SCUBA diving is often described as peaceful escape into the beautiful underwater world. But this amazing underwater environment can also be very dangerous for us humans, as we are not designed to live underwater. One of the greatest dangerous divers can face underwater is not a shark, as often presented, or perhaps equipment failure, the biggest danger is panic. Panic can transform easily manageable situation into a life-threating emergency within seconds. Understanding what triggers panic and how it can be prevented is crucial for both beginners and experienced divers.
What is panic underwater?
Panic is reaction to unexpected situation that overrides rational thinking and problem-solving abilities. A diver suddenly losses control and instinct takes over, often leading to unsafe behaviours such as:
- Rapid and uncontrolled ascent to the surface, often while holding breath
- Spitting regulator out of the mouth
- Making uncontrolled movements that waste energy and air
- Putting in danger buddy and other divers while interfering with rescue attempts, etc..
Common triggers of panic
There are several factors which can lead divers to panic:
- Equipment related issues: flooded mask, free-flow regulator, perceived air shortage,…
- Environment: poor visibility, strong currents, cold water, or perhaps unexpected marine life encounters,…
- Psychological factors: claustrophobia, lack of confidence, task overloading, fear of drowning,…
- Physical stress: overexertion, fatigue, hypothermia, dehydration,…
Even minor inconvenience can escalate if diver is not prepared and ready to react properly.
A panicking diver is at extreme risk because his actions often go against safe diving practices.
The most common danger is rapid ascent to the surface which can lead to several medical emergencies, such as lung overexpansion injuries, arterial gas embolism and decompression sickness. All of these can be fatal for divers, and with proper training and continued practice risk of panic can be reduced to a minimum.
Training and prevention
In SCUBA diving, calmness is not an option – it is mandatory technical skill such as buoyancy control or regulator recovery. In order to be calm underwater, divers have to be comfortable underwater first. In order to be comfortable underwater divers have to master and be proficient in performing all required Open Water skills.
During training, instructors have to simulate different scenarios that helps divers to train for certain situations they may encounter underwater, but unfortunately this is not the case with most instructors.
For example: Mask removal and placement, which is one of the skills from Open Water SCUBA diver course. Doing the skill once during Open Water diver course, while kneeling on the bottom, is not the right way and definitely not enough to be proficient. This skill should be practiced in various different (realistic) scenarios that will teach divers how to react in real-life situation while remaining calm and maintaining proper buoyancy and trim.
But completing the skill during the course only is also not sufficient. Skill has to be practiced continuously after completion of the course, so the diver maintains so called “muscle memory”. Only with continued training and practice divers can maintain ability to react properly if emergency occur.
This is where most divers make mistake, where after completion of a course they do not practice any of the skills again.
Skills such as gas sharing, controlled emergency swimming ascent (CESA), free-flow regulator, body recovery, mask removal, DSMB deployment, and so on, all those skills should be practiced on regular basis and under task load as well.
For example: ascending to the surface without mask while controlling previously deployed DSMB; ascending to the surface while gas sharing and completing safety stop; or ascending to the surface with free-flow regulator while controlling ascent speed, tank pressure and close contact with buddy.
Sending DSMB from depth is very important skill to practice, and it should be sent at the end of each dive, for procedure to become second nature, so when in emergency situation DSMB deployment goes as quick and as smooth as possible.
Having good, knowledgeable and “up to date” modern instructor plays crucial part in your diving education. Instructor, especially on higher more advanced level courses, should be chosen carefully. Many divers when searching for courses are searching by SCUBA agencies. But at the end of the day, it is not the agency that is doing the course, it is instructor. So, choosing the instructor is way more important than the agency the instructor is teaching for.
Most popular SCUBA agencies come under the same standards, and a diver can cross from one to another with each course, so what agency a diver chose is completely irrelevant. Instructor is the one who makes difference. Do a research, check reviews, talk to buddies and other divers, look for instructor that match your type of diving,…. and NEVER make decision based on cheapest option. If you are trying to save 50 or 100 euros on the course diving is definitely not activity for you.
Article author: Andrija Lukenda