Video of a shallow water blackout by a spear fisherman

[Bill McIntyre]

This has been posted on two other boards and resulted in a lot of discussion about lessons learned, how it could have been prevented, how the rescuers handled it, how a Freedive Recovery Vest would have helped, etc. I think most of us have seen video of swb under controlled conditions- training in a pool, competitive freediving, etc. but this is special because it shows a "real world" blackout by a spear fisherman. The guy who blacked out is a friend of mine, and we have been together quite a few times.



And here are the comments from the victim.

So i woke up this morning to take my normal dump and saw this. Daniel mentioned to me yesterday he had posted it, so i thought id check it out.

That was me who blacked out. Couple key things i can add for you guys, and anyone is susceptible at all levels, freediving class takers or not.

We were tired, up since 3 am, took a beating all the way out (so legs were probably worked)

I was positive on the surface from inhale to exhale...that changed when i purged the air.

BIGGEST FACTOR was it was my 4th drop/dive of the day. The fish were deep because of the wind. Being that it was only my 4th dive, my body had not adjusted to the normal physiological changes that occur in the first 15-20 minutes of diving. Normally the body adjusts to utilize oxygen better during that time. Terry Maas has a very old, but great write up about it. O would not have blacked out if i took the time to "warm up" and make this change (spleen, skin cells, etc)

SECOND BIGGEST FACTOR I had been diving a lot the weeks/months before. My dive times were 2:15-2:45mins at about 50' (based on videos i was taking and spot depths i knew). I had a good deal of confidence, and technically overconfidence. In my mind i could hold my breath for 2mins+. I had dove down the 40-50ft, felt the usual sensation, and started to head up. Just the the school of YT came over, i leveled out and chased them for 10 more seconds, took a shot and whiffed. On my way up i should have ditched my belt (and gun if needed). I knew i was in trouble and tried the scuba no air signal, the just went to try and wave him down since he didn't respond from the surface.

Another big mistake i made is i closed my eyes to calm myself. Thats a big no no. Have to keep the eyes open to stay awake. Tucking the shoulders forward can make you more hydrodynamic, and compress the air in the lungs a bit too.

I think i was without air for a total of 4+ minutes. It was enough to make my legs feel like they were beat with a sledgehammer for the next 2 days. This was from oxygen starvation. When i first woke up on the boat i couldn't feel my arms or legs. I couldnt stand up for at least 15 minutes. My body was in full conservation mode.

Also when diving, i assumed Daniel and i were spotting each other. We had about 2 dives each going up and down taking turns. In fact i waited until he finished his dive before i took mine. That was just my assumption, obviously wrong. Im forever thankful that he was there, and had the instincts to make the rescue. My buddy Braden on the boat was spot on and we dive together regularly to this day.

I now dive with a watch, although i always hated them. I had a trip to Thetis last year. The diving was intensely deep (80' at times), and it worried the hell out of me, and was beyond my level. We took it real conservative and spotted each other the whole time. With a spotter i made an attempt to hit the high spot at Thetis. On my way up i was mentally spooked. I immediately dropped my belt, and popped up like a cork

. Not even a samba or anything. I think it was all mental, but glad i had the reflexes and experience to act on instinct. Note to self, bring extra belts and weights to mexico.

Like is very precious, and dying is a scary thing. You never want to have your loved ones grieve that you have been lost unnecessarily. We all learned a lot that day. Hopefully my first hand notes here can help you guys. My feeling is the overconfidence factor hits the experienced divers even more. When we are noobs, we tend to react more easily and urgently to that sensation for air. The more you condition to work through it the more at risk you are. And remember, every day id vastly different. Be aware of your overall health. Did you get good sleep? Big leg workout or run the day before? These things can make your body operate differently. And the scary thing is your brain/mind does not bear these factors. It tends to be conditioned to know what you "normally do." In diving, there is no such thing as a "normal" day. Consider all factors, and be safe so you can have fun again tomorrow

BTW, they were diving on an offshore kelp paddy in water about 1000 feet deep. If the victim sunk unseen, there would have been no chance of recovery.

 

[Broseidon]

Wow - scary stuff! Thanks for posting this Bill - it should serve as a reminder to us all!

 

[cdavis]

Instructive to see somebody else make my mistake. Getting the mask off quick is a big factor. For me it had instant results.

Watching the diver come up, He looked OK to me at the very first, then, pretty quick, something wasn't right, then it was obvious that he was in trouble, before he BOed. . If you haven't seen an open water BO before, study the first part of this video

 

[Bussard]

Very scary. Makes all my brief poolside blackouts look like naps. Thanks for sharing.

 

[cdavis]

Great post, Bill. Open water BOs are a whole different animal than in the pool or a course with safety all around. They are very very scary.

I'd like to emphasize, study that video and any other ones you can find. All freedivers should get what that looks like deep in their subconscious. It wasn't in mine the first time I needed it and that could easily have led to a very bad screwup.

As an example: we just got back from a long dive trip. We dive a tight buddy system, one up, one down, but the water is so clear that it is easy to get lax. As the trip went on, we were getting farther and farther away from our buddies, sometimes over 50 surface feet. That's too far to render fast assistance and could be a real problem if a BO occurs 20 ft down. We had trouble only once, near the end of the trip. A young diver, who I had watched closely early in the trip(he was fine) was coming up off an 80 ft dive, dive time not particularly long for him. He looked normal, but something set off alarm bells in my head, the only time on this trip. I looked again and still couldn't see anything amiss. More alarms, and I started swimming to meet him at the surface. Looked fine til he surfaced when he hesitated just a bit. He said later the world started spinning as he hit the surface . He had not noticed any problem before that. The young man was clearly hypoxic and only seconds from a BO. I still don't know what I saw, but my subconcious sure did.

 

[Timinator]

Good post Bill. That's some scary stuff.

 

[lawstraljan16]

Seeing this video makes me glad I took the SSI Level 1 class. Im no expert but I really took note of how to help a blackouted diver during the course, and watching this video I saw none of those steps taken by the dive buddy.
Obviously it's a whole different story when something like this really happens but still well done to his dive buddy for being quick to react, and paying attention.

Even if your an accomplished freediver, but have never taken the course, you should.

Thanks for sharing the video. Is the video on youtube by anychance?

 

[Odd Egil]

In Norway we are using a sturdy spearfishing line connected to a float, the weight belt, and the harpoon. Such that dropping the weights does not mean to loose them or the gun. It also means you are connected to the line and can be picked up. I didn see this equipment in use here. It was interesting to read the guys comments on reasons, i am always interested in picking up SWB experiences. Happy spearfishing!

 

[jakeb1515]

At the point the diver purged his air, the recovery should have started. Within the panic of the event there were some crucial things missed out, 'Tap, Talk, Blow' the removal of the mask was the first thing which should of happened and this didn't seem to happen though-out the duration of the video.

Just glad the diver recovered well in the end!

 

[Mr. X]

Sobering post Bill, thanks for sharing that.

...BTW, they were diving on an offshore kelp paddy in water about 1000 feet deep. If the victim sunk unseen, there would have been no chance of recovery.

Perhaps are argument for attaching your float-line to your weight-belt rather to, for example, your speargun/a weight/a small anchor/a kelp-clip/reef-hook? [Although this guy was diving from a boat sans float-line.]