(Renamed by NAUI to This Could Happen To You)
by
Larry "Harris" Taylor, Ph.D.
This is an
electronic reprint of an article that appeared in NAUI NEWS (Mar/Apr. 1989,
39-40) under the title This Could Happen To You. This material is copyrighted
and all rights retained by the author. This article is made available as a
service to the diving community by the author and may be distributed for any
non-commercial or Not-For-Profit use.
All rights reserved.
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I wish to share with the members of the diving community an incident that occurred to me while I was conducting a specialty class in Navigation/Search and Recovery. This class was one module of a training program that ultimately leads to certification as a Master diver. This incident occurred on the second day of training for this particular specialty rating.
The second morning's protocol involved establishing a 100-foot
baseline at a depth of 20 - 26 feet. After the students had completed their
search-pattern and kick-cycle determination exercises from this baseline, they were told that they would be
required to swim the length of the line without their masks.
The exercise was conducted in the following manner: The divemaster waited with the three students at one end of the 100-foot line. I was
on my knees at the starting point a few feet away. One at a time they got on
their knees directly in front of me (at least one knee was on the line) and
after the appropriate signal removed their mask and gave it to me. I held the mask and waited as they found
the line. They had been told to swim with the fingers of one hand encircling the
line. After swimming 100 feet to the end of the line, they turned around and
swam back to the starting point. As they swam, I was at all times directly above
the students with my hand on their tank valve. After swimming the two 100 ft.
lengths, the students were given their masks. After the students had replaced
and cleared their masks, they were given a handshake. The exercise was repeated
until all of the students had done the swim.
The first two students performed this exercise with no
difficulty. The third student (who had expressed no vocal concerns about the
exercise, as compared to the other two who had expressed a lot of verbal
anxiety) knelt in front of me and very tentatively flooded her mask, immediately
cleared her mask and violently began shaking her head "no." (This surprised me:
This certified advanced diver had been diving almost two years, had at least
five specialty ratings, had more than 40 dives, had no real difficulty clearing
mask or regulator during the previous day's exercises, had been helping others
in their basic open water training and had come to me for preparation
to become an instructor.)
I signaled "OK?" She responded " OK." I placed my hand on her
shoulder and signaled for her to proceed. She gave me the OK and slowly flooded
her mask. Her respiration rate by this time was very rapid. After several
seconds, she again cleared her mask and looked at me. I signaled "OK?" and she
responded "OK." Once again she flooded and cleared her mask and indicated that
she was OK! (Her respiration rate was still rapid. I assumed that she realized
that she had a problem and was using the multiple mask clearings to get more
comfortable.)
Suddenly, she ripped off her mask and handed it to me. As soon
as I took it, she spit out her regulator and bolted for the surface. I latched
on to her. I attempted to lock my ankles at right angles in an effort to slow
her kick. (The divemaster told me later she was kicking furiously) She struck me
repeatedly in the face, her fists bouncing off my mask and regulator. (After the
incident one of my students pointed out that I had a bloody nose.) At some
point, her blows must have ripped her snorkel keeper because I surfaced with
only the snorkel in my hand. (My divemaster had retrieved her mask on his ascent
with the other students.) I noticed that she was not exhaling. I got scared! I
raised my left hand toward her mouth (my intent was to pinch her between the
upper and lower jaw to open her mouth).
She screamed! (She later told me that she had sensed my hand coming up
and thought that I was going for her throat and that that was why she had
screamed.) She screamed and fought and kicked for the rest of the ascent.
As soon as we broke the surface, I asked her "What is your
name?" She looked at me, as if waking up from a dream, and said nothing. I
inflated her b.c. and told her to relax. She whispered her name. The incident
was over.
I broke the class for lunch and talked privately with the
student. I gave her an opportunity to repeat the exercise. She declined. I then
pointed out to her that:
1. Everyone has a panic threshold and that today hers had been
exceeded.
2. A rapid
uncontrolled ascent in panic is a most definite life-threatening situation.
3. If I had not
slowed her ascent, there was a high probability that the incident could have
caused an air embolism and that could have been a fatal injury.
4. I did not
think it was unreasonable for a diver to be able to function without a mask. In
fact, I believed that it was an essential basic scuba skill.
5. As a basic diver, I was expected to repeatedly swim without a mask. Although I have
rarely taught basic classes, when I have done so, swimming without a mask was
part of that training.
6. She had a definite problem that today we had clearly defined. I
suggested that she practice putting her face in a bathtub filled with cold water
and practice breathing using only a snorkel until she could be comfortable.
7. Lastly, I
pointed out that to her that, unlike some, I strongly believed that
dive-training personnel should not only know how to dive, but do so with ease
and comfort. I told her that I believed that it was both improper and unwise for
her to continue in the open water training of novice divers until she could be
comfortable in the water.
The purpose of
this article is to remind everyone, particularly newer instructors, that:
1. Everyone has a panic threshold.
2. For some
people, the difference between "discomfort" and "panic" may be very small and that this
difference can be breached in a very short time.
3. The
"escape-to-the-surface" behavior may be explosively initiated.
4. Under stress, the "OK" signal may be a reflex and NOT an indication of diver status.
5. As
instructors, we often stress our students so that they, in turn, can widen their
own personal comfort zone". As we do this, we must always be prepared to prevent
their discomfort or panic from leading to a catastrophic event.
Incidentally, I still strongly believe that divers should be able to function without their masks and this exercise will continue to be part of my training program.
Post-Publication Addendum:
After this incident, I was discussing the situation with a fellow instructor. He knew this student; she was in one of his basic classes. He had not sanctioned her for open-water training because she was, in his opinion, not comfortable in the pool and needed more in-water time. Apparently, she did not like his evaluation, so she had left and went to another dive shop: not comfortable in the pool in one place and a dive leader in another.
The main reason I wrote this article was that, as a new instructor, I had read about divers in distress and in rescue classes had learned techniques (mostly on the surface) for handling distressed divers. But, the sudden transition to explosive violence of this incident shocked me. The bloody nose and two black eyes from this event were a valuable lesson in pointing out the difference between reading about escape to the surface behavior and experiencing it.
Basic training should be such that such minor in-water events as a flooded mask or broken fin strap become a mere inconvenience instead of a life-threat.
For prospective dive leaders:
Consider: The only way to determine a diver's skill level/ in-water comfort is in-water evaluation
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An Arabic translation occurs at https://mobilemall.pk/sp/battle-royale
Mohammad Usman Wagan's Urdu Translation: https://mobilemall.pk/blog/battle-royale/
About The
Author:
Larry "Harris" Taylor, Ph.D. is a biochemist and Diving Safety
Coordinator at the University of Michigan. He has authored more than 200 scuba
related articles. His personal dive library (See Alert Diver, Mar/Apr, 1997, p.
54) is considered one of the best recreational sources of information In North
America.
All rights reserved.
Use of these articles for personal or organizational profit is specifically denied.
These articles may be used for not-for-profit diving education