My close call

[TSandM]

Supervising new divers can be stressful. I know one of my friends had a bad experience with a novice who lost his reg and panicked and bolted (rather than execute the reg recovery he had been taught, or ask to share gas). You take on a lot of responsibility when you dive with newbies. I think you handled this well, and the other diver's reactions were unexpected. Did you debrief the dive, and what SHOULD have happened?

 

[beaverdivers]

BINGO! This event is typical. The out of air diver goes for the reg that is in the donors mouth!

What does the acronym A.I.R. II stand for, does anyone know?

 

[Islandheart]

Each ooa is somewhat different due to different divers, their individual actions and/or reactions, depths, locations, equipment and other additional factors.

Trying to give reflection to another instructor or diver, about what they should have done is a tough thing to do.

Students, new divers and even experienced divers can do the most totally unexpected or near unexplainable things. Going from calm and relaxed to panicked uncontrollable in the blink of an eye.

In over 40 years of diving and the near 400 certifications I've done in the past 3 years I tell all the divers I come in contact with that;

....an Emergency is not an Emergency til it's an Emergency.... Do everything possible to not let Murphy dive with you.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

The Air 2 comment was somewhat of a joke.. sorta anyway. If a diver begins to reject a working regulator, you have a serious emergency on your hands. In all seriousness, if a diver rejects a regulator in shallow water, my priority would be an expedited ascent. The problem can be resolved in 35 seconds or it could spiral into a fatality in another 90. Stuff like that scares the heck out of me.

Last week, my 15 yr old daughter says she wants to learn to scuba. I will teach her myself.

She will not be going deeper than 3 feet until I am willing to bet her life on the probability that she will be able to utilize an operable regulator should one be offered in an emergency.

 

[MrChen]

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"????

Are you recommending an air2 or being sarcastic?

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---------- Post added August 12th, 2013 at 11:15 PM ----------

The Air 2 comment was somewhat of a joke.. sorta anyway.

Thought so but I guess it couldn't hurt to have as a third when teaching?

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

 

[openmindOW]

We switched out his reg, got back in the water and had 2 outstanding problem free dives after that.

Thank you for posting.

The young diver learned a lot from that experience. My guess is that he or she is going to be a super diver. The de-brief you did with the young diver was critical to his learning experience.

 

[SPARKMEL]

BINGO! This event is typical. The out of air diver goes for the reg that is in the donors mouth!

What does the acronym A.I.R. II stand for, does anyone know?

This is an interesting point about you have made about panic divers snacking for the buddy main reg. In spain during our OW certification all the instructors taught us to cover our own reg with one hand and raise our right hand to clearly show the other diver where the octo is located, this aids the diver to take the octo as they see the regulator and yellow hose.. Doing it during our certification for real was a fantastic drill and one i will never forget as you do naturally go for the octo as main reg is blocked. i suppose helping you and the other diver. The instructor pointed out that aslong as you have air you can assist the panic diver more efficiently. Having done this he is 100% correct...

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I like the report and the resolution. Persistence in keeping someone breathing is important, and as long as you can control them and prevent a rapid ascent without danger to your self, that is the thing to do. Don't overlook the value of a good grip on the distressed diver, a good grip being one that is firm and controlling but that you can release in an instant if the need arises. Props to Shawn 95 for a successful outcome based upon his cool head and attention to his little buddy's problem.
DivemasterDennis

 

[beaverdivers]

This is an interesting point about you have made about panic divers snacking for the buddy main reg. In spain during our OW certification all the instructors taught us to cover our own reg with one hand and raise our right hand to clearly show the other diver where the octo is located, this aids the diver to take the octo as they see the regulator and yellow hose.. Doing it during our certification for real was a fantastic drill and one i will never forget as you do naturally go for the octo as main reg is blocked. i suppose helping you and the other diver. The instructor pointed out that aslong as you have air you can assist the panic diver more efficiently. Having done this he is 100% correct...

Correct!

The only problem is in the worst-case scenario, you are not given the chance to show where the oct. is. As the paniced diver rips your reg out of your mouth, they knock your mask off & head to the surface. The paniced diver may not even be your buddy much less your friend.
You may not even see them coming!

You were trained in an out of air emergency to give your oct, not go to your oct. because the paniced diver has your primary reg.

Are you going to be able to react using a programmed response? Will your programmed response work in the worst-case scenario?

 

[chillyinCanada]

Sparkmel, your training was pretty much standard and sound good in theory but as others have said might not be so great in a real life situation. Rhetorical question: How do you use your hand to cover your own reg when you are gripping OOA diver and offering octo?

I'm still hoping the OP can tell us his buddy's explanation for rejecting each of the octos offered.