My close call

[Shawn95]

So I was taking a new junior diver on his 8th dive. Conditions were great, bit of low vis from 0-20 ft but unlimited below that with lots of light. We did our descent to 40ft and were about to start swimming around. I looked down to turn on my camera and when I looked up his octo was free flowing. The cause turned out to be IP creep on his 1st stage and it wouldn't stop. it was clipped to his BCD strap in an octo holder so the bubbles
were coming up right in front of his face in between us. I reached down to see if I could stop the flow or pinch off his hose. While I did that he takes the 1st stage out of his mouth to see if that was the one that was free flowing but drops it, I think because it was in the flow of bubbles. I look up now and see him without a reg so I give him my long hose, switch to my bungied back up while I continue to play with his octo. Well then he drops
that reg for some reason. So now he reaches for the one I am breathing! So we have 1 of his dropped, 1 of his freeflowing still, my long hose hanging 7 ft down and the one in my mouth. Heres when it starts to get fun. I move in close to him and give him my reg, I figured I would be able to get any of the 3 hanging regs to put in once I give him some air. So he takes a breath but still doesnt hold onto the reg so I feel it snap back to my neck. At least he got a breath of air out of it. This is the point where he decides he wants to swim to the surface! I knew there was no way we were going to have a successful CESA at this point so we continue to work the problem. I get his octo in his mouth and he starts breathing. Now I can turn to the important goal of getting some air for myself! For some reason I think I reached down to my long hose dangling, I know I was not thinking clearly at this point and I really dont know how long this has lasted up to this point. I finally went to put my bungied reg in and as I do that the bungy had shifted to a position that hindered putting it in till I fought with it some more and finally got some air.

My buddy is now signalling to go up but I am just concentrating on getting big gulps of air at this point. I have been invloved in a few panicked diver situations and medical emergencies but I have never come that close to an actual emergency for me before. The diver had access to all 4 regs and seemed to like non!! I never reached the point of wondering me or him but now that I think about all the stories I've heard about DMs and divers
going down together it makes me think about the choices we make as DM/Instructors on how far we go to rescue or help a distressed diver underwater.

We surfaced, got back in the boat and disected every move and decision we made. His dad was on the boat so he got in on the conversation. We switched out his reg, got back in the water and had 2 outstanding problem free dives after that.

 

[Jim-SAR]

You would think that he would somehow realize he "needs" air and would have kept at least one of the regs. Glad you got it worked out.

Next panic diver you get, go under and come behind them. Get ahold of their tank valve with one hand and use your other hand for the rescue tasks. You have all the leverage this way.


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[Shawn95]

I deal with panicked divers much differently than this. He was calm through most of it, but yeah you'd think he would choose to hold onto one at least. We did a few practice drills after that too.

 

[Jim-SAR]

I guess a lot depends on what their eyes look like and what they're grabbing at. If they're fairly calm, then a face to face works, but if they're grabby, then tactics change.


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[Carlos Danger]

Wow! Glad everything turned out okay!

 

[dumpsterDiver]

If you would have had an Air 2 instead of that 7 ft long hose that drops way below your feet, you could have secured air for yourself in a few moments... Think the kid would have been good if you handed him the reg and just swam 5 feet away .. so you "can put some distance between you and the victim"????

 

[ElGaucho]

Thanks a lot for posting. We all learn about near misses like these. Sometimes in the midst of chaos, people make wrong choices. That's why it's important to anticipate as much as we can. I think you did a fine job. Like everything in diving a "small" problem (a free flow) became a huge problem. This is how shait hits the fan.

Again thanks for posting.

 

[redacted]

Where id your junior diver get his regulator?

 

[chillyinCanada]

Was he thinking one or more of the primaries or octos weren't delivering air because they needed a quick purge?

 

[herbdb]

Supervising a new Jr OW diver is a difficult job. Counting on them to respond as part of an effective buddy team is iffy, hence the special supervision requirements. When my grandson dives with his dad, we always double team him.