Is it worth practising OOA?

[dbulmer]

DD, BoulderJohn,

I was involved in an OOA incident many years ago in Cancun.

My dad and me were just about to start our ascent from about 40 feet when I noticed a diver fiddling about with her contents gauge. She was a couple of feet away from me on her own and I got curious and looked at her contents gauge - 200 psi. I offered her my long hose but she refused to take it. At that point I saw a DM looking towards us so I pointed to her and did the OOA signal. The DM understood what was happening, moved over quickly and handed off his alternate. They started their ascent as did my dad and me.

Once we got there she seemed to be agitated - the DM was trying to calm her down but she had spat out the reg and swallowed some sea water - I helped the DM to rest her on her back and he towed her to the boat. It all happened very quickly. To this day I wish I had asked her why she did not take my long hose.

The point of this story is that the diver in question kept on looking at her contents gauge but seemed confused - she knew she was running out of gas but was not taking steps to ensure she got gas.

 

[DevonDiver]

To this day I wish I had asked her why she did not take my long hose.

Panic: a sudden overwhelming fear, with or without cause, that produces hysterical or irrational behavior.

 

[boulderjohn]

DD, BoulderJohn,

I was involved in an OOA incident many years ago in Cancun.

My dad and me were just about to start our ascent from about 40 feet when I noticed a diver fiddling about with her contents gauge. She was a couple of feet away from me on her own and I got curious and looked at her contents gauge - 200 psi. I offered her my long hose but she refused to take it. At that point I saw a DM looking towards us so I pointed to her and did the OOA signal. The DM understood what was happening, moved over quickly and handed off his alternate. They started their ascent as did my dad and me.

Once we got there she seemed to be agitated - the DM was trying to calm her down but she had spat out the reg and swallowed some sea water - I helped the DM to rest her on her back and he towed her to the boat. It all happened very quickly. To this day I wish I had asked her why she did not take my long hose.

The point of this story is that the diver in question kept on looking at her contents gauge but seemed confused - she knew she was running out of gas but was not taking steps to ensure she got gas.

Wow! That seems bizarre. My guess about refusing your long hose is that she was truly only low on air--she was still breathing from her regulator. On the other hand, if she were looking at the gauge as you said she was, she should have known things weren't good. It could be a case of what is called passive panic.

In view of the topic of this thread, maybe she knew exactly what she was doing. Maybe she wanted to go OOA to see what it was like and then do a CESA to the surface. Perhaps all your well-intentioned assistance interfered with per plans and ticked her off.

---------- Post Merged at 12:01 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:57 AM ----------

By the way, I know a very experienced diver who does a lot of photography with a very expensive camera rig. I heard someone ask him at what PSI level he heads to the surface. He said, "CESA."

 

[dbulmer]

John, DD
Passive panic - yes absolutely. On the boat I did suggest that if a regulator is offered she should take it and left it at that. Her buddy (her husband) was diving with her. The only time I saw him was on the boat.

His reaction was that she would be enrolling into a PPB class.

My suspicion at the time was that she was confused by the long hose or did not trust me but underwater she was calm. I did not get the impression she was experimenting and had CESA in mind but I'll never know alas.

 

[Pane]

John, DD
Passive panic - yes absolutely. On the boat I did suggest that if a regulator is offered she should take it and left it at that.

Undercurrent has a long series of stories on diving incidents, and a red thread for diving fatalities seems to be OOA's where the victim refuses an alternate air source. Another common scenario in these incidents is a victim that spits out a perfectly fine reg and refuses to take it back in the mouth.

I assume panic prevents these people from reacting according to their training and common sense. The stories don't feature survivors (the series is called "why divers die" after all) so no one will ever know for sure. I'm glad the woman you saw in trouble had the sense to at least take the octo of the DM. Seeing someone die that could have been rescued with such a simple act would be difficult to deal with, I imagine.

 

[boulderjohn]

Another common scenario in these incidents is a victim that spits out a perfectly fine reg and refuses to take it back in the mouth.

That can be caused by a diver having a serious medical event, such as a cardiac problem of some kind. With blood not circulating properly, there is a sense that the regulator is not delivering air. Another cause can be a panic that causes shallow, distressed breathing that allows carbon dioxide to build up in the blood, again creating the illusion that the regulator is not working.

 

[DaleC]

Here's an example that just happened yesterday of why practicing responses helps when things go south. When the freeflow began, rather than panic, I decided to try and video the event. It also illustrates why I like totally redundant systems.

[video=youtube;BKKpuHxGENY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKKpuHxGENY&feature=youtu.be[/video]