DIVING

3. Diving Incident Reporting System
13-021: An assistant instructor suffers a reverse block
I was an assistant instructor with a group of three students, one instructor and a divemaster for the deep dive. At the end
of the dive we ascended and I experienced a reverse block in my right ear. I descended again until it was relieved and
then very slowly started ascending again. I was not able to clear it for about 10 minutes. Several times I had to descend
and then try to ascend again. Even when I managed to clear it such that I could surface without severe pain, my right
ear was still very sore. The next day, I got an appointment with my primary care physician in the afternoon. He sent me
to an ENT. The ENT said that the eardrum and Eustachian tube were fine. They performed a pressure test on both ears,
as well as a hearing test. Everything appeared to be fine and my hearing was very good in both ears.
Miscellaneous Reports
13-025: Stomach pain after a training dive
My daughter, 14 years of age, was taking practical exercises as part of the Open Water Diver certification. The day after
her first open water immersion, my daughter complained of abdominal pain during the whole surface interval between
dives. Her instructor diminished the pain by indicating we did not have to worry, as it was probably accumulated gas,
which happens very often while diving. After her second immersion, her pain increased up to a point where it was uncomfortable
for her, but later receded. The pain eased and mildly increased during the following day, yet on the next day
it peaked and we had to take her to the hospital where she received a physical exam and several clinical tests.
After the tests, my daughter was diagnosed with decompression illness Type 1 caused by a diving accident. The doctor
considered it necessary and urgent for her to be immediately hospitalized and was treated in the hyperbaric chamber
for more than 4 hours. My daughter stayed at the hospital for two more days, with a second treatment at the chamber
for 90 mins before she was allowed to leave the hospital.
13-027: Buoyancy wing comes loose during dive
A very experienced technical diver got distracted and mounted the wing (BC) on his double cylinders incorrectly (forward
backward). Already wearing a dry suit at a temperature of 30°C (86°F), he realized his mistake and quickly remounted
his equipment. The group was then divided into two teams. The three CCR divers descended 10 minutes before two OC
divers. The ship wreck lies 55 msw (180 fsw) deep in a place of strong current. The diver in question was the second
OC diver in the line of descent (last of the five divers). When he reached the bottom we noticed a large volume on the
right side of the double tanks. To our surprise the volume was the lower part of his wing (BC).
The back plate and wing are connected by two screws and the bottom screw had come loose, allowing the output of
the wing and movement side-to-side of his double cylinders. Immediately, we cancelled the dive and began to surface.
Through DSV speech we warned the diver of the situation and told him to keep his head up during the ascent to prevent
the double cylinders deviating laterally. At the surface, the diver had trouble keeping afloat because of the wing; the wing
being in that position was not helping. Aided by the group at the surface, the diver left the water unharmed.
13-034: Post dive shower leads to case of skin bends
We made two boat dives and then one shore dive an hour after lunch. I felt fine when I went back to the place I was
staying at with friends. I took a shower and then started to itch. The itching got worse and then I started to feel pain in
my lower back, just by my hips, and in one breast. I also had a little blurred vision and some dizziness but that subsided
as soon as I ate dinner. So I pulled up my shirt and showed my friends and they were like, “OMG!” My skin was blotched
in red. I called DAN and they referred me to a doctor, who happened to be right next door. I had a case of “skin bends”
He did a series of tests. Very informative doctor said that the nitrogen liked to attach itself to the fatty parts of the body
so that explained why I was having the pain in the areas that I did. He told me to return the next day for a visit and said
that most of this should subside on its own. And thankfully it did. The next day the pain and the blotches were gone and
he gave me strict orders, no more diving this trip. I’m really glad I had DAN insurance I can’t even imagine what it would
have been like without it. Thank you all for your help and concern. You did everything to get me the help that I needed.
Appreciate you all very much. I’m back home and all is good.
Annual Diving Report – 2012-2015 Edition
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