Pseudocyber
Contributor
It was fun - and I think I learned a bit about reducing my stress - stop, breath, think, act. When I didn't, I got attacked by my instructor - who would push me under water and take my regulator - at depth (30') - he was acting as a "panicked diver".
My first diving in COLD water! Holy crap. When it's 95 degrees in the sun, 60 degrees sounds kind of nice. Uh uh. :shocked2: My only diving has been in 75 degree plus water, with basically "unlimited" viz - say 80+ feet. Dove in our local diving quarry - 85 at surface, 60 at 30 feet. My computer got down to 59. First dives, I didn't use my hood and gloves - mistake. Second dives, my 3mil merino wool suit, hood, gloves - not so bad. I can't imagine 45 degrees at 100 feet. And another shocker, the difference in temperature between standing on the platform, kneeling, and lying on it. But going through the thermocline was kind of cool.
For our missing diver drills - we had a buddy come up and say his buddy was missing. We had 5 divers - so we organized and did an expanding circle sweep - with a reel and an anchor man. Then we put divers on the line about 10' apart (the limit of viz) and organized signals so we would understand when the diver was found, and when we had to bring the line in to go around obstacles. We found the diver after about 10 minutes and came up. When I got to the surface, 2 others had already brought him up. However, we failed to tell the original buddy what to do, and he went down with us, and was now missing. So, we had to drop to find the other guy. Luckily, I dropped down on top of him - he was at about 30' and had gone into a sunken car. One of my buddies was trying to pull him out, but he was stuck. I swam in, and found his hoses caught around the emergency brake. I disentangled him and we were able to pull him out, then another buddy held in his reg while we grabbed him and did a controlled ascent using our bc's and finning. We got him back up, initiated emergency breathing, and started towing and removing gear.
Things I learned:
I highly recommend this course if you haven't taken it - so you can be a better buddy and a better diver!
My first diving in COLD water! Holy crap. When it's 95 degrees in the sun, 60 degrees sounds kind of nice. Uh uh. :shocked2: My only diving has been in 75 degree plus water, with basically "unlimited" viz - say 80+ feet. Dove in our local diving quarry - 85 at surface, 60 at 30 feet. My computer got down to 59. First dives, I didn't use my hood and gloves - mistake. Second dives, my 3mil merino wool suit, hood, gloves - not so bad. I can't imagine 45 degrees at 100 feet. And another shocker, the difference in temperature between standing on the platform, kneeling, and lying on it. But going through the thermocline was kind of cool.
For our missing diver drills - we had a buddy come up and say his buddy was missing. We had 5 divers - so we organized and did an expanding circle sweep - with a reel and an anchor man. Then we put divers on the line about 10' apart (the limit of viz) and organized signals so we would understand when the diver was found, and when we had to bring the line in to go around obstacles. We found the diver after about 10 minutes and came up. When I got to the surface, 2 others had already brought him up. However, we failed to tell the original buddy what to do, and he went down with us, and was now missing. So, we had to drop to find the other guy. Luckily, I dropped down on top of him - he was at about 30' and had gone into a sunken car. One of my buddies was trying to pull him out, but he was stuck. I swam in, and found his hoses caught around the emergency brake. I disentangled him and we were able to pull him out, then another buddy held in his reg while we grabbed him and did a controlled ascent using our bc's and finning. We got him back up, initiated emergency breathing, and started towing and removing gear.
Things I learned:
- Stay calm - think before acting.
- Panicked divers do not think rationally.
- If a panicked diver won't calm down, and you're in danger, let them pass out - then rescue them.
- Do not create extra victims.
- Do not go above my experience and skill.
- Most victims can be rescued before an accident occurs with observation, tact, suggestions, or by informing the DM of problems ahead of time.
- Most accidents happen because of poor judgement.
- Therefore, try to use good judgement to prevent most accidents.
- Try to "be prepared."
I highly recommend this course if you haven't taken it - so you can be a better buddy and a better diver!
