Post by Slow DeathPost by Dive NewsUnfamiliarity with equipment may have contributed to Alaska diver's death
http://www.cdnn.info/safety/s031031a/s031031a.html
Once again an experienced diver kicks the bucket because he could not
ditch his weights. What's so fu*king difficult about dumping weights
and swimming to the surface from 35 feet?
Adrenalin, thats whats difficult.
Its gets all of us in different ways and with all the training in the world,
you cant plan for how the rush will hit you. Recent inquests, St Abbs and
Fort William, have shown that trained divers who get into difficulty,
sometimes dont do as they are trained.
Personally speaking I've not been in a serious situation diving (A couple of
freeflows and an entrapment) but in my line of work I have been trained in
how to deal with an armed raid. This involved mock ups and having knives
and unloaded guns pointed at me in a controlled environment. There is no
adrenelin rush in this situation, excitment yes, but fear of death no.
A year after this training took place, I was involved in an armed raid which
involved a pistol being aimed directly at me in 20 feet in front of me by a
14 year kid, in the space of 2 seconds I'd gone from going about my everyday
job to realising I'm very close to death and every action I do from here on
in, my life, and those of my staff depend on it. This wasn't a rush like
parachuting, bungee jumping, motorbiking or whatever, this was a life or
death situation. It like your first dive, jump, orgasm, all in one go and
then amplified 1000 times. You feel every heartbeat as if your heart is a
V12 engine in your chest, your limbs are ten times their weight, and your
blood feels 5 times its normal temperature. Forget about breathing, thats
an involuntary action that up until now you never thought about, then all of
the sudden you realise that you need to breathe and force your lungs open.
Thats all you think about for what seems like hours, but it is in fact micro
seconds. Then you react, some react as per training, do as the situation
dictates, the enemy is the dangerous animal, you are the hunted, you do as
they say. I can talk about from experience now.
Then there are ones who react with their instincts, to counter react or do
something completely irrational, these are normally the ones who currently
have an epitath six feet above their heads. Its not their fault, its not
the trainings fault, its natures fault for making us all different.
I have friends who have personal involvement with an underwater death. The
man they failed to resusitate was a man of good intelligence, who was a
trained, qualified and experienced diver who didn't react to a problem as he
was trained (his BC hose was unconnected at the surface). This man was also
GP who had saved many lives and helped hundreds of people live a better or
longer life than nature intended.
Next time you find yourself, a loved one or a friend, being dragged out of
the water, just remember those who are trained to keep you alive, and
experience adrenalin rushes similar to those I speak of, whilst performing
CPR etc.
Whats so f**king difficult about that then?
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