Extinguishing the impulse to bolt

I was reading a thread recently about someone who had some regulator issues and on two separate occasions, bolted for the surface. I've read other threads in the past where people have chosen that strategy to manage a problem. I've had all kinds of problems with my diving, especially in the beginning, but there were only two times when the thought of heading for the surface crossed my mind, and it was pretty easy to stifle the urge.

I'm wondering about people who bolt . . . although they can work on the specific stressor that caused the issue, is there any way that they can address the underlying problem, which is that their first choice is heading up?

I'd love to hear from instructors who have helped students through this, or from any diver who has worked through this issue. Since I'm working on my DM at present, having some ideas to help people with this would be very useful, I think.

GREAT question Lynne!

I think cultivating a strong team mentality would go a long way.

Many divers "buddy dive," but not necessarily with someone they trust. When you believe implicitly that your nearest reliable source of air is your buddy, not the surface, that urge to go the up will be diminished.

If I were diving with an instabuddy, I'm not certain I'd prioritize him/her above the surface in my emergency response. However, diving with someone with whom I share an "us against the ocean" camaraderie, with whom I share reciprocal responsibility, in other words someone who I know is both available is capable, it's a no-brainer.

I've only had the urge to bolt once and it was very early in my OW training - first pool session I believe. I had trouble clearing the mask after doing the mask remove/replace and even though I could breathe fine, it was freaking me out. Eventually I did go to the surface (slowly not really a bolt at this point) but to take a rest and decide if I wanted to do it again. I did want to do it again as I really wanted to dive. I went back under and did it - but of course it was still a weak point.

I practiced clearing until it was not a weak point but still certainly not a strength. When I went to take Cavern and Intro to Cave I knew I wanted the no-mask swim and under mask floodings/removals/etc to just not be a weak point but to be something that did not add to the truly new situations - no light, light following/etc. So I got in the pool and worked with my mask until it really didn't matter (except for clarity of vision) if my mask was on/not on/flooded etc - it didn't effect my breathing or level of comfort.

Going through this I believe it is important to identify the weakness and address it to the point of proficiency not just capability.

I think if you have good problem solving plans in place you can kill the impulse to bolt. However I don't think if all other plans have failed and you have nothing left but to drown or bolt - you can ignore the urge to bolt. I guess what I'm saying is if your training and procedures are ingrained you will try them all until you have nothing left and then possibility still bolt - hopefully something has solved the problem however - but if your training and procedures are just barely remembered in a time of stess out the window they will fly and to the surface you will "attempt" to go.

TSandM:

I'm wondering about people who bolt . . . although they can work on the specific stressor that caused the issue, is there any way that they can address the underlying problem, which is that their first choice is heading up?

Click to expand...

Maybe it would be helpful to look at the issues that may cause someone to bolt and develop a commonality?

Super question, Lynne!

First, let me clarify that I am not a diving instructor. However, I have extensive experience in situations (both as a "participant" and as an instructor) in areas that require the handling of emergency situations. I've was a firefighter for 27 years and a lifeguard (and lifeguard trainer) for over two decades. In both of those activities I wound up in teaching roles and it was necessary to understand panic and how its effects could be mitigated. With that said, I hope you don't mind me throwing in some input, though I am not a dive instructor.

Part of the "trigger" for panic is to be placed in a threatening situation with no rational idea of the full range of the consequences. That means that the "victim" understands the negative consequences (drowning, etc...), but they cannot visualize positive outcomes. When that happens, survival instinct takes over and a person will bolt, the quickest, though most dangerous, resolution to the situation.

What training does is to allow a person to visualize alternate, POSITIVE outcomes. Once a person realizes that there are other solutions, bolting is much less a reaction and the person can then keep a grip and work toward those solutions, and that's where well-honed skills will be employed. This, I think, applies to diving as well as the urge to bolt from a burning building or running from a firefight, or any other situation involving a threat to one's safety. If a person has had ample previous opportunities to visualize and work through what they should do, then doing what they should NOT do becomes less likely.

Of course, that means that one should train constantly, but it also implies that they need to devote significant time simply reviewing those other positive alternatives in their head. It is unwise to try to retreat from thinking about bad situations and simply hope they never occur. It's important to "face the dragon" so that if (some would say "when") things go wrong, the necessary actions are closer to the surface of one's consciousness and, therefore, more likely to provide that postive outcome.

Thanks for your patience and sorry if I'm stepping out of line.
Bill

Cave Diver:

Maybe it would be helpful to look at the issues that may cause someone to bolt and develop a commonality?

Click to expand...

I believe the critical issue is whether one can intellectually override the emotional response ( panic ).
One's previous training & experience ( especially situations where one absolutely must depend on someone else to rescue them ) and personal faith in his / her dive buddy certainly factor into the critical moment's assessment.

As an ex-military & police trainer, I've seen this many times. As a rather new diver, I've felt this way, too.

I think the answer is pretty simple if the impulse is generated by a problem (or perceived problem) with the regulator. I've worked very hard in training my young sons that their IMMEDIATE response to reg problems (OOA, very LOA, Leaking reg etc.) is to switch to the pony bottle reg which is bungied around the neck. I drill it in to them, that they switch over at the first sign of problem with breathing. They are to do this BEFORE signaling me or doing anything else.

They have been trained to deal with the problem on their own, without ANY buddy help. This inspires confidence and independence that is critical in my mind. Of course, they are to let me know AFTER they have switched to a bail out bottle.

Once this response is ingrained into their mind by numerous drills, I think there is much less chance that bolting for surface will be one of their initial responses. We talk about visualization and I also test them by turning off their main tank in open water (but only in shallow water, like 20 feet or something).

I think that relying upon a buddy's air supply as a back up is insufficient to provide an adequate level of psychological confidence (I know that is the way I feel).


Put simply, teaching people that their "plan B" is 2 inches from their lips brings more confidence than the hope of chasing down a buddy in an emergency.

There are many other reasons for bolting and most of them are probably not associated with regulator problems. I wonder if these panic prone people were trained to use the pony bottle as a plan B, they would be much less likely to bolt due to CO2 build-up, fatigue, anxiety, loss of buddy, narcosis etc.

CardShark:

I believe the critical issue is whether one can intellectually override the emotional response ( panic ).

As an ex-military & police trainer, I've seen this many times. As a rather new diver, I've felt this way, too.

Click to expand...

I agree and disagree with you. I agree that the issue is needing to override a panic response, but I don't think it is an intellectual override.

As an ex-military person, maybe depending upon which branch, you saw how he military dealt with panic. It was dealt with effective leadership and training. A very specific example I can think of was at BT. The lane was a squad level exercise where they squad would have to climb a wall, tactically move 100m's through obstacles, engage and eliminate the machine gun and then clear a bunch of trenches. We practiced this all day until it was 2nd nature. At night, we did it for the final time. This time however the machine gun was now firing live rounds over our heads and the propane bombs were going off. Then you got the command to go over the wall. No rationale person is going to do that. Yet somehow the military get's thousands of privates to go over that wall every year.

They do it through training. They train you on how to react and not think. You'd hear all the time, 'don't think private, just do it.' Obviously you just don't do it, but you train.

I guess the question is how do you train divers to manage as many different scenarios as one could think of?

To address your question I would say TRAINING
During initial instruction it should be repeated over
and over to seek air from your dive buddy or any
diver close by. Everyone reacts to stress differently
and despite having the seek air from another diver
being drilled into someones head it will not stop an
individual who is prone to panic or is not able to control
what is a natural survival instinct. We spends our lives
as land dwelling air breating creatures. The person who
tosses all training and logic aside due to stress and panic
will not change without professional counceling to determine
exactly what drives this panic. While it at first would seem
logical it is the need for air, it could also be a fear of death
or a near drowning experience as a child,or being deprived
of air or trapped at some point in life. Who knows? It would
be impossible as a diving instructor to be aware of a persons
reactions and reasons to stesses. The best approach I can
think of is to pound the idea into divers the reasons having
a buddy while diving is the only way to insure having a reliable
rudundant air supply.Another added element might be to advise
any diver who shows signs or states they have OOA fears is to
suggest a spare air canister and it's proper use. So...Training
and NO you cannot stop a paniced bolter,attempting to do so
only puts you at risk. I would rather be an alive DM in a court
room than a dead one from trying to stop a bolting diver.