Every summer, I watch recreational divers flood into the Florida Keys. The glassy ocean surface beckons, and with the sweltering summer heat, these visiting divers can't wait to get wet. Even though they haven't dived for months, these divers claim that they remember how to dive and that they do not need a refresher course. Part of this statement is usually true. Divers do remember how to dive; deflating a buoyancy compensator and kicking around underwater is pretty easy. Yet, even if only a year has passed since their open water certification course, most divers can still benefit from a refresher course. Diving is easy, but being a safe and knowledgable diver requires commitment and consistent review of emergency skills and dive theory. Safe divers must retain a huge repertoire of information that becomes rusty without review. A refresher course focuses on this easily forgotten information.
Certification Is Not an End in Itself:
A scuba certification lasts for life. Unfortunately, a large percentage of divers view scuba certification as an end in itself. They assume that once the certification course is over, they are done with studying and exercises. To illustrate how silly this is, imagine what would happen if other certification organizations had the same attitude. What if students could take a 6-hour Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) course and be certified for life without being required to review or update their skills? It's ridiculous! People forget skills they don't practice and must review them. For the same reason (most) training organizations suggest that divers periodically review course information under the supervision of an instructor.
For example, all PADI certified divers sign an agreement to follow the “Standard Safe Diving Practices Statement of Understanding,” part of which states that a certified diver agrees to
“Keep proficient in diving skills, striving to increase them through continuing education and reviewing them in controlled conditions after a period of diving inactivity, and refer to my course materials to stay current and refresh myself on important information.”
The fact that certification agencies know that divers do not remember all the information taught in the open water certification course should suggest a course of action. A wise diver will realize that information and skills are easily forgotten, and he will review this information to continue to be a safe diver.
Really, You Don't Remember Everything!:
Part of the reason certified divers are reluctant to enroll in a refresher course is that they truly believe they have not forgotten information and skills presented in the open water course. Test yourself! Do you remember anything about:
• the maximum safe ascent rate in terms of feet/meters per a minute
• how to tell if you have exceed the maximum safe ascent rate without using a watch, depth gauge or dive computer
• residual nitrogen times
• controlled emergency swimming ascents
• emergency decompression procedures
• use of the recreational dive tables
• testing for proper weighting
Surprised? This is only a short list of some of the absolutely essential safety information divers must retain. If there is any information on this list that you are not completely comfortable using on your own or underwater in an emergency, a refresher course is in order. The good news is that this information was covered in your open water course, and most divers remember it quickly after a brief review.
Refreshed Divers Enjoy Their Dives More:
Most divers won't admit it, but they experience some level of anxiety when returning to the water after not diving for a period of time. Taking a refresher course and reviewing knowledge and skills before diving helps to reduce pre-dive anxiety and makes a return to diving more enjoyable.
What Does a Refresher Course Include?:
Most refresher courses include a combination of dive theory, in-water skill practice, and supervised dives. When possible, divers should enroll in a refresher course with their dive buddy. This allows dive buddies to work to work together to fine tune rescue skills before a real emergency arises.
• Theory
Many instructors administer a quick exam which tests basic dive theory. This allows the instructor to assess what information the diver has retained, and what information he would benefit from reviewing. After the theory portion of a refresher course, divers should feel proficient in use of the recreational dive tables, emergency procedures, proper pre-dive checks and ascent/descent procedures, underwater communications, and the theory behind equalization and buoyancy.
• Skill Practice
Most instructors are aware that you remember how to clear your mask. Reteaching you basic diving skills is not the point of the refresher course. While many instructors may have divers briefly run through basic diving skills in the pool to build diver confidence, the focus should be on skills that divers may have forgotten through disuse. These skills include equipment set up and disassembly, alternate air source use, controlled emergency swimming ascents, low pressure inflator detachment and oral inflation, buddy checks, ascent and descent procedures (do you remember the five point ascent and descent?), and compass use/ navigation.
• Supervised dive
Make your triumphant return to the water safe by completing the refresher course with a supervised dive. Your first dive after a period of diving inactivity should be shallow and easy. An instructor or divemaster can help you with pre-dive jitters and any unanticipated problems.
How Long Does a Refresher Course Last?:
Refresher courses are usually short, because a diver simply reviews information he knew in the past. The average length of a refresher course is half a day to a whole day, depending upon the diver's needs and whether an open water dive is included.
How to Avoid a Refresher Course:
Whether from pride, a limited pocketbook, or another reason, many divers simply refuse to enroll in a refresher course. While a refresher course under the supervision of an instructor is always preferable, there are ways to stay up-to-date with your diving skills without an instructor.
1. Dive regularly.
The local, algae-filled lake may not be as exciting as a tropical reef, but if you make a commitment to diving a few weekends every month, you will retain more diving skills and information than if you only dive on vacation.
2. Re-read Your Open Water Book
Keep your knowledge of dive theory current by reviewing the information in the open water manual. Pay special attention to topics such as dive table use, buoyancy and pressure-depth relationships -- you know, the boring stuff you have probably already forgotten. If you know you have a wait ahead of you, such as at the dentist's office, bring your open water book to read while you wait. Short reviews of small amount of information are frequently more effective than a long study session.
3. Practice Emergency Skills With Your Dive Buddy
If you always dive with the same buddy, review emergency skills with your buddy regularly. Practice ascending at the end of the dive sharing air, or decide to only orally inflate your buoyancy compensator for an entire dive. Using skills regularly makes them comfortable and automatic.
What is the one skill you should not practice in the open water without the supervision of a dive professional? The controlled emergency swimming ascent. This skill has risks such as pulmonary barotrauma and decompression illness when preformed incorrectly.
Just like CPR skills, your diving skills become rusty when not used. This is normal. Forgetting information about diving does not mean you are unintelligent, a bad diver, or insufficient in some other way. It happens to everyone. Before your next dive vacation, be honest with yourself and acknowledge that you may not remember everything about diving. Plan on a refresher course before hitting the water, and you will not only be safer, but more confident and will enjoy your dives more.
If you have any questions give us a call at Blue Iguana Charters and we will be glad to help you. Our number is 561-385-2385
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning
The new captain jumped from the cockpit, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the owners who were swimming between their anchored sportfisher and the beach. “I think he thinks you’re drowning,” the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. “We’re fine, what is he doing?” she asked, a little annoyed. “We’re fine!” the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. ”Move!” he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not ten feet away, their nine-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, “Daddy!”
How did this captain know – from fifty feet away – what the father couldn’t recognize from just ten? Drowning is not the violent, splashing, call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. If you spend time on or near the water (hint: that’s all of us) then you should make sure that you and your crew knows what to look for whenever people enter the water. Until she cried a tearful, “Daddy,” she hadn’t made a sound. As a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, I wasn’t surprised at all by this story. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for, is rarely seen in real life.
The Instinctive Drowning Response – so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect. There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents) – of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC). Drowning does not look like drowning – Dr. Pia, in an article in the Coast Guard’s On Scene Magazine, described the instinctive drowning response like this:
1.Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled, before speech occurs.
2.Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.
3.Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water, permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.
4.Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.
5.From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.
(Source: On Scene Magazine: Fall 2006 (page 14))
This doesn’t mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn’t in real trouble – they are experiencing aquatic distress. Not always present before the instinctive drowning response, aquatic distress doesn’t last long – but unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in their own rescue. They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc.
Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are in the water:
■Head low in the water, mouth at water level
■Head tilted back with mouth open
■Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus
■Eyes closed
■Hair over forehead or eyes
■Not using legs – Vertical
■Hyperventilating or gasping
■Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway
■Trying to roll over on the back
■Ladder climb, rarely out of the water.
So if a crew member falls overboard and everything looks OK – don’t be too sure. Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don’t look like they’re drowning. They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck. One way to be sure? Ask them, “Are you alright?” If they can answer at all – they probably are. If they return a blank stare, you may have less than 30 seconds to get to them. And parents – children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out
How did this captain know – from fifty feet away – what the father couldn’t recognize from just ten? Drowning is not the violent, splashing, call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. If you spend time on or near the water (hint: that’s all of us) then you should make sure that you and your crew knows what to look for whenever people enter the water. Until she cried a tearful, “Daddy,” she hadn’t made a sound. As a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, I wasn’t surprised at all by this story. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for, is rarely seen in real life.
The Instinctive Drowning Response – so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect. There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents) – of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC). Drowning does not look like drowning – Dr. Pia, in an article in the Coast Guard’s On Scene Magazine, described the instinctive drowning response like this:
1.Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled, before speech occurs.
2.Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.
3.Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water, permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.
4.Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.
5.From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.
(Source: On Scene Magazine: Fall 2006 (page 14))
This doesn’t mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn’t in real trouble – they are experiencing aquatic distress. Not always present before the instinctive drowning response, aquatic distress doesn’t last long – but unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in their own rescue. They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc.
Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are in the water:
■Head low in the water, mouth at water level
■Head tilted back with mouth open
■Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus
■Eyes closed
■Hair over forehead or eyes
■Not using legs – Vertical
■Hyperventilating or gasping
■Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway
■Trying to roll over on the back
■Ladder climb, rarely out of the water.
So if a crew member falls overboard and everything looks OK – don’t be too sure. Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don’t look like they’re drowning. They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck. One way to be sure? Ask them, “Are you alright?” If they can answer at all – they probably are. If they return a blank stare, you may have less than 30 seconds to get to them. And parents – children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out
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