My bone head mistake.

[ScubaSteve]

......Laryngospasm, which is what happened to you, is terribly dangerous, because it cannot be inhibited consciously, and the obstruction is worsened by attempting to inhale. (For the purposes of anybody who might be faced with a buddy losing consciousness because of this, though, you can almost always overcome laryngospasm obstruction with positive pressure ventilation, eg. mouth-to-mouth.) You were very lucky that it resolved before you passed out.

Would purging a reg while in the mouth likely be enough to open the airway in this case? This could be a way to prevent passing out if you are unfortunate enough to find yourself in this position with the cognitive abilities to think about it.

[GSDMan]

Would purging a reg while in the mouth likely be enough to open the airway . . .

I'm just guessing because I don't know for sure. If mouth to mouth is enough positive pressure, then it might work. I'd think you would have to block the exhaust ports on the reg and hit the purge button. With my luck, though, I'd blow out both eardrums in the process.

Jim

[TSandM]

If you could block the exhaust port, you might get enough positive pressure -- but you also need a good seal with the lips around the mouthpiece. If you can block the exhaust, it would be worth trying, for sure.

[Kevrumbo]

You've gotta relax & breath as best you can until the spasm clears (laryngospasms and alternobaric vertigo are the two maladies that I have to consciously fight against panic & bolting to the surface). With heliox or even trimix, at least the gas mixture is less dense such that you'll get some flow past the obstruction --better than you would with an air mix.

You've just gotta wait 'til it passes . . .(otherwise, hope your buddy can render aid if you lose consciousness).

[Water Bug]

Thanks for this post - such an easy mistake I imagine and a risk easily overlooked. I will think twice taking my reg out of mouth for any reason.

[Unibrook]

yikes, almost waterboarded yourself! I swim laps underwater frequently at my club pool. As I get to the end, I am usually burning for a breath of air. I try to use those last few seconds to imagine myself on a scuba dive down deep in an OOA situation to keep my focus and calm, thinking to myself..."just keep kicking a few more meters to your buddy's octo!" Obviously, this is nothing like the panic I would feel in a real down deep OOA emergency, but I like to think it is some sort of mental practice that might come in handy on a scuba dive someday. If nothing else, it teaches me I don't ever want to be > 20' away from my dive buddy.