Scary OW certification weekend

[Chutton47]

Doctormike I agree with you, my background is in emergency medicine, with little experience in baromedicine. I am also a new diver so the I dont have the experience as many others do. After sitting and reviewing the details again I would have to put immersion pulmonary edema at the top of the list. Sorry Mike for the quick two bit answer....

 

[JamesK]

OP,

I am glad you are OK. That is a biggy right there.

It seems like you have a history of "panic" in the water. Even in your Discover Scuba class you stated you had a feeling of panic. Did you discuss this with your instructor? For an instructor to take a student back in to the water who was panicking as horribly as your were, is not very responsible. It is down right dangerous IMO. I understand you have a dream of SCUBA diving. All of us here share that passion, and do not want to see anyone needlessly hurt pursuing that dream. You could have been seriously hurt. I can understand taking you in the water to snorkel. However, once you showed those symptoms again, you should have been pulled from the water immediately. No arguing. You need to get back in the pool and work in the pool for hours on end until you are 100% comfortable in the water. Then you need to be in shallow, less than 20ft, water gradually working your way in to things to expand your comfort zone. I have no doubt that you can do this and make your October trip, but to think that you are going to be OW ready now, or even after one more session is ludicrous in my mind.

I wish you safe diving, and a lifetime of happiness pursuing your dream.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

I have one question for the OP.

Is the instructor medically qualified to make a field diagnosis of the "blood in the foamy sputum"? He made a medical decision to put you on oxygen. He obviously thought you needed it.

A minor curiosity point, but I think I know the answer. Was an incident report filed with his certification agency?

I am happy to see you are ok. I hope you will apply what you have learned from this incident and here. We all wish for you to not become a story with a different ending in the A&I section of this board.

 

[nimoh]

Greetings Mr Adrian I am very glad you are ok.
Never be afraid to seek professional medical attention for a scuba related incident.
Join DAN if you have not as they are the best in the business at scuba related issues and your insurance is so well worth it!

Do not mistake all the attention on the thread as negative as most here are concerned for your welfare but can come across a bit condescending. They really mean well and sticking to training standards is a HUGE mistake in the SCUBA industry.
If your feeling were hurt I am sorry, I can only speak for myself but I only wish you good things and safe diving in the future.

Please gain your experience slowly and safely while enjoying diving.
It is a awesome sport but not without risk so be prepared, EYE'S OPEN.
It does not take many accident threads to get a clear idea of just how dangerous it can be.

CamG Keep Diving....Keep Training....Keep Learning!

not really sure what you mean by "sticking to training standards is a HUGE mistake in the SCUBA industry". Can you elaborate?

 

[JamesK]

not really sure what you mean by "sticking to training standards is a HUGE mistake in the SCUBA industry". Can you elaborate?

Purely speculation here, but taken in context of his post I think he means "sticking to training standards is a huge problem in the SCUBA industry". Basically instructors not sticking to the standards is an issue. Of course, I could be 100% wrong.

 

[nimoh]

Purely speculation here, but taken in context of his post I think he means "sticking to training standards is a huge problem in the SCUBA industry". Basically instructors not sticking to the standards is an issue. Of course, I could be 100% wrong.

thanks, when I first read it I was a little confused, my interpretation was that CamG was saying that instructors shouldn't be following training standards, which made no sense in context

Looking back at the post, I don't think there is anything wrong with the wording, just my interpretation.

 

[doctormike]

Doctormike I agree with you, my background is in emergency medicine, with little experience in baromedicine. I am also a new diver so the I dont have the experience as many others do. After sitting and reviewing the details again I would have to put immersion pulmonary edema at the top of the list. Sorry Mike for the quick two bit answer....

Hahah... no worries, and I apologize for the snarky tone!

I have spent many years commenting online about medical things, both on this board and here, and I guess that has just left me very averse to making any sort of reassurance without examining a patient in person. But I certainly understand the instinct to try to share one's expertise.

 

[boulderjohn]

You do realize safety stops are optional right? No one in their right mind (even an instructor!) would do one if going OOA was a possibility.

...

Name the shop and Instructor and maybe I'll believe you.

I was sharing air. There really was no crisis. I was breathing comfortably on his regulator, and my instructor had plenty of air so why not make a safety stop?

I agree. There is no reason to skip a safety stop in that situation. In more advanced dive training, we teach divers to plan on maintaining enough reserve air to be able to perform all stops in an OOA situation. Doing a safety stop when the team has enough air to do so is the correct thing to do, not a sign of being out of your mind.

A minor curiosity point, but I think I know the answer. Was an incident report filed with his certification agency?

This is an excellent question. Such a report absolutely should have been filled out, and I suggest the OP call the shop to find out if it was.

 

[DukeAMO]

Incidentally, if your shop works like ours, we were actually covered by DAN insurance while we were students. The $25 membership was included in the course fee. You would know if this was the case because you would have filled out a short registration form. DH and I went ahead and got the full membership and insurance once we were certified, because it expires after the class ends.

I would still recommend a call to DAN, whether you were a member or not. It may not be safe to dive again before seeing a doctor with expertise in diving injuries and getting further tests.
Two useful articles:
Divers Alert Network
Divers Alert Network
"If, after dive-related pulmonary barotrauma, there is a satisfactory operational cause — an accidental rapid ascent, for example — AND if specific testing, which may include CT scanning, reveals no evidence of underlying lung disease, then the diver can consider a return to diving. The final decision should be made in consultation with a physician."

 

[ianr33]

I agree. There is no reason to skip a safety stop in that situation. In more advanced dive training, we teach divers to plan on maintaining enough reserve air to be able to perform all stops in an OOA situation. Doing a safety stop when the team has enough air to do so is the correct thing to do, not a sign of being out of your mind.

Yeah,but,I wouldn't consider an instructor with a bunch of uncertified divers a "team" If an instructor is sharing air with an OOA student how can he help any other students that may be having problems?

What is agency protocol in a situation such as this? (For non-certified divers)

And I still think this is an elaborate troll.