Emergency Ascent from 110 feet

[gcbryan]

It's amazing but this stuff really does happen every day. It's not just dive operators but instructors do the same things...take people where they are not prepared to go.

Just because you are in a AOW class doesn't prepare you for deeper diving. I helped an instructor friend with an AOW deep dive once. He conducted the dive and I was there just in case anyone needed any help.

It was a 100 fsw easy daytime dive. One guy freaked out the minute we got to 100 fsw so the instructor asked me to take him shallow which I did.

I was on a 130 fsw wreck in British Columbia and an instructor and his girlfriend DM brought a AOW class over from Calgary. It was a CF. My buddy and I got in the water first and got deep fast and avoided the mess until the end of our dive. Once we got up to the deck at 85 fsw and above that to some of the superstructure we started to encounter the class.

It was a mess. Most of the students were crawling and pulling themselves along even at the very top of the structure at 45 fsw. You would think they were conquering the Titanic. We just moved back into the open water to hover for a minute to let the brawl move on through. You would think we were in terrible current or some other adverse condition but it was perfectly calm. They just didn't want to "fall" into the deep.

Once back on deck, I went to the bathroom and the window looked out on to the bow. The instructor and his class were on the bow debriefing so I could clearly here everything that was said.

Everyone was excited at their great adventure. Many of them said things like "there was no way I was going to go past 85 fsw". The DM said "well, I did go to 100 fsw but there was no way I was going to let go of the buoy line!"

No one in that group had any business being there.

Unfortunately, it really does happen every day.

 

[Deep South Divers]

I am interested to hear the lessons you readers come up with this incident.

I wasn't there, but since you are interested, here's a quick synopsis as I see it, based on the information you've given:

1. Many divers were put in a situation where they were apparently unprepared. Panic - or having to fight panic - seems like it was the norm.
2. Your buddy apparently inhaled a lot of water (his claim), which caused him to wretch and cough.
3. As a solution, a more skilled and/or experienced diver took him to the surface, where he was treated for the rapid ascent (I'm unclear HOW rapid the ascent was).
4. The whole thing has totally freaked you out, even though medically, everyone seems fine.

If you consider the above a problem (I do, but it's your call), then I would say that a solution to the problem is more training. As has been mentioned, Rescue would be appropriate, and probably make you feel a lot better.

It's possible your buddy was so narced that he inhaled water, and it's possible that he's got faulty equipment. Each of these has their own solutions, so I recommend figuring out which of these is the case and providing an appropriate solution.

I have never witnessed such a close call before. My buddy said he was sure he would not make it. I wasn't sure either, at least I expected CPR or the chamber, but it seems pure oxygen took care of the job. This must have been crucial.

It's always a good practice in an emergency, and you may be right - it may have been crucial... So administering 100% O2 was a great practice. However, you did not mention any symptoms that would have been negated with pure oxygen. You also didn't mention anything that would require CPR or the chamber. You mentioned nothing about cardiac arrest, DCI, or symptoms of barotrauma that would have precluded the treatments that you mention.

I'm left to believe that the biggest trauma was to your psyche... Which shouldn't be downplayed.

Everyone should make sure what their insurance actually covers when jumping into the water - this time nobody knew. Don't the operators have insurances?

Of course they do - and they cover a lot of general liability, which you generally forgo when you sign a liability release prior to the dive.

Inexpensive insurance purchased by you (or your buddy) and supplied by you (or your buddy) from Divers Alert Network would have covered this type of incident - although that's not really the issue. The issue was the incident in the first place. "Who pays for the problem" isn't the problem itself, and therefore isn't a part of an effective solution.

How can you ascend from 110 feet rapidly without any symptons?

It's possible to ascend from much deeper depths rapidly without any symptoms - there's a lot of "it depends" factor going on there.

How long were you guys down there before the rapid ascent? Exactly how fast was the rapid ascent? What type of physical condition is your buddy in?

...is 48 hours enough to recognise them?

Again, it depends... As a general rule, yes.

Let's just say that at this point, with each passing hour that goes by without symptoms, his chances of becoming symptomatic fall greatly.

Take the Rescue course and chalk it up to being lucky.

 

[Ayisha]

Mike, sometimes all it takes to get water in your mouth as you inhale is a tear in the mouthpiece. It happened to me way back and felt like my reg was leaking. I sort of "sipped" on it lightly and then sent it in for service, not knowing what the cause was. I was told it was a torn mouthpiece and it was changed. I probably could have discovered that myself, but I then knew from that to check all gear well before splashing in.

I'm curious: did you try your alternate second stage? The "octo?"

No Don, I didn't. It was just a little trickle here and there and I completed the dive on my primary reg. I just blew the water out once in a while, that's all, and never coughed or choked. I didn't find it threatening at the time, just a little irritating. If it were to happen again, I would switch to my octo just to avoid potential issues, especially since hearing about people having a laryngospasm.

 

[cgvmer]

I prefer not to comment on the other diver's incident. Instead your own reaction to the incident was important, you didn't panic and get yourself into a worse situation and post incident you didn't run away you realized you needed more training.
Go for the rescue diver, you will gain skills for better safer diving.

 

[AfterDark]

IMO rescue diver should be a mandatory course for AOW. I'm not sure if trying to teach a new diver rescue skills is practical, unless they are really comfortable and proficient in the water and, with their equipment. I've often asked myself just how much help a buddy would be aside from air? I guess he/she could help in the search and recovery op. "He was over there when I left to get help cuz I didn't know what else to do"

 

[openmindOW]

IMO rescue diver should be a mandatory course for AOW.

Makes sense to me.

 

[DandyDon]

IMO rescue diver should be a mandatory course for AOW. I'm not sure if trying to teach a new diver rescue skills is practical, unless they are really comfortable and proficient in the water and, with their equipment. I've often asked myself just how much help a buddy would be aside from air? I guess he/she could help in the search and recovery op. "He was over there when I left to get help cuz I didn't know what else to do"

Makes sense to me.

Sorry, rule #1 in Recreational diving: Is it good for business? Nope

The agencies won't even make OW a decent course. Their businesses depend on a flow of the greatest number of new and advancing divers possible within training parameters good enough to keep the government from getting involved as much as possible. Anything that would reduce that flow would be bad for business, bad for members, employees, leaders, directors, etc - not appealing. You could even include DAN in that view too.

So, I just don't see any increases in any requirements at all. When we say we want Scuba to remain self regulating, we've got to mean it and make it happen.

I've got my own personal project anyway.

 

[synctek]

A comment from a new diver:

To preface, I have only done 17 dives to date, and in that group of dives completed the Advanced Open Water (AOW) with a wreck and deep dive to 102ft.

Having gone to 100+feet and feeling the effects of mild narcosis, I can say that taking on water at that depth would have been a horrific event for me whether or not I was narced. I most certainly would have panicked and done all the wrong things. One point I didn't see mentioned here -that I think is important- is your buddy was conscious during the incident and did NOT shoot up to the surface. I'm not sure why he didn't but will give him the benefit of doubt and say experienced kept him at depth til help arrived. I would probably crack like an egg in that scenario and with a pair of 18" rigid fins and a little panic, I know I could get to the surface from 120ft in about 15 seconds or less but would then either be dead or in a chamber. You mentioned he was shaking his head quickly to acknowledge your "OK" signal and let you know that things were bad, which implies he was panicked but still in a semi-thinking state.

I would be curious to know if your buddy stayed down because he had the forethought not to ascend out of panic or if he was choking so bad he just couldn't. If the former were true, then good for him, because it is one factor that helped saved his life - the dive master was the other.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Having gone to 100+feet and feeling the effects of mild narcosis, I can say that taking on water at that depth would have been a horrific event for me whether or not I was narced. I most certainly would have panicked and done all the wrong things...I would probably crack like an egg in that scenario and with a pair of 18" rigid fins and a little panic, I know I could get to the surface from 120ft in about 15 seconds or less but would then either be dead or in a chamber.

@synctek: Based on what you have written, I do not think it would be wise for you to continue to dive to such depths. Weird things can happen. A faulty or old zip-tie can cause the mouthpiece to come off of your reg during inhalation. At that point, training and experience will compel you to switch to your backup reg...not kick for the surface in panic.

Get more experience and/or training first. There's lots to see (and much more light) at shallower depths. Be safe out there...

 

[Rhone Man]

People have done CESAs (although I expect they were more in the nature of ESAs) from a lot deeper than 110 feet without harm. That doesn't make it a good idea though.