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Running engineering casualty control drills in the Navy taught me something that has really helped in SCUBA and other aspects of life: there is very little that can go wrong where taking *instant* action will gain you enough to be worth more than taking a few seconds to figure out the *right* action. About the only thing I can think of in SCUBA diving that needs nearly immediate response is an uncontrolled ascent. Pretty much everything else won't be made any worse if you take 5 or 10 seconds to figure out what you really should do, rather than doing what your reflexes want you to do.
Great advice. I have no experience such as your casualty control drills (other than my Rescue/DM training of course). I have been in a half dozen less than perfect situations while diving (current, cramps, unexpected exits, etc.). First thing I managed to do was as taught in OW Course: stop, think, act. First part of that was always check exactly how much air I have and then proceed to figure what the best option is. You should never be in a situation where you are low on air when something unexpected happens. The main thing is air--gives you plenty of time to stay calm and figure it out.