Is "learning the hard lesson" necessary?

[Tyger]

I was reading through the A&I "Lessons Learned" board, and I noticed there was a bit of a recurring theme with lessons from newer divers.

The basic outline of most of the stories is:

1. Diving as normal
2. Something unexpected happens
3. Panic ensues/tries to ensue
4. New diver fights to control the panic
5. Diver races to the surface/overcomes panic and slowly surfaces

Follow up posts then extol the virtues of learning what it feels like to panic, and be able to control it, and how that is an important lessons to learn/will make them a better diver the next time something unexpected happens.

And while I can't disagree in those cases, the feeling I get from a lot of the responses is that "If you haven't had one of those near panic experiences when you're starting, you'll have more trouble when something unexpected happens later on".

My fiancee and I both got our OW certs recently, and both of us had something outside the lessons happen to us.

For her, it was on the first or second OW dive. I was flailing around a little, being more accustomed to traditional swimming than using fins. I managed to hook my arm around her regulator hose and yanked it out of her mouth. Easily a panic inducing situation for a diver their first time in the ocean to have their source of life violently deprived. Yet, she just grabbed it, put it back in, cleared it, and glared at me. (I don't recall if the last step was part of the training or not. )

For me it was after the final OW dive. I was volunteered by the instructor to help take down the attachments of the float to the bottom, where we had been doing the skills. (His assistant had already left with a few students who were getting too cold to do the post-skill tour.) While I was unscrewing one end from the sandy bottom, he swam off to unscrew the other end. Mind you, the vis was about 5 feet, so this was well out of my sight even though he was probably only a few kicks away, and in retrospect I should have paid more attention to the direction he went. But I didn't, I just unscrewed until it came out, briefly distracted by a couple cormorants joining me on the bottom. Once I had it out, I looked around and realized I had no idea where the instructor had gone. Again, easily a panic inducing moment for a new diver, being alone on the bottom with very low viz. But I didn't even think of panicking. I just took appraisal of the situation, remembered something I'd read in the PADI OW manual about rapping on the cylinder with a knife to get a buddy's attention. While the rental gear didn't have a knife, I realized this big metal pole in my hand would work better anyway. So I tapped a few times, he tapped a few times back in response, then a couple seconds later was back and ready to ascend.

Neither of us faced down panic in either incident. To believe the "lessons learned" threads about new divers, we're still not prepared to handle an emergency situation. I think we showed we can handle unexpected events quite level headed. However, I'm also not so vain and cocky to think I know even close to everything.

So I was wondering what other people thought. Is learning to face down panic an important lesson, or can some people just manage to always have a level head about it from the start?

 

[Blackwood]

I imagine every situation is different. I've only felt anything approaching panic while diving once, and I don't know if that experience would in any way play into another.

 

[Akimbo]

Everybody is wired different. Generally hard lessons/close calls result in more soul-searching and research that tends to be remembered throughout life. Here is one of the more interesting threads on panic that may be of interest:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/advanced-scuba-discussions/378868-panic-experienced-diver.html

 

[TMHeimer]

I have been in several uncomfortable situations, involving either currents or cramps. And my "experienced" buddy left me to hunt lobsters on a fairly deep wreck when I was new to diving. Again, uncomfortable. Maybe some of these times would've led someone else into panic. Perhaps being comfortable in water my whole life helped me out (I've only dived 7 years). Your question is a very good one, and one I have pondered before. I've never been anywhere near close to panic, so maybe that's not so good? I just don't know the answer. I usually take all safety precautions I can think of and stay away from dives that don't look right. Maybe I'll get lucky and never find out the answer. I do believe that anyone, regardless of experience, can panic given the right circumstances.

 

[toliver66]

Very good and interesting question. The incident that I had in my early diving days has always led me to say "...and I'm a better diver for it". But considering your question... maybe that is not an entirely accurate statement. I am not any more or less safety conscious or do any thing any differently than I would if I had never had that experience. I think the difference is in knowing how you will react in a panic situation as opposed to not knowing or hoping that you will react reasonably. Every situation is different... more or less threatening, perceived or other wise. And how you will respond to different situations is different. So the next time I have an indecent I may not do so well. One thing is for certain though, if you dive often enough for long enough something will go wrong at some point and there just really is no substitute for experience and preparedness. So has having passed a trial by fire made me a better diver? Yes and no. I am a more confident and comfortable diver but not to the point of complacency. I am more mentally prepared to deal with a panic situation than before knowing that I can keep a cool head and stop and think my way out of it. But in reality I'm no better or worse a diver than any other average diver out there.

 

[TMHeimer]

toliver66, You explain it well. It's interesting that the fewer dives you do over time, the less likely you are to get into trouble. The more dives you have, the more likely it is something bad will happen but you should be better prepared for it. That make sense?

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I was reading through the A&I "Lessons Learned" board, and I noticed there was a bit of a recurring theme with lessons from newer divers.

The basic outline of most of the stories is:

1. Diving as normal
2. Something unexpected happens
3. Panic ensues/tries to ensue
4. New diver fights to control the panic
5. Diver races to the surface/overcomes panic and slowly surfaces

Follow up posts then extol the virtues of learning what it feels like to panic, and be able to control it, and how that is an important lessons to learn/will make them a better diver the next time something unexpected happens.

And while I can't disagree in those cases, the feeling I get from a lot of the responses is that "If you haven't had one of those near panic experiences when you're starting, you'll have more trouble when something unexpected happens later on".

My fiancee and I both got our OW certs recently, and both of us had something outside the lessons happen to us.

For her, it was on the first or second OW dive. I was flailing around a little, being more accustomed to traditional swimming than using fins. I managed to hook my arm around her regulator hose and yanked it out of her mouth. Easily a panic inducing situation for a diver their first time in the ocean to have their source of life violently deprived. Yet, she just grabbed it, put it back in, cleared it, and glared at me. (I don't recall if the last step was part of the training or not. )

For me it was after the final OW dive. I was volunteered by the instructor to help take down the attachments of the float to the bottom, where we had been doing the skills. (His assistant had already left with a few students who were getting too cold to do the post-skill tour.) While I was unscrewing one end from the sandy bottom, he swam off to unscrew the other end. Mind you, the vis was about 5 feet, so this was well out of my sight even though he was probably only a few kicks away, and in retrospect I should have paid more attention to the direction he went. But I didn't, I just unscrewed until it came out, briefly distracted by a couple cormorants joining me on the bottom. Once I had it out, I looked around and realized I had no idea where the instructor had gone. Again, easily a panic inducing moment for a new diver, being alone on the bottom with very low viz. But I didn't even think of panicking. I just took appraisal of the situation, remembered something I'd read in the PADI OW manual about rapping on the cylinder with a knife to get a buddy's attention. While the rental gear didn't have a knife, I realized this big metal pole in my hand would work better anyway. So I tapped a few times, he tapped a few times back in response, then a couple seconds later was back and ready to ascend.

Neither of us faced down panic in either incident. To believe the "lessons learned" threads about new divers, we're still not prepared to handle an emergency situation. I think we showed we can handle unexpected events quite level headed. However, I'm also not so vain and cocky to think I know even close to everything.

So I was wondering what other people thought. Is learning to face down panic an important lesson, or can some people just manage to always have a level head about it from the start?

I don't want to sound like a jerk.. but... if you think getting a reg ripped from your mouth or momentarily being separated from a buddy are justifiable, panic inducing events... then you have a lot to learn. Sooner or later, if you continue to dive, you both will be confronted with bigger challenges. Hopefully with continued experience, these challenges will also be a non-event.

There is a reason why people have the attitude that "you are not a good diver 'til you scare the crap out of yourself". Not that you should try to do that, but when things happen and you resolve them, it will give you much more confidence.

I still remember "my first big scare". I was 14 yrs old, doing a 80-ft solo wreck dive in rough conditions in NJ. I jumped off a very high bow, and when i hit, the tank slipped through the backpack and I was retaining the tank and reg, only by my teeth. I made it to the back of the boat in very rough conditions and someone helped me to get out. I could not inflate my BC, because back then there were no power inflators and i did not want to lose a tank and reg. (I was a dishwasher, gear was expensive back then).

I got safely back on the boat and it took all my guts to tighten down the tank band and walk to the front and prepare to do another entry. It had grown to 8 ft seas by then and the captain called the dive for me. Getting back on the horse and deciding to enter the water again was a big, BIG accomplishment for me (even though the dive was scrubbed). Sounds kinda silly to me now, but I still remember it well.

So I guess the moral of the story is that an incident really has to test your abilities for you to gain something from it.

 

[flots am]

Follow up posts then extol the virtues of learning what it feels like to panic, and be able to control it, and how that is an important lessons to learn/will make them a better diver the next time something unexpected happens.

And while I can't disagree in those cases, the feeling I get from a lot of the responses is that "If you haven't had one of those near panic experiences when you're starting, you'll have more trouble when something unexpected happens later on".

. . .

So I was wondering what other people thought. Is learning to face down panic an important lesson, or can some people just manage to always have a level head about it from the start?

"What to do while panicking" is the wrong take-away from the incidents.

The real lesson that should be learned is that everything taught in a good OW class is really important, and if you actually learned, remembered and practiced what you learned every time, the event would not have occurred. This is more difficult than it sounds because many of the important items have a tasty sugar coating because the certification agencies don't want to scare you or hurt the the dive operators businesses. You need to really read and understand the words.

Nearly everything in A&I that isn't a medical problem involves doing something that was warned against in class or not doing something that was mandatory in class.

Stuff to do:

• Gas planning: Doesn't need to be anything complicated, just enough to know how to not run out of air and have enough left for an air-share if necessary
• Skills: All those annoying things like mask and regulator clearing and retrieval, remove and replace equipment underwater and air sharing are important. You never know which one will save your bacon, so you need to be well practiced in all of them.
• Dive planning: Know where you're going before you get off the boat and decide if it's actually appropriate for you in your current condition with your current skill level. And that of your buddy.
• Dive your own dive. If you're low on air or whatever, it's (past) time to go up. The DM will be just fine without you.
• Predive checks. If anything isn't OK on the boat, it won't get better in the water.
• Bring cutting tools. Always. Everytime. No matter what. This was my big wakeup call. I'd rather be out of air than have no cutting tool. If you have a cutting tool, there's always more air on the surface.
• Reality check the dive against your skills. If there was no DM and the boat moored at the divesite and the captain said "We're here, have a good dive" would you get in? If the answer is "no", then you shouldn't go with the DM either.

Stuff to not do:

• Exceed the depth recommendations in your OW class. These were set by organizations that don't want to get sued. Your divemaster who says the 150' dive is just fine, has no assets and lives in a country where a lawsuit only works if you're well connected.
• Be a dumb-ass. A good portion of the A&I threads involve an initial post that leaves me wondering "What the hell was that diver thinking?"
• Dive with a dumb-ass. If you think someone is trouble on the surface, they won't get better in the water.

Stuff that might not have been in your class, but should have:

• "Follow me, everything will be fine" is not a valid dive plan.

flots

 

[Tyger]

Thanks everyone for the insight and different POV.

I don't want to sound like a jerk.. but... if you think getting a reg ripped from your mouth or momentarily being separated from a buddy are justifiable, panic inducing events... then you have a lot to learn.

<...snip...>

So I guess the moral of the story is that an incident really has to test your abilities for you to gain something from it.

First, not a jerk at all. I asked for input, and you're offering it.

Second, it seems to me from threads others linked that having your reg ripped out can indeed be panic inducing, even for seasoned divers.

But more to the point, as you said, it "has to test your abilities". That suggests something which is related to how good your abilities are. If you were doing solo dives to 80ft at 14, I'd imagine at that point you already had a good number of dives of experience. But for someone who doesn't even have their OW cert yet and is going into the ocean for the first time, it seems to me anything beyond mimicking a skill just shown and not bolting to the surface is already to the point of testing their abilities.

 

[TSandM]

I think every one of us has a point at which the lizard brain wakes up and says, "Out!" In some people, that place is easier to get to than it is for others, but we all have it. If you have an experience where that happens and you overcome it, you have learned that you can. It's a good lesson. But if you're the type of person who is phlegmatic and rarely shaken, you may never reach that point.

On the other hand, I had a dive buddy, who was a pretty strong diver and VERY comfortable in the water, with a long history of watersports other than diving, who completely panicked and lost it the first time his mask flooded in cold water. He had been certified in warm, and had never practiced mask skills in Puget Sound. He was completely unprepared by his reaction to the flood, and quite ashamed; he almost quit diving that day.

So even people who are generally confident and phlegmatic can have an unforeseen issue suddenly flip their switch. I wouldn't go LOOKING for that kind of experience (except perhaps under very capable instruction) but it is a useful lesson, when you learn it.