Missing Diver

[Lancer09]

I don't know. I know there is are things about diving I don't know. But wouldn't you think when she got lost she could just swim up? I know you have to take it slow but shouldn't 20 minutes be more than enough time? I wonder if she just lost track of her air.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I'm leaning towards either severe cramps or a serious health problem.

[huntest]

Depending on a number of factors.....how deep...how long....low core temperature.......she could have had a bad case of nitrogen narcosis where nitrogen builds up in the blood and can cause a variety of issues.....nitrogen bubbles in the blood also causes the bends which can be fatal.

Really cold water can increase the occurrence and severity of these risks...I was always pretty weirded out below 140 and I also used nitrox whenever it was available. .....it has a lower % of nitrogen in the breathing gas.

It makes some divers giddy....others anxious and panicky.....divers can even lose their equilibrium. ....it is one of the primary reasons for the dive buddy system.

[jeb]

I don't know. I know there is are things about diving I don't know. But wouldn't you think when she got lost she could just swim up? I know you have to take it slow but shouldn't 20 minutes be more than enough time? I wonder if she just lost track of her air.

I have my Advanced Open Water dive certification. Lots of stuff can go wrong when diving. In addition to what was said above, getting tangled up in stuff is also a killer (trees, fishing line, cables, etc). But the biggest cause of deaths in Scuba is inexperienced divers and panic, which usually go hand in hand. If you lose your head down there, bad things can happen. Swimming down rather than up, not being able to get the breather valve back in your mouth if it's torn out by something, getting stuck and struggling instead of calmly working your way out, etc.

[Champ188]

I have my Advanced Open Water dive certification. Lots of stuff can go wrong when diving. In addition to what was said above, getting tangled up in stuff is also a killer (trees, fishing line, cables, etc). But the biggest cause of deaths in Scuba is inexperienced divers and panic, which usually go hand in hand. If you lose your head down there, bad things can happen. Swimming down rather than up, not being able to get the breather valve back in your mouth if it's torn out by something, getting stuck and struggling instead of calmly working your way out, etc.

Well said, Jeb.

[Lancer09]

I knew there was more to diving than what I knew, but I don't do it so I wasn't aware. Good to know all of that.

[jeb]

I knew there was more to diving than what I knew, but I don't do it so I wasn't aware. Good to know all of that.

It's not a good place for anyone that panics easily, that's for sure. I hear stories of folks that have to take the tests over and over again to get certified and I think to myself maybe that's a good sign that they should not be diving. I'm a pretty hard to fluster person, and have had an anxious moment or two. Nothing major, but like swimming along the bottom and suddenly find you've swum right into a tree top from a tree that's fallen in the water from shore recently. Hard to see those coming in low vis situations. There are lots of stuff on you that will snag branches when you're in all that scuba gear.

I carry a "pony bottle" with me, attached to my compensator vest. It's a totally independent breathing devices. Gives me about 8 minutes of air and is about the size of a tall water bottle. That way, if worse comes to worse, I can slip that out of its holster, abandon all my other gear and get out. But you still have to be calm enough under duress to make it all work.

[Mitch f]

It takes a special kind of person to dive. When we were at the River smallies event a week ago, I was reminded about what kind of person could squeeze through a hole with diving gear and venture back 1800 feet inside Boiling Springs. They have it totally mapped out.! I wouldn't do it for 1 million dollars.

[5bites]

The thought of diving sounds great. I think it would be incredible. I one of those people that if I touch a stick while swimming or a log while wading I get freaked out! So I figure diving may not be for me. My imagination would get the best of me.

[Old plug]

As strange it sounds panicked and could not find up from down. If that was the case she would use air her air very fast. I do not think I would wanted a dice party out there if the water was murky. you could get lost 5 ft apart.