What actions do you take when you can't see and need help?

[WoodnDive]

Hi All!. Newbie with a question.

What happened:
My dive buddies (2 of them) and I made a shallow morning shore dive in Ft. Lauderdale by the Sea a couple weeks ago and I had a situation with my Tusa Liberator mask with the corrective lenses as I wear prescription glasses. Towards the end of the dive I noticed I couldn't keep a good seal around my face and things got out of hand quickly with this mask. The mask kept flooding and I kept clearing it and it would not stop flooding. Then for some strange reason my eyes started to burn really bad and my eye lids shut tight on me. Tight to the point it felt like a defensive action by my body to keep what ever was burning out of my eyes and so I took my mask off as a knee jerk reaction. I found my self in a situation telling myself I gotta signal my buddy for help. The first thing that came to mind was reach for my flash light and start waving it back and forth to get their attention. As I put my hand on my light my dive buddy was right there to help me and brought me to the surface. It took some time for my eye lids to relax and open up.

My thoughts:
A. I may have not rinsed the anti fog completely and it may have gotten in my eyes creating the burning sensation and may have affected the silicone in my mask creating the bad seal. I have had 20 dives on this mask and it has never flooded in this manner.
B. There is ALOT to be said on practicing basic skills during your dives as a newbie. I was able to breath without the mask and felt comfortable doing it.
C. Consistent set up of my gear allowed me to reach for my dive light with out even seeing and I found it. I knew where things were located and it felt good knowing my gear.
D. Having a good dive buddy is priceless. He was right there when I needed him. He and his wife were certified with me and I actually work with him.

My question:
A. Was reaching for my dive light to get my buddies attention the best thing to do? During a night dive I would have already have my light in my hand. It would then just be a matter of signaling for help.
B. What could I have done besides using my light? We do not carry tank bangers or noise makers.

 

[shmuggy]

What happened to you is unusual but you had a buddy and kept your wits about you so I think you are right- a form of noise would have also helped. There are tank bangers, there are also rattlers which are basically sealed tubes sealed with something in them to make a rattling noise and there are devices you can add to your BC that make a noise like a duck- I think they are called sub ducks. I must say that being able to breath without your mask was great- something I haven't done since being certified and should be practiced. So I would get a noise maker of sorts and then try to figure out why this happened- did you have sunscreen on causing the mask not to seal- or did the mask strap need to be tighter. It could be that that mask just doesn't fit your face that well and you need another model. Anyway- congratultions on a good save. I am sure some of the DMs on this forum will have great advice for you.

 

[Quero]

A way to make noise would also be my suggestion. You can even bang on your tank with a ring on your finger by making a fist with the ring finger bent slightly higher than the other fingers and then reaching around and tapping the tank. (Note that this won't work if your tank has one of those mesh or neoprene sleeves over it.)

 

[carlosrapa]

It is great your buddy was right there to notice, and it is great you stayed semi-calm and didnt go into super panic mode. I've dove Lauderdale-By-The-Sea... it is shallow and the current can be a pain. You can make a very loose fist and take your other hand bang it against your other hand it creates a sort of poping sound. Another idea I carry a dive knife (be careful with this idea, you dont want to cut anything you didnt intend to so it is a little risky you will need to assess your situatation) you could of banged it against your tank.

But the best bet is to follow your dive plan and include in it if we get seperated for a particular amount of time... meet at the surface. But definitely invest in some sort of noise maker.

 

[CamG]

Greetings WoodnDive you were good to have a good buddy in this spot.
Your thought process was about solving the issue and signaling your buddy so I think you did just fine,
Now could you have solved the issue by yourself?
If the answer is No or I don't know then you and your buddy need to stay close!

Acute buddy awareness can make a big difference as you already have experienced.
There is no excuse for not having good awareness and from OW it needs to be grown.
With every dive it should increase as you gain valuable experience.

When we were training a group of OW divers a husband treated his wives mask with some de-fog but did not rinse it out.
The result was a allergic reaction that literally closed her eyes!
It took irrigating them with saline, a lot of it and some Advil to relax her eyes.
Be very careful with de-fog and make sure you rinse it out.
After that I use my spit from that incident on till today!

Dive safe and keep that good buddy close and happy!

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

 

[Scuba_Noob]

As a side note, I only use spit to clean the mask - I find it's just as good as anti-fog (and significantly cheaper ), and your eyes won't have any type of reaction with your spit.

It sounds like you dropped your mask when you took it off. Otherwise, was there anything stopping you from putting it back on and clearing it (as you learned in your OW class? It was a good thing that your buddy was attentive and helpful, but it was also good that you stayed relatively calm.

The main solution I've heard of if you lose your mask and can't find it...and your buddy is nowhere close...is that you'll have to open your eyes to make sure you ascend slow enough (or just follow a wall up with your eyes closed). It will probably hurt like crazy. Or you could just do a CESA with your eyes closed.

 

[TSandM]

I had a dive with the same issue. My buddy, who is one of the most experienced and most capable divers in all of the PNW, suddenly signaled us he was having a problem. (He used his light, which works very well in our murky water, and then gave the signal "not okay" and pointed to his mask.) He also apparently got some defog in his eyes, that caused a violent reaction.

Clear, sunlit water creates challenges for dive teams, in terms of communication. Lights may or may not be useful, and if divers are wearing hoods, noisemakers may not be very useful, either. This is one of the big reasons why I was taught to do a constant scan, "What's my depth, where's my buddy, look at the fish . . . " so that only 30 seconds or so go by without me making some kind of check on my buddy's whereabouts and status. Sounds like your buddy was doing the same thing, which is great. (This is also an argument AGAINST the common practice of spreading teams way out when the visibility is good.)

 

[WoodnDive]

What happened to you is unusual but you had a buddy and kept your wits about you so I think you are right- a form of noise would have also helped. There are tank bangers, there are also rattlers which are basically sealed tubes sealed with something in them to make a rattling noise and there are devices you can add to your BC that make a noise like a duck- I think they are called sub ducks. I must say that being able to breath without your mask was great- something I haven't done since being certified and should be practiced. So I would get a noise maker of sorts and then try to figure out why this happened- did you have sunscreen on causing the mask not to seal- or did the mask strap need to be tighter. It could be that that mask just doesn't fit your face that well and you need another model. Anyway- congratultions on a good save. I am sure some of the DMs on this forum will have great advice for you.

Shmuggy,

Yes I have seen the noise maker rattlers that you mention and I will add it in my gear menu. I see now how they can be useful in the situation I had. I didn't have sun screen on and now that you mention it I do remember tightening the straps to get a better seal but it was not helpful. Thank you.

---------- Post Merged at 09:44 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:38 PM ----------

A way to make noise would also be my suggestion. You can even bang on your tank with a ring on your finger by making a fist with the ring finger bent slightly higher than the other fingers and then reaching around and tapping the tank. (Note that this won't work if your tank has one of those mesh or neoprene sleeves over it.)

Quero,
I am engaged! Not married as yet. Hope my lady doesn't see your post, she may hurry me down the aisle to make sure my scuba is complete with a ring on my hand! j/k. I will use your suggested technique in an emergency, it makes sense. I see what you mean on the sleeves. Thank you.

---------- Post Merged at 10:06 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:38 PM ----------

CamG,
I don't think I could have safely solved the problem without buddy. I knew I was only in 15ft of water but I also knew going to the surface was not the best idea at that moment. We have surfaced in the past and there was a guy on his jet ski floating right in our vicinity. I remember telling myself. Jeez, I didn't even hear this guy come in the area. My buddies wife had the dive flag so I would be a sitting duck at the surface.
Yes, we actually do try to stay close to one another. We are like kids in a candy store and things work out that we are no more than an arms reach away at times. Thank you.

 

[gcarter]

I have had a mild chemical burn in my eys from defog not completely rinsed and a partially filled mask. Not fun.

As an obvious step, I am now signifcantly more diligent in rinsing my mask

I have also switched to using baby shampoo. No more tears!

Good save.

 

[WoodnDive]

Scuba_Noob,
I didn't drop the mask at all. It was the constant flooding and then clearing and then flooding that made take it off. It felt as if with every mask clear I made, the situation with my eyes did not get better, I felt I should just take it off. I guess I became annoyed with it, having a flooded mask and not being able to see at the same time.
I do think if I didnt have the eyes shut tight issue and lost my mask I would be able to see my buddy and things would have been alot better. CESA with your eyes closed! Now that would be an interesting day! Thank you.

---------- Post Merged at 10:27 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:19 PM ----------

This is one of the big reasons why I was taught to do a constant scan, "What's my depth, where's my buddy, look at the fish . . . " so that only 30 seconds or so go by without me making some kind of check on my buddy's whereabouts and status.

TSandM
I will keep this in mind! Thank you.