Jayde323
Contributor
Saturday morning, hubby and I were in the Keys diving the Bibb. We had never dove this site before and prior to this our max depth was about 92 feet. We were excited about this dive since we had planned to hit 100' for the first time. My hubby was the leader on the dive, but I went down the mooring line first since I had some sinus issues a few days before and may need more time to clear my ears. As soon as we made it down 20' or so, the current picked up. We got to the bottom of the mooring line and dropped down behind the wreck to get out of the current and explore a bit. My computer started beeping letting me know I was getting close to my MOD since I was diving nitrox, and I let my husband know this. Everything was still in the limits of our dive plan and we continued to explore a little. At this time we were at 105 feet diving 32% EAN. All of a sudden, it hit me. My chest tightened, my breathing picked up and my mind started racing. It felt like a full blown anxiety attack. It took a few seconds to get my bearings, and before I knew it, I had dropped to 111', the MOD for 32% EAN. I kicked up a few feet and tried to calm myself down. In what seemed like an hour, but was more likely 15 seconds, the rational part of my brain instantly went to my rescue training. I knew I could start to panic any second and knew I had to get my husbands attention. As soon as my husband saw me, he knew I was having an issue. I signaled "up" to him, and he asked if I was OK. I signaled "up" to him again and we headed back to the mooring line. We grabbed onto the line and checked my air, 1800 psi. We started our way up the line facing each other, I started feeling better. I gave hubby the OK sign letting him know I was feeling better. We didn't do the pile stop at 50 feet like we had planned, but did a slow, safe ascent to 15 feet. We decided to do a full safey stop since I had plenty of air left, and I was feeling better. Back on the boat, we discussed what had happened and knew I had become narc'd. If it wasn't for our rescue training (and a fantastic instructor), I don't want to think about what might have happened. I am thankful that my husband was able to help me stay calm and knew exactly what we had to do.
We had 3 more dives planned that day, and after over an hour SIT time, we decided to do the rest of the dives. All happened without further issues. On Sunday, we had 2 dives planned, the Eagle and a reef. Everything was going great on the Eagle until I hit 97'. The anxiety started coming back again, but not nearly as strong. I signaled to my husband to go up. We went back to the mooring line and hung there for a few seconds and the feeling passed. We were able to spend a few more minutes on the dive, but hung close to the mooring line in case I had further issues. After the Eagle, we had a wonderful, relaxing, hour long dive on a reef just hangin with the fishies.
After we got home, we talked to our instructor, and a friend of ours who is also an instructor and both agreed I was narc'd. Overall, I am glad for the experience. What my husband and I learned from this is invaluable and I feel has made us better divers. Neither of us expected that one of us would have an issue. We never thought we would have to recall our rescue training at 111' in a strong current. But we did, and I think we handled it great.
To my hubby, thank you for being there when I needed you most. :kiss2:
We had 3 more dives planned that day, and after over an hour SIT time, we decided to do the rest of the dives. All happened without further issues. On Sunday, we had 2 dives planned, the Eagle and a reef. Everything was going great on the Eagle until I hit 97'. The anxiety started coming back again, but not nearly as strong. I signaled to my husband to go up. We went back to the mooring line and hung there for a few seconds and the feeling passed. We were able to spend a few more minutes on the dive, but hung close to the mooring line in case I had further issues. After the Eagle, we had a wonderful, relaxing, hour long dive on a reef just hangin with the fishies.
After we got home, we talked to our instructor, and a friend of ours who is also an instructor and both agreed I was narc'd. Overall, I am glad for the experience. What my husband and I learned from this is invaluable and I feel has made us better divers. Neither of us expected that one of us would have an issue. We never thought we would have to recall our rescue training at 111' in a strong current. But we did, and I think we handled it great.
To my hubby, thank you for being there when I needed you most. :kiss2: