TheMooseIsBlue t1_jde7wfj wrote on March 23, 2023 at 7:29 PM

Reply to comment by beefwarrior in Bravery medals for women who raced into 'rough, crazy' surf to save drowning girls by Sariel007

It’s very common because the drowning person is often desperate and acts against their own benefit. They will grab onto their would-be savior and push them under. It’s why lifeguards will always try to approach from behind and with their can/floatation device between them and the drowning person. If you fight a lifeguard out there, they’re trained to back away. It’s easier to save an unconscious person than a flailing person.

dzlux t1_jdea251 wrote on March 23, 2023 at 7:43 PM

>easier to save an unconscious person…

This was a solid reality check in rescue training. Every potential rescuer needs to first know that someone potentially drowning will try to climb whatever they get their hands on… including the rescuers head. If there is no floatation device, rescuers have to be insanely careful.

TheMooseIsBlue t1_jdeavkj wrote on March 23, 2023 at 7:49 PM

Doing scuba certification, someone in my group went down to do the skill where you take off your mask and take out the reg and then put them back on. This was after like 2-3 hours in the water, but this guy just freaked out and started grabbing at the instructor’s reg. He’s got oxygen strapped to his own back and he still nearly drowned the person next to him.

Desperation is nuts.

dzlux t1_jdfu91e wrote on March 24, 2023 at 2:08 AM

Enough time underwater and you see some scary moments.

I won't buddy up with strangers on a dive. I have seen the full range of people that manage panic very well and very poorly... and it is valuable to truly understand a dive partner before dropping 60ft with them.

I hope the diver you saw found some inner calm along the way or chose to quit diving.

TheMooseIsBlue t1_jdg2b7k wrote on March 24, 2023 at 3:13 AM

Yeah, I’m always nervous going solo on a trip and partnering up with a rando.

He obviously failed out of that dive and I don’t know if he ever went back to finish. Crazy because he had been totally fine on every skill we’d done in the pool and the first couple of open water dives. But when panic comes, it’s not easy to swallow it down.

SkinHairNails t1_jdg7ww3 wrote on March 24, 2023 at 4:02 AM

Oh man, I wasn't able to grab my regulator a few times (I was able to collect it in my arm, but I didn't realise I did), panicked and after a minute shot up to the surface. This was in a diving pool at just a couple of meters so that was fine, but obviously wouldn't have worked in the ocean once I was at any real depth. I'm very glad I didn't try to touch the instructor, but that moment of sheer panic is real, and it's hard to control your response. It was embarrassing, and I was surprised by my response to it.