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My First Pool Rescue

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BennyB

will freedive for beer
Sep 25, 2004
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Last night at training I was safetying a guy who had a blackout during dynamic. I just want to tell the story and put some discussion points on the record for the benefit of all.

It was towards the end of the session and I was bumming around without my fin on as i'd just done a max (new PB so was a big night in more ways than one). We were all up one end of the 50m pool while one guy (who was a relative beginner but had been doing some impressive lengths) was at the other end. He'd been up there for about 10 minutes so none of us had been talking to him about what he was trying for. As he swum up to the 50m mark he turned, we were all in conversation and I noticed him turning so I followed swimming behind him. He was using bifins and going slowly so it wasn't hard to keep up.

In the second half of the 2nd lap (around 75m into the dive) he sped up quite a bit. I knew his PB was around the 100m mark so I was starting to swim hard to keep up just in case. Well he got to about 5m from the end of the pool and started letting some air out, I thought righto, time to get him. I was only 1m behind him, I swum down to pull him up but he'd got to the end of the pool and had turned and kicked off the wall, so I had to turn to grab him as well. By this stage he had let most of his air out and was convulsing underwater. I dragged him up and because he was heavy, and we weren't near the wall or the lane rope I struggled to keep him above water. I got his mask off and fanned my hand around his face while trying to tread water - my head was below his so I couldn't blow on his face. I had one arm underneath him and was trying to kick closer to the pool end but he was convulsing quite a bit which made it hard. He also had a lot of water in his mouth and was gurgling a lot. I tipped his head to one side and got rid of most of it but his throat was still closed so he was gurgling but not getting any air.

By this stage a young lifeguard had come over to see what was happening and when I gave the guy mouth to mouth to try and pop his larynx open she started bolting back to get her walkie talkie. After I gave him a breath he made a big shudder and groan and started to cough, though still had the wide eyed "no-one home" expression on his face. I got him over to the side of the pool still saying "breath mate, breath" then yelled out at the lifeguard "it's ok, it's ok, it's ok!!!" so she stopped and came back to watch. He gradually looked back at me a bit confused and I said "we lost you there for a bit mate" and he started telling me how he felt ok and just started drifting off. He had no recollection of the last half lap and was a bit dazed afterwards. We chatted about it for a bit and a couple of the other freedivers were there pretty quickly after that. All up i'd say he was out for a good 20-25 seconds.

It was only afterwards when I was reflecting on it I realised there were many things i'd done wrong. Overall I was happy that I managed to get him up and breathing ok, but a few of the finer points I could improve on and you realise how much you know in theory means squat unless you can do it for real, and that means you must practice it. Here's a few points:

1. Know the person you're buddying. I mean are they a beginner, do they have suicidal tendancies when it comes to pushing themselves, are they a bit gung ho, what is their PB, what have they done already on the night. All those sorts of things can give you an inclination as to whether they're likely to push themselves past their abilities.

2. Always wear fins when buddying. Always. The only time you wouldn't need to is when the pool is shallow enough you can stand comfortably. I wasn't wearing my mono because i'd finished for the night. This guy was bigger than me and after he'd lost his air he was very heavy. I'm a reasonably strong guy but strength only works when you've got something to leverage against. The pool is about 6 foot deep all the way along the bottom and I couldn't stand and hold him at the same time. With fins it would have been a hell of a lot easier and I could have got him to the lane rope a lot quicker and provided better support for him.

3. Take all your weights off when safetying. A lot of the time you'll do a dive, come up and your buddy will want you to safety them next. It's easy to forget to take your neckweight off or your other weights when doing this, and they're the last thing you want to be carrying when you're lifting 95kg's of deadweight off the bottom of the pool.

4. Act quickly. If you know someone is going past their PB and they're acting differently, you don't have to think about it for too long to know that they're in a bad way. I probably hesitated for a second or so when in reality I could have jumped in a bit quicker. Don't worry about pissing them off for wrecking their dynamic - this isn't static where you tap them for a response, you have keep your eye on them and go when you think they're in trouble.

5. When you bring them to the surface, they're head is in a bad position because if they've taken in water it's got nowhere to go but back down the throat when the larynx opens, if it hasn't already. Keep this in mind.

6. Don't freak the victim out when they come to. Don't yell, don't look freaked yourself, just repeat a mantra - you're fine, just keep breathing, don't worry, just breath, relax, lost you for a second but you're ok now.... that sort of thing. Keep in mind they've just lost the last 30 seconds of their life and they're in different positions, with people staring at them and holding on to them - it can be a big shock to them and shock is what you want to avoid.

7. Don't think buddying is just following someone because you have to and that's what freedivers do. Buddying is following someone to ensure they are safe and to be ready to act to do whatever is necessary to keep them safe. This means a buddy must know what to if a freediver blacks out or has LMC. I think people (myself included) can become blasé about safetying because 95 times out of 100 they buddy someone and that person finishes their dive with no problems and that's it. We need to train for those 5 times that something goes wrong.

8. If the light's are out, the show's over. Don't even let them contemplate getting back in the water and doing a little "technique training" or practice turns or whatever.

9. Practice mock black out situations. The last time I did a mock rescue was nearly a year ago. That's not nearly enough. There's a guy in our club that does the blackouts when divers do their AIDA 2* and he's damn good at it, scares the pants off the inductees. At the end of your session when you're talking/socialising or whatever, do some practice rescues. You may only do one real rescue in your life, but you want to get it right first time.


They're all the points i've thought of. They don't necessarily all relate to things that happened last night, they just popped into my head last night and this morning. There's probably dozens more you could add but my head's still a bit frazzled (took a couple of beers last night before I could slow down and talk at a normal pace again last night).

Keep diving and stay safe.

Cheers,
Ben

ps. At the end I thought i'd better go chat with the lifesaver to smooth things over. I went up and apologised for the little scare, then we chatted for a bit, and now we have a new recruit next week... how's that for positive communication?? :D
 
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I'm sorry to hear that. Must have been very scary, I haven't seen one as bad as that. :(

It's easy to see what went wrong afterwards, but I think you did very well with the rescue given the circumstances.

Good that the lifeguard was cool about it though!

I never like doing long dynamics in the middle lane of the pool. That's exactly the kind of situation I want to avoid. I can easily rescue someone from the deep end of a pool, but only if I can immediately hold onto the side after surfacing. There's no way I can tread water while holding someone's face above the water, removing their mask and blowing on their face, all while recovering from the dive to rescue them.

I started a thread on this...
[ame="http://forums.deeperblue.net/showthread.php?t=62635"]Middle lane vs side lane for dynamics[/ame]

BennyB said:
5. When you bring them to the surface, they're head is in a bad position because if they've taken in water it's got nowhere to go but back down the throat when the larynx opens, if it hasn't already. Keep this in mind.
That is a problem. Often during practice rescues, someone has 'rescued' me, put me on the surface on my back and then accidentally let my face go under so my mouth is full of water. Of course I am conscious so it is just annoying, but it could be serious for someone who is unconscious. It is difficult though, I know just how hard it is to pick someone up and get them to the surface.

Some more points, I hope nobody takes them personally because safety is very important.

Beginners MUST be made aware of the safety rules, and they MUST follow them. Too many times I have seen a beginner exceed their PB by a long way, without having warned anyone, and end up in trouble, with their buddy desperately trying to keep up with them. Too many times I have seen someone hyperventilating violently for several minutes. Too many times I have surfaced from a dynamic to find that my buddy has deserted me and is talking to someone 20m away. I have even surfaced from a static to find that my buddy had no idea how long I had done! Neither did I! Of course, we were all beginners once, and we all make mistakes, but anyone who persistently breaks the rules should be asked to leave.

Lucia
 
Hi Ben

I guess this must have all happened when I was getting changed to rush off for the train - had no idea that had all gone on. I think all those points are well made and I'm sure all who read them will take heed. But the most important point is that you were at hand Ben and brought diver round - it seems to me you did an excellent job and managed the situation in the best way you could have given the circumstances, so very well done for that.

Sound's like you did stirling work on the diplomatic front also if CP ended up not being too fazed about it all.

I'd certainly endorse the idea of doing some safety practice at the end of the session they'll make a nice way to end the session.

Here's to many more safe sessions at CP...

Ross
 
Hi Ben

I guess this must have all happened when I was getting changed to rush off for the train - had no idea that had all gone on. I think all those points are well made and I'm sure all who read them will take heed. But the most important point is that you were at hand Ben and brought diver round - it seems to me you did an excellent job and managed the situation in the best way you could have given the circumstances, so very well done for that.

Sound's like you did stirling work on the diplomatic front also if CP ended up not being too fazed about it all.

I'd certainly endorse the idea of doing some safety practice at the end of the session they'll make a nice way to end the session.

Here's to many more safe sessions at CP...

Ross
 
BennyB said:
7. Don't think buddying is just following someone because you have to and that's what freedivers do. Buddying is following someone to ensure they are safe and to be ready to act to do whatever is necessary to keep them safe. This means a buddy must know what to if a freediver blacks out or has LMC. I think people (myself included) can become blasé about safetying because 95 times out of 100 they buddy someone and that person finishes their dive with no problems and that's it. We need to train for those 5 times that something goes wrong.


Couldn't have said this better myself! Far too many freedivers can kind of just "zone out" while they're on safety duty, when they should be ready to go at ALL times. When I dive with a new buddy, I always like to evaluate his safety skills/knowledge before we get in the water (the last guy I dove with before my PFI course had VERY little training in safety, which I found pretty alarming). When I'm the safety, I'm breathing up and watching my buddy like a HAWK, just waiting for something to go wrong. If you keep yourself in a state where you're waiting for something to go wrong, then you'll be MUCH more prepared to act when something DOES go wrong. Safety is something that we CAN'T afford to overlook, and should practice regularly. Heck, I KNOW I need practice; during open water training in the course last month, Mandy pulled an underwater "black out" on me, and I rescued her by pulling her up with an armpit carry, and not with the chin hold. Whoops. At least she still complimented me on getting her to the surface and rolled over quickly. Practice, practice, practice! :)

Todd
 
Well done man. If you hadn't glanced that way at that moment...

I always tell people "if you find your self thinking that should I act or not...It's time to act". No one's pb is so important that you should risk the cosequences of not acting to save that.

Besides, a single pb is meaningless. If that person is ok and trained, he can always do it on the next try...
 
jome said:
I always tell people "if you find your self thinking that should I act or not...It's time to act". No one's pb is so important that you should risk the cosequences of not acting to save that.
Well done Ben for taking action immediately when you realised something is wrong. A good buddy is one who occasionally picks me up when I don't need rescue, just because I didn't look right or let go of some air. Not one who tells me afterwards "First you let go of a bit of air, then lots, then you started shaking, then I tapped you and you gave a signal, so I waited a bit longer, then you came up and had a samba and I didn't know what to do."

Safety training can seem very theoretical - after all, we are used to doing things like fire drills and first aid courses, but few of us expect to encounter fires or first aid situations in everyday life. We do these things 'just in case'. Freedive safety training is different. I soon realised that blackouts and LMCs are a reality of the sport, and while they shouldn't happen all the time, they certainly are not unlikely to ever happen.

A bit off topic, but something else important is to pay attention to your buddy's condition upon surfacing. Sometimes I have seen someone who doesn't have any obvious signs of LMC, but is in a terrible state, dark blue face, gasping uncontrollably, distressed expression. I know we don't always look great after a max attempt, but that surely can't be good. When that happens, sometimes I have told the person that they are close to the limit and should not try for longer, but they ignore my advice.
 
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Just to clarify - all of us at that end of the pool saw him turn, I was the closest so I followed. We had all been safetying each other that night and based on the distances attempted, the safety person would usually start at the other end of the pool and follow them from 50m onwards. Although the person who BO'ed was away from us all he probably thought one of us was going to safety him, which would have been a reasonable assumption the way we safety there (eg. I usually tell the guys that i'm doing a max in about 10 minutes, that way they can squeeze some laps in rather than wait for me).

The guy who BO'ed is in no way a renegade or a bit gung ho - he's quite sensible and is careful. This will be an invaluable learning tool for him, as it was for me. No doubt he'll think seriously about what happened and use it to become a better and safer freediver.

Cheers,
Ben
 
Well done mate, saving someone's life is no small deal. Immerlustig ran a safety workshop last month in Dahab, with realistic simulated blackouts at varying depths/situations and the basic message which we came away with was that efficiency is much more important than speed for speed's sake.

My inclusion to your points above would be: have a back-up plan, just like those things DM trainees copy off each other. For example, what happens if the guy had not come around? If he had clearly inhaled water? How long do you keep doing the tap/talk/blow? Do the lifeguards take over? How far to the nearest hospital? Defibrillator? How do you get someone out of a pool? I think that anyone would find it extremely hard to make accurate decisions regarding these questions on the spot in a stressful situation. Having a close to hand copy of an emergency plan is of help to everyone in such a case, partly because it will help decrease the chances of a fatality, but also because should someone actually die, the people around them at the time will be left with a greater peace of mind, knowing that they did the proper things and that they were not responsible.

In rock climbing, spotting/belaying someone is a thing you take very seriously and that you have every right to refuse to do because it carries the biggest level of responsibility possible. Someone who takes off for a dive on their own and who then pushes themselves to a blackout in a dynamic (where you can bail at any given time) is comparable in my mind to a rock climber going soloing. Such a person should be seriously questioned as to their actions and place in a group.

f
 
Just read your last post afterwards Bennyb, apologies to those concerned if i misunderstood the situation surrounding the accident. Not trying to burn anyone here, accidents happen, but just trying to make a useful point around this particular event.
f
 
BennyB said:
The guy who BO'ed is in no way a renegade or a bit gung ho - he's quite sensible and is careful. This will be an invaluable learning tool for him, as it was for me. No doubt he'll think seriously about what happened and use it to become a better and safer freediver.
Thanks for clarifying. I didn't assume that he was, I was just making a general point that I have seen some freedivers behaving in an unsafe way during pool training. :)

turtle said:
In rock climbing, spotting/belaying someone is a thing you take very seriously and that you have every right to refuse to do because it carries the biggest level of responsibility possible.
That's a good point. There are some people I want to spot me, and some that I don't. I used to think it was rude to refuse, but now I think my life is worth more than not offending someone. The same about me spotting someone - I don't want to be the supervisor for someone's Darwin Award.
 
Nice post Ben!

It's easy afterwards to see what could have been done better, which certainly is a good thing, as it's always good to improve and help others improve.

However you did all the basic things right: you followed him after his turn, stayed almost within grabbing distance, knew he was in trouble when he lost air, got him out quickly, took his mask off, acted very calmly... you handled the situation perfectly. That's what counts!

Practice of mock black out situations is defintely on the program asap so everyone can learn to act as well as you did.

~JM
 
jayhem said:
However you did all the basic things right: you followed him after his turn, stayed almost within grabbing distance, knew he was in trouble when he lost air, got him out quickly, took his mask off, acted very calmly... you handled the situation perfectly. That's what counts!
That's true. A good successful rescue is what counts.
 
If the guy swallowed water during samba/BO maybe he should be checked out for secondary drowning?

My questions is can you always tell if you have swallowed water down your lungs by mistake?
 
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