Scary OW certification weekend

[tracydr]

It's still not the instructor's job to decide this. In fact, as an instructor, I would expect him to error on the conservative side and encourage the student to get checked out. If he refused, and it were me or my husband, we would not let him back in the water. Any exertion, even putting tanks away, would not be allowed. I'd really be worried about letting him drive home by himself. Might be nothing but might be something.
hindsight is 20/20 but at the moment, it is hard to diagnose any type of chest pain, difficulty breathing and anxiety is terribly hard to separate from other types of chest pain, even for medical professionals. Add to this, the frothy, pink sputum, well, too much.

 

[Scoober]

Is this for real? Or is someone yanking chain? If this story is for real, the instructor needs the credentials pulled. No question about it. I have taught a great many courses and this is outrageous.

 

[CindyMac]

I hope you have sought medical help - I am an RN (pediatric intensive) and sounds quite like pulmonary edema - lung injury. Shame on your instructor! Please do as others have suggested. Hope you will be okay.

 

[Scoober]

Agree. Get to a doc as soon as you can. You certainly don't want gas bubbles flowing through you circulatory! And then file a report with the cert agency. You may also want to give a call to Divers Alert Network.

 

[ktomlinson]

Wouldn't bubbles, if they were ever present, have gone away by now? It is eleven days later.

 

[Scoober]

Not if there is a tear in a lung

 

[OnTheDescent]

Did he get cert or not? While his post, however unbelievable, says he got his cert his personal info says hes not certified. My instructor would have never let me continue!

---------- Post Merged at 08:08 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:01 PM ----------

Absolutely not! Air might get messed with in pool trainging but I never had my air shut off & bolted to the surface! My instructor would have fired me!

---------- Post Merged at 08:54 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:01 PM ----------

Im SSI Cert & air is turned off in a controlled pool invironment. Air loss & weight dropping were not practiced in OW. My SSI instructor rocked! I got more than I paid for!

 

[arthurmnev]

There were a couple of times when i tried to pick up an egg and ended up dropping them. The first time i dropped one i was able to swim down hard, and grab it before it fell to the bottom. The 2nd time i dropped one i swam down hard to try and get it but realized i was going too deep so i gave up, and just let it drop. I then came back up to where everyone else was. I felt exerted after that last sprint and was trying to continue swiming along with the group, but i just couldnt slow down my breathing after sprinting down to save that last egg. I started taking really big breaths, and i just couldnt seem to get enough air in my lungs. I started hypervenilating bad! I knew something was really wrong, and i needed to try to slow down my breathing, but despite my efforts i just couldnt catch my breath. It felt like a boa constrictor was wrapped around my chest, and squeezing the life outa me.
It was then that panic set in! I couldnt breathe, and i couldnt take it anymore! I seriously felt like i was going to die! I bolted to the surface as quick as i could! Nitrogeon be damned i had to breathe! When i got the surface i still was hypervenilating horribly but managed to inflate my bc and swim to the side. Some people rushed over and tried to help me. I felt like i was going to pass out. They helped me remove my equipment and that enabled me to breathe a little better. But then all this stuff started coming out of my lungs! I started coughing uncontrolably, and spitting out all this foamy pink tinged phlem. I think the pink tint must have been blood. My lungs felt raw. I wasnt congested so i dont know where all this stuff i was coughing up was coming from, but was sure coughing up alot! An instuctor who came up shortly after me took me back, and gave me O2 and after alot more coughing and hacking i started to feel better.

When you went deeper to catch the egg, and came back up when you realized you are too deep... did you forget to breathe out? This sounds like lung overexpension injury... go get it checked.

---------- Post Merged at 08:38 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:36 AM ----------

Did he get cert or not? While his post, however unbelievable, says he got his cert his personal info says hes not certified. My instructor would have never let me continue!

---------- Post Merged at 08:08 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:01 PM ----------

Absolutely not! Air might get messed with in pool trainging but I never had my air shut off & bolted to the surface! My instructor would have fired me!

---------- Post Merged at 08:54 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:01 PM ----------

Im SSI Cert & air is turned off in a controlled pool invironment. Air loss & weight dropping were not practiced in OW. My SSI instructor rocked! I got more than I paid for!

PADI air turn off is in the pool. CESA is in open water since there is no 30' pool around usually. And my instructor insisted I dont take the regulator out of my moth just dont breathe in.

 

[Hawkwood]

When you went deeper to catch the egg, and came back up when you realized you are too deep... did you forget to breathe out? This sounds like lung overexpension injury... go get it checked.

---------- Post Merged at 08:38 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:36 AM ----------



PADI air turn off is in the pool. CESA is in open water since there is no 30' pool around usually. And my instructor insisted I dont take the regulator out of my moth just dont breathe in.

In PADI confined water or open water dives, the air is not turned off during CESAs.

 

[mr_adrian70]

I just wanted to say that im appealing to scuba board to have my posting removed. So far my requests have been denied. I really wish this thread of mine would just disappear, but it dosent appear that it will. I dont feel that my instructors ever put me in harms way, and i feel now i was maybe a bit over dramatic in my recollection of the whole thing. After going to Er i was found to be in ok shape. I really regret sharing my story on this board. I had no idea all the trouble it would cause! It has created alot of problems for me, and the company i took my O.W. class through. I had no idea sharing my story could have such a negative impact on so many people,create so many hard feelings, and do so much damage to the reputation of a good local business. I am trying my best to smoothe things over now, and mend damaged relationships and reputations. I just want to put all this behind me, and be able to dive again! This is the last time i wish to discuss this matter. Hopefully after this, everyone will just let it go and i can finally move on.