How you prep for it is by diving regularly and working on those things that you feel may freak you out. Mask coming off? Halfway through a dive just whip yours off and swim without it then replace it. Make sure your buddy knows you are going to do this. Reg kicked out? Don't get so close to people. Keep your distance. Switch between your primary and octo several times on every dive. Make it muscle memory.
And work on buddy skills. There is no reason as an OW diver to get separated from your buddy unless something catastrophic happens. Too bad many OW classes are not taught this way. You should never be more than arms reach away from your buddy in the beginning. If your buddy is always behind you, slow the heck down. If they are always in front, they need to slow down. Above or below you? Somebody needs to work on buoyancy skills. And if you have to go single file through an area as a new diver you really have no business being there in the first place. It's too tight.
But this message is also often lost when instructors show new divers that buddy skills are meaningless by taking them on single file swims.
And work on buddy skills. There is no reason as an OW diver to get separated from your buddy unless something catastrophic happens. Too bad many OW classes are not taught this way. You should never be more than arms reach away from your buddy in the beginning. If your buddy is always behind you, slow the heck down. If they are always in front, they need to slow down. Above or below you? Somebody needs to work on buoyancy skills. And if you have to go single file through an area as a new diver you really have no business being there in the first place. It's too tight.
But this message is also often lost when instructors show new divers that buddy skills are meaningless by taking them on single file swims.