Diving Accident, Self-Responsibility and Balance

[RickyF]

SOunds to me like you had a panic attack and were hyperventilating and building up CO2 due to bad air exchange. It can be very scary to get caught in current and not be able to reach the boat. The best thing to do has already been stated, which is establish positive bouyancy and signal the boat. Did you have any type of signalling device like a whistle, etc? Always keep your regulator in your mouth unless your tank is empty. How much air did you have in your tank? Make sure you get checked out by a good doctor who knows what you have just been through. I wish you all the best!

 

[Thea Strassburg]

You rock, and will do! Never experienced the kind of freedom and joy scuba brings, I feel in love the very first time.

 

[pasley]

First off I want to say thank you for sharing. That takes courage. Second, the Disclaimer: NOT A DOCTOR or otherwise intelligent person. This following is my opinion only does not constitute medical advice or relevant information for your particular situation and is provided for entertainment value only.

As to what happened? Hard to say. Could be many things including but not limited to:
1. An undiagnosed condition that has developed recently (potential result of recent lack of exercise and increased weight)?
2. Too much party the night before. Alcohol within 24 hours of diving is not a great idea. It dehydrates you and that increases your risk for DCI.
3. No enough water the day of and the day before
4. Physical conditioning. Being out of shape and having to fight the currents.
5. Exercised induced asthma or other lung issue.
6. Hyperventilation - easy to do. You are in an overhead environment 20 feet long (why do dive operators insist on calling these overhead environments "swim thru's"? ) and fighting current. Easy to start over breathing the regulator, panting and causing hyperventilation. This is the result of CO buildup in the lungs. CO is what triggers the body to take the next breath. With this shallow panting type of breathing you are not getting the CO out and Oxygen in as you are breathing shallow and fast. (When this happens, hug yourself, tell yourself to calm down and take slow deep breaths. S L O W Inhale 1,2,3,4,5,6, S L O W exhale 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. A few breaths like that will relieve the "can't breathe" feeling and of course the resulting headache will clear up shortly too.
7. fatigue - you were fighting current and surge. SURGE - you can't fight the ocean, just go with the flow. the surge will bring you back and you just have to get a quick glance as you pass it. Fin slowly when the surge is going the wrong way and hard when the surge is going the direction you want to go. Current - swim into it at the start of the dive. When you failed to be able to grab the dead corral and to get back to the reef, you were going to be blown away from the boat. Chill, nothing you can do about that. Ascend in a controlled manner while swimming into the current (but don't exhaust yourself). On the surface inflate your BCD (you dropping your weights and not inflating BCD is an indicator that at this point you were in full panic mode) (Congratulations by the way on dropping the weights. Good call when you are in distress).
8. **** happens.
Any one of the above could account for the situation, but very likely it was several of the above or maybe something else entirely. We often talk that accidents are never one thing, but often three things. Example, out of shape, partying hard, drinking, limited surge experience, unexpected current, 20 foot overhead environment, nervous.

Now to your questions.
What I do not understand are the following factors I did not have control over, and am asking for thoughts on, are the following questions: (My answers are in brick red. OP questions in black) I don't necessarily agree that you did not have control over all of the below. You picked the dive operation, you got on the boat, you left the dock. Did you check to see if they had O2 on board and how big the tank was and if it was full? How about an AED? Did you inquire about the emergency procedures if you drifted away from the boat? Did you chat up the DM and ascertain if they were certified DM by an accredited agency or just SCUBA divers with out without formal training in how to dive? Who is responsible for checking these things out? Answer, you are. Its your life and your dive.
1. How did I end up out there alone, when the Master in training was bringing up the rear?; As already stated, you were never alone, just separated. Others found you in seas that were rolling a bit, so they must have been close. They also did a controlled ascent, and by your account, you did not.
2. Why did that non-diving Dive Master wait 12 minutes to swim out to us when it was clear, even to 2 non-swimmers, we were drifting AWAY from the boat? A couple of questions here: A.) Was the Non-Diving DM also the only crew member left on the boat? B.) Did you have assistance immediately at hand in the form of a certified diver and then a DM? (yes you did). Were you out of range of the current line the Dive Boat had? If so, then would you rather add another to the crowd drifting away or wait for the DM to recover the other divers and bring the boat over? C.) If the group you had with you could not swim back to the boat then what makes you thing the DM on the boat could bring you back to the boat? Inflate the BCD, sit back and relax. Focus on the S-L-O-W breathing. D.) Did you give the DM the one arm up not moving signal (need assistance, but not emergency) or the two arm waving (or one arm waving) signal of HELP, come quick. (remember the boat can't move with divers in the water for fear of running them over, and you already had a DM with you.
3. Why was the emergency O2 so difficult to access, then correctly administer (the hole where the air flows from should be under your no, not askew on your cheek.)? In non-Sue-Happy USA countries, you will sometimes (often?) find dive operators that ....um, well, don't pay close attention to standards. Was the DM a certified DM or just a diver they hired to be the DM? The DM's and boat crew all should be O2 Qualified and familiar with the equipment. No excuse here. It is their boat, their crew, their DM and their O2 kit, they should know how to use it. In non-sue happy US some dive operators take a more laid back approach to diving and diver safety.
4. Is emergency O2 supposed to "run out" in 10 minutes? O2 tanks come in different sizes just like SCUBA tanks do. Small ones last ~12 minutes or so, bigger ones longer. They are not cheap either. www.diversalertnetwork.org/dive-store/?catNo=9 shows the price. ~20 minute supply $475-$625, ~60 minute kits, $650-$800, ~120 minute kits, $750-$899. ideally the dive boat should have a tank large enough to get you from dive site to shore. Getting the inspected and hydro tested every 5 years and then filled again. Medical grade O2 is not cheap and in some locals around the world not that easy to get either. Where you were, it sound like a good bet the nearest place selling medical grade O2 was not within 100 miles.
5. Do Dive Masters get any training regarding the effects of exhaust fumes on an already distressed diver? Yes they do. But in the heat of the moment it is easy to get tunnel vision and be focused on getting you out of your gear, back on the boat and breathing again.
6. Why didn't the boat have portable O2 bottles? Like a couple of ponies? I went an extra 8-10 minutes on that golf cart without O2, there are no ambulances on Harbor Island, so anyone having O2 problems has to be transported somewhere. A pony would have helped a bunch on the golf cart ride to the clinic? Their O2 bottle was most likely portable, just empty. If they had had a portable O2 bottle, they would have given it to you when the first supply ran out.

Again, glad you survived and hope you will make a full recovery and tanks for sharing.

 

[Thea Strassburg]

Thank you Flots am. If this is indeed the bottom line in diving though, why would we need dive buddies? Or even Dive Masters?

Like I said though, I take complete responsibility. Just emotionally exhausted. I feel horrible for everyone I worried and for all who had to take time out of their otherwise beautiful day to deal with my dumb ass. I thanked all profusely, and still do.

---------- Post added February 23rd, 2014 at 02:34 PM ----------

I see what you mean, that makes more sense. Thank you. I am thinking I need more training at shorter intervals.

 

[pasley]

You are always responsible for your own dive and dive decisions. It is in the course manual for all certification agencies. Ask yourself this one question - Who is more interested in my safety and my survival? Me or someone else? You better believe the answer is you! So if you are the person most concerned with your safety and survival, should you also not be the person who takes ultimate responsibility for it?

Dive Buddies, are there to share the beauty with and to provide an additional layer of safety. DMs are there to assist divers. Remember they will respond if they can, but if you are that far from the boat drifting away in strong current, his swimming to a diver with two others there already assisting does nothing but add to the problem. His/her job at this point is to recover the other divers as quickly as possible and assist the boat crew in getting to you. He can do nothing more than the diver and DM who are already with you. What you needed was the boat, and he brought it to you as soon as other divers were accounted for and it was safe to start the propeller and come to you.

Last but not least, dive more, exercise more, eat less, quit smoking, and above all, love more. To quote the song, "live life like you were dying"! Now stop with a warm water wuss and get to Southern California and dive our beautiful kelp forest. Come out and lets do some diving together. Give me a shout when out this way and lets plan some bottom time.

 

[Thea Strassburg]

Re-reading my post, I can see an urge crept in to blame someone for things that from your perspective, were entirely in my control. I feel stupid, believe me. I stuck to the facts as I and the others on board observed. I see though that my emotional response to this incident may have colored my perceptions.
You bring up several important points I had not considered. Thank you for that.

Please though, as an attorney who prosecutes sexual predators, I hear every single dodge, every possible excuse, every imaginable reason why they are not to blame for their behavior. I think they even believe themselves sometimes. I am not one of them.

---------- Post added February 23rd, 2014 at 02:49 PM ----------

The boat could not come to me, the reef was too shallow. I see what you mean for sure. I was so grateful to all the staff, they worked and risked to save my ass. I made no complaints and told the owner I was incredibly grateful. I just posted here to figure out if, well, I don't know. Just needed to talk and think, and this helps, thank you so much for your thoughts.

 

[TONY CHANEY]

Thanks for sharing your event and so very glad that you are still with us to write about it!
Wow, a lot was going on for such a shallow dive. So I'll try...
1) Not to beat you up but you started the chain of events the night before. You already know that and I am sure that looking back you wished that you could have changed some of your choices. You lived and now have learned a very good lesson the hard way.

2) It would appear to me that after descending to the wreck, you never regained control over your breathing. You got winded with trying to fix the weight belt and pushed on trying to get some video while finning into the current. Multi-tasking while winded in adverse conditions just compounded the acute situation. Advice, if I may? Get to the bottom, get a hand hold if needed, get the attention of other team members, stop all other activity, fix the belt (yourself or with assistance), catch your breath, evaluate current situation, and make a sound decision as to either abort the dive or continue on. At the point where all of this was going on with your rapid and I guess shallow breathing, your CO2 was going up and your oxygen level was decreasing.

3) I am starting to think that the reason you lost contact with the diver behind you coming out of the swim through was due to current and slight confusion due to CO2 build up. There are several times that you stated that you were unable to remember certain things. I see several times throughout your story where you were telling yourself to do things and stay focused! i.e. "deep breaths don't panic, etc." A very damn good choice in my opinion.

4) I am starting to think that your rapid ascent was due to currents. My reason for thinking this was it appears that on the surface you had already dropped your weight belt (smart decision) but the other two divers had to tell you to inflate your BC before they did it for you. In currents near walls with wave action can come from all directions to include bottom to surface as well as surface to bottom. Current can slam you against the wall and then pull you back out to sea and then repeat the process again and again. God knows I have been worked several times and yes it is damn scary! You start to wonder if "I am ever going to get out of here alive?" When faced with that situation and you have a shallow bottom, get heavy real fast, catch your breath, signal team members, make a plan and stick with it.

4) I really see no reason for the DM still on the boat to jump in considering that others were already assisting you. More people in the water does not always mean better. The DM on the boat has additional responsibilities.

5) Others were much slower at reaching the surface that you were more than likely they were doing a slow ascent with a safety stop. I have no problem with that. I like my fellow divers but I have a responsibility to my family to not put myself in grave danger trying to assist someone else. Just a hard cold fact.

6) Oxygen, oxygen and oxygen. I am a Respiratory Therapist and see so many screw ups in a hospital environment almost every time I work. i.e. wrong mask, mask placed on patient wrong, mask on patient right but flow meter not turned on, nasal cannula with 15 L/min flow, PR mask attached to aerosol, vent on patient without oxygen line being hooked up, etc. As for the tank running out too fast, it was either the tank was low from the start or the flow was turned up to the max. (usually 25 l/min). Note to everyone willing to listen...if the mask has a reservoir, only turn up the flow meter enough to where the bag does not collapse with each breath. I really cannot defend anything the team members did other than trying to put you on it. A major screw up all around.

7) Really a golf cart? I’ll stop with that.

Would you please be so kind as to posting the video or just sending it us via e-mail. Very seldome do we have an close call where the victim was able to write about coupled with video. Don'y worry about editing, we would rather see it in it's raw version.

 

[Thea Strassburg]

No rapid ascent issue, the dive depth at its deepest was 27 feet. I was near the top of the reef we were crossing, maybe 8 feet below the surface when I became unable to control the ascent.
I think I had an unpredicted medical event. The doctor said I had something similar to an asthma attack, bronchial spasms is what he said. It just felt like forever, the whole awful thing. Reading the replies and thinking it all through. Thanks so much for commenting.

 

[flots am]

Thank you Flots am. If this is indeed the bottom line in diving though, why would we need dive buddies? Or even Dive Masters?

Dive Masters are a marketing device to get people to go on dives they don't feel confident enough and/or aren't qualified to do alone.

Everything works perfectly on a DM lead dive, until it doesn't. Then you get panic and sometimes worse.

Dive buddies run the complete scale from "Actively Dangerous" to "Useless" to "Probably OK" to "Will drag you back from the gates of hell".

Unless you have personal knowledge otherwise, it's safer to assume "useless", although every now and then you'll run into the first one.

Like I said though, I take complete responsibility.

I didn't mean it as a "blame" thing, just a little clarification on who can/will actually save your bacon when things go badly.

In fact, a really good buddy might have been attentive and knowledgeable enough to head this whole thing off before it went badly.

Although I typically don't recommend one agency over another, in this case, I'd recommend SSI's "Diver Stress & Rescue" class, which emphasizes detecting and heading off bad things before they become problems. PADI's Stress & Rescue class seems to emphasize more of the rescue aspect than the stress aspect, however at that point, things have already "gone south". Recognizing this type of thing before it becomes an issue will make all your dives much safer and more enjoyable.

Once you understand that you're responsible for your own dive, regardless of the presence of others or professionals, the range of conditions you'll find acceptable and the level of risk you're willing to take, will probably narrow for a while.


flots.

 

[Wookie]

^what flots am said.