Spiegel Grove??

[cnctina]

Did you get your advanced c-card?

 

[DandyDon]

The S.Gove is not as challenging now, I don't guess, now that it's upright, and the deck is horizonal. Still has the currents I guess.

Casemanager, it'd help if you'd complete your Dive Info, but it sounds like you need easy dive practice.

 

[diver_paula]

The latest Alert Diver has an article about an experienced diver and an underwater panic attack. Although the diver in the article didn't end up bolting to the surface from depth, the article may give you a better perspective or at the least a comparison to see if your symptoms were similar.

Paula

 

[TekDiveGirl]

First off - I am glad you are ok and we didn't read about you in the dive accidents email list. Now on to other thoughts --

I am not laying blame on anyone, i ascended on my own. i tried to find my buddy, i tried to get other divers attention, i tried to find the dm but i was in a state of panic, hyperventilation, and extreme vertigo, plus i was scared out of my mind. had i not ascended, i think about what if i blacked out, what if i had a heart attack at 90', what if i went down instead of up. The fact was i was with a group of 7 students and 3 dms. i was taking my checkout dive for my advanced course. I read that there have been 6 deaths on the spiegel in the last 6 months. Maybe its not a good wreck dive to take advanced beginners on.

First when you start to panic you will get tunnel vision and also miss a lot of the obvious. People could have been much closer than you realized. I find it hard to believe that there were 4 dive professionals working in the water and none were aware of what was going on. Maybe it is the case - but something seems awry here.

Second - you have as much responsibility to stay with your buddy as your buddy has to stay with you. As a certified diver - you should have known where your buddy was or that s/he was even gone before you had the problems.

Third - cite please where you read there were 6 deaths in the last 6 mos on the SG.

Your posts read as if you are blaming everybody else for not doing their jobs and keeping you "safe." Even if you were taking your advanced class --- you are still a certified diver out there and have the ultimate responsibility for your welfare.

You don't have much experience -- 25 dives over 6 years is not a lot. How many dives do you have in the year before this experience? You should get more time in the water - doing easy-peasy dives in varying conditions before pushing yourself harder. Just because you did 105' on air in HI doesn't mean you can do it comfortably everywhere else. You were in conditions you have never experienced.

If I get back in the water again, I will only do it with a private instructor who is DAN qualified and it will be 1:1. Plus, I will only go with my doctor's permission.

If this is what you feel best doing - then by all means do so. For some people this would seem like overkill -- but this is your dive and you have to stay within your comfort level.

Kimber

 

[DandyDon]

okay, I missed that...

You don't have much experience -- 25 dives over 6 years is not a lot.

I am not one of the pros I suggested could best advise you here, but that's just not sensible. An newbie OW diver would have more skills than someone who does 4 dives a year. He was just in way over his head, and it sounds like the Instructor was foolish to take him there.

 

[tlawler]

The Spiegel is not a very challanging dive as wrecks go, and for that reason it is used by a lot of LDS as the wreck portion of the advanced class. I for one want to see the source quoted that "there have been at least six deaths in the last six months on the Spiegel". I personally think that is B.S. If it were true, the whole operation would have been shut down and a big investigation launched.

 

[pilot fish]

Is it at all possible that you had an inner ear problem first, which caused you to have vertigo, which in turn caused you to panic? I rememeber once feeling narc'd on my fourth dive of the day, a night dive, but thought, how is this possible, I'm ar 55 ft. I explained this to my LDS and was told that what I experienced was some inner ear thing. Did you have any congestion prior to the dive, or have a slight cold?

In your panic you inflated your bc, which you had to know would get you to the surface way too fast. Maybe if you had a bit more experience you would have kicked to the surface? I do realize that panic confuses everyone and then any and everything is possible. I was not in your fins that day but I THINK I would have looked at my air and when I saw I had enough air I would have either swam to a buddy/DM, or went to a safety stop. Again, easy to say when you are not panicked.

 

[Henryville]

I can't even fathom why any instructor would do any of the Advanced course at a challenging site like the Spiegel Grove. Especially when you consider that some of the students, albeit unfortunately, may be brand new O/W divers with only 4 shallow dives under their belt, and may never have experienced those conditions. Why even take the chance? :06:

Boy, do I agree with that. There are so many other sites around there that would be more appropriate...

 

[*Floater*]

I couldnt get attention of any of the divers about 5 feet below me and my buddy was no where to be seen. ...

Maybe you should get a tank banger, or some sort of noise maker or whatever people use these days to get the attention of other divers.

I wouldn't quit though. Just do a bunch of easy dives with either a DM or a very experienced buddy who's willing to look out for you extra carefully. See how it goes and whether you can ease yourself back into diving again.

Maybe you could hire an experienced instructor to train you to deal with this type of a panic attack under different conditions should it ever reoccur. I'm sure there are things you could do safely dive again, but then again I'm just a guy on the interenet, and the doctor is a doctor...

 

[DandyDon]

Maybe you should get a tank banger, or some sort of noise maker or whatever people use these days to get the attention of other divers.

Or learn buddy diving 101...?

I wouldn't quit though. Just do a bunch of easy dives with either a DM or a very experienced buddy who's willing to look out for you extra carefully. See how it goes and whether you can ease yourself back into diving again.

Did you see the part where the doc told him to not dive?

Maybe you could hire an experienced instructor to train you to deal with this type of a panic attack under different conditions should it ever reoccur. I'm sure there are things you could do safely dive again, but then again I'm just a guy on the interenet, and the doctor is a doctor...

Better suggestion.