Not a Pressure Panic
It was in an emergency situation but not a pressure panic.
I briefly considered my current options but as I was already choking on the brine, there was no panic but also no time for a lengthy decision process. Ascending quickly might cause serious medical pressure problems but I made a decision that I would worry about the consequences later. First, I wanted to get some air that wasn’t saturated with water and that would definitely be available at the surface.
I tugged my dive buddy’s fin and I pointed up. He interpreted my gesture as a second verification that we would start angling upwards for a controlled ascent. He nodded affirmative before turning away.
With the 20/20 vision of hindsight, I should have displayed more urgency to him. My guide was well experienced in SCUBA and doubtlessly would’ve gotten me to change to my spare regulator. But perhaps by this time it might’ve already been too late for that to save my life. I already had a significant quantity of seawater in my lungs.
As my partner resumed his track, I started swimming straight up. Remember that I still haven’t corrected my buoyancy issue and that means that I’m dragging extra weight with me. Luckily, I forgot about that. I also wasn’t in the panic mode that might’ve had me quickly inflating my buoyancy control device, to take a balloon ride up. That would have definitely had a terminal result.
My dive partner looked back to ensure I was trailing his wake on a shallow upward angle. Instead, he saw me climbing for the top and guessed I was experiencing nitrogen narcosis or pressure panic from the 100’ depth. In his catching up and arresting my upward progress, my friend did exactly as he should have done. He had no way of knowing that I was breathing liquid.
Wouldn’t It Be Nice To Have A Step-By-Step Affiliate Training Video Series?
Another diver witnessed the struggle and joined in halting my ascent. As a result I only made it up to approximately 50’ below the surface.
The pressure panic both other divers suspected is an interesting affliction, but I can’t equate myself as having experiencing pressure panic that day. The closest I came to even mild terror was in the falling/vertigo sensation but that was before I started drowning. I continued to be lucid and moderately calm through the whole emergency situation that followed. I had also spent time fire departments and had been in a few dangerous positions before without panic or loosing my head.
To be honest, I wasn’t even completely aware that my progress was being slowed. The two other divers had grappled me from below and outside of my mask’s peripheral vision range. I was drowning and was fully focused on my reaching the surface. I wan not in a pressure panic.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
