise.
He went on to be one of the most trusted buddies I ever dove with.

The key to survival is separated only by the thread of cognitive control.
Once you loose control a minor insignificant emergency can kill you.
Panic is a term used once all cognitive control is gone and only a un-rational response is demonstrated.
Once a diver reaches this state they are incredibly dangerous and have taken many helpers with them.
I have been around a fair number of divers who when failures took place kept their cool, followed their training, worked a solution as they exited the dive.
These are the ones I choose to do serious dives with the ones who will be able to handle the stress that can occur on bigger dives.

Everyone has a breaking point and when it happens as Diver0001 pointed out the difference is how long before it leads to panic.
Im reminded of the the story of a recovery of a incredible diver who had catastrophic gas failure, as he turned and swam toward the exit he ran out of gas. He was found less than 100' from the exit.
All of his gear was in place, no mask off, no signs of a struggle, he was working the problem till he passed out drowning.
This is the portrait of a diver when faced with impossible odds refused to give up to panic but fought till the last millisecond.
Thats who I strive to be when things start going awry.
Solve them, survive them to dive another day!

If your head is wired correctly, your training is current, diving well with in ones capabilities / comfort level you can work out many issues.
Once the panic rolls into action its over!
Know your limits and dive within them.

CamG

 

[TMHeimer]

Diver0001, Couldn't agree with you more about panicking and breaking points. I believe everyone has these and hope I get too old to dive before discovering mine. Interesting that you tore the reg out of your rescuer's mouth. So much for the standard PADI Skill procedure.... An instructor told me his OOA buddy ripped the reg out of his (the instructor's) mouth once. This instructor's philosophy is you donate your octo asap to the OOA guy before he takes your primary out of your mouth.

 

[Diver0001]

Have to agree. As a direct result of this experience I drill my students on the "happy flow" but demonstrate several "unhappy flows" in order to prepare them for what I believe are realistic possibilities. My message to them is to be flexible and to apply what I call the ABC rule in order to regain control in an emergengy and to prioritize tasks in the right order.

 

[rockystock1]

I had an oh god moment last week,

I'm currently in the process of completing my ow course.

I was doing the out of air drill in approx 12ffw (a pool), I grabbed my buddy's octopus, forgot to purge and sucked the pool up. I coughed and spluttered panicked then bolted for the surface holding my breath
Imagine that at 100fsw
That's a massive eye opener for me


Rocky

 

[Diver0001]

Had something similar in my trimix course. At some point our instructor flashes a cue card at us.... lost deco gas.. buddy breathe!

I thought ...fk... I only met my dive buddy an hour before... thankfully it's someone who has also been diving for decades......

 

[rockystock1]

Why would it bother you?? Not knowing your buddy for a training dive??


Rocky

 

[g1138]

Why would it bother you?? Not knowing your buddy for a training dive??


Rocky

Because in buddy breathing you're counting on your buddy to take a good 2 breathes then pass a reg to you. You take 2 breathes and pass it back. Both of you have to keep depth and an open airway while you're waiting for the shared reg to be handed back.
There's a lot of trust involved in addition to the skill set necessary to be calm under that situation.

Even in training it can be a little daunting if you're not practiced.

 

[Diver0001]

Because old timers learned buddy beathing but newer divers don't.