first, get your gear on and ready to dive.

    second, go down to the dock and kneel on the lower steps,

with the water up to about your waist, so you can take

the weight of your double tanks off your back.

    third, while trying to get your legs stretched out from

under you, slip backwards.

    fourth, land with your face under two feet of water

and your double tanks anchoring your back against the bottom

steps.

    what do you do? 

************************

    this actually happened to me today.  i was diving at

Peacock Springs (Luraville) with two buddies, and my

back, as usual, was bugging me (I broke my L1 vertebrae

in a motorcycle crash in October, 2004).

    so, while the third team member finished getting ready,

two of us headed down to the water at Orange Grove Sink.

The Steps at Orange Grove Sink

    as usual, i was pretty much set up and ready to go: primary reg was

coiled around my torso and hanging from my right shoulder, my

secondary reg was on a bungee around my neck.  all i was holding

was my hood, mask, and fins.

    so... down i go to the bottom step.  by kneeling, i was able to get

relief from the weight of my double tanks (only LP 85's, but still murder

on my back).  at that point, my plan was to push my feet from under

me, sit, and put the fins on, then enter the water and finish gearing up

by putting my hood and mask on.

    not so fast.  as i was trying to move my left leg from under

me to sit, my right leg slipped (there's moss and algae on the

wooden steps).  trying to save my back, i sort of put my hands

down to lessen the blow.  my tanks slid on the wood, and they

slid further down.

    at that point, my primary contacted the water and started

free-flowing something awful.  the hissing was just incredible,

and inches from my right ear.

   then, the water was over my face.  faster than i could even

think, i felt the tanks under me, as, facing up, i felt the water

enter my mouth and nose.

    my first thought was to be embarrased (dang it... why

do i always have to be so clumsy).

    my second thought was to get the free-flowing reg under

control.  with my left hand, i groped for it.  no luck.  i

groped again.  no luck.

   ok.. you're under water.  primary problem: air.

    solve primary problem.

    easy: go to secondary regulator.  sure enough, there

it was, where it always is, hanging from my neck.  i had

no trouble at all getting it and putting it into my mouth.

though some cold water had gone up my nose and into

my sinuses (not fun), i could breathe ok.

    emergency over.  now, what to do?

    i still wanted to shut up that darned free-flowing reg.

i groped for it again.  nope.  groped for it again. nope.

ok, give up on it.

    now, the tricky part.  heaving myself over with a pair

of doubles strapped to my back. with a strong kick and

a shove (and a sharp pain to my back... again), i was

belly first on the steps, right side up.

   right there, was my buddy.  she had been in the water

when i slipped, and had covered the distance to me in

about five to ten seconds, the time the entire episode took

place.   her hand was on my arm, and she was steadying me.

it felt good to know that help had been about 10 seconds

away.

   "are you ok?"

    "yeah..."

**********

   what ifs...

    my buddy tells me that someone died under similar circumstances

a while back.  she's not sure if at Peacock or at Manatee, but

a diver fell back, got his face under water, his air was off, could

not get up, and drowned while his buddy ran to the car to get some

gear he'd forgotten.

    to drown in two feet of water while wearing scuba gear.

seems almost perverse.

    what if i hadn't turned my air on?  what if when i fell, instead

of blessed air (which inmediately solved the problem) i would

have gotten a mouthful of nothing?  this would have probably

sent my stress level through the roof, maybe into panic

territory... and when you panic... well... you've lost the battle

right there.

   what if i hadn't set up my secondary so it would hang

bungied under my chin?  what if, like the primary reg,

i had flailed around looking for it while the seconds ticked away?

    what if, without air, i would not have been able to flip myself

over so easily?  what if i had struggled in vain to un-turtle myself?

    and what if my buddy hadn't been there, ten seconds away

and ready to help?

   well... i wouldn't be writing this, that's what if.

    but things worked out well.  i always make sure my air is

on before heading for the water.  i always gear up as though,

upon stepping into the water, i will need to go to scuba

immediately (i don't assume i'll be able to set myself up

in the water).  i always make sure my secondary is bungeed

around my neck.

   then there's the training.  i took Rescue.  i know about

"self-rescue."  i know about stopping, thinking, acting.

luckily, i was able to head off the emergency before it

got out of control, the very definition of self-rescue.

   and finally, my buddy was there.  it took her less than

ten seconds to get to me.  i would have had a regulator

in my mouth in two more seconds.  say fifteen seconds

total.  that's a great insurance policy.

   all in all, i think we did alright today.

   after this incident, we had three great dives.  and

ain't that what diving is all about?