Why is diving dangerous? The first dive into the depths of the sea, or why diving is dangerous

Our expert is Vladimir Rodionov, Candidate of Medical Sciences, Head of the HBO Department of the Republican Scientific Center for Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Head of the Department of HBO of the RMAPE of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.

Who's new?

Often the decision to dive to the depths comes to tourists spontaneously. For example, when they are in the city to buy souvenirs, and smiling sellers of underwater excursions approach them and offer to carry out unforgettable journey V sea ​​depths at ridiculous prices. However, buying a dive certificate at a random excursion shop is a big mistake. Normal diving centers (which belong to the most famous diving associations - PADI, PDA, CMAS) do not contact such intermediaries. Low price excursions should also alert. The third point - when concluding a contract, it is required to fill out a special questionnaire that allows you to find out if a person has any diseases in which diving can be dangerous (first of all, this applies to all acute ailments and most serious chronic diseases, especially pulmonary and cardiovascular pathologies, as well as congenital heart defects).

The first dive, according to all the rules, should take place in the so-called "closed" water: a pool or a bay, and not in the sea ("open" water). There is also a clear safety rule for beginners: a maximum of two clients per instructor. In reality, everything often happens quite differently: tourists are immediately taken out to sea, while the boat is overcrowded, it is not uncommon when there are only 1-2 instructors for 10 inexperienced divers.

Not knowing the ford, do not poke your head into the water

Diving for the first time is allowed to a depth of no more than 10-12 meters, so diving sites in normal centers are chosen very carefully and so that there are no undercurrents. For beginners, when diving to a depth of more than 40 meters, the narcotic effect of nitrogen often manifests itself (the so-called "deep intoxication"). The resulting euphoria often pushes them to inappropriate behavior and, in particular, makes them rise abruptly, without stopping. And under no circumstances should this be done.

When ascending even from a shallow depth, it is important not to exceed the ascent rate of 10-18 m per minute. If you violate the decompression regime (that is, ascent), decompression (or caisson) sickness may develop. Its essence is this. As you dive, nitrogen enters the diver's bloodstream and dissolves there. And with a rapid ascent (under high pressure and with significant air consumption), this gas does not have time to be excreted from the body. As a result, bubbles form in the blood and tissues, which destroy the body. With a mild degree of decompression sickness, pain in the joints and muscles, a feeling of heaviness in the heart, and increased fatigue most often occur. In severe forms, damage to the lung tissue, paralysis and other neurological disorders, up to and including death, are possible.

The intensity of gas formation depends not only on the ascent mode, but also on the individual resistance of a person to decompression sickness. The risk of developing the disease is directly proportional to the time spent under water and at depth. So, with a 6-hour stay at a depth of 7-8 m and a quick ascent, 5% of people fall ill; from 16 m - every second; from a depth of 24 m - almost every person.

And pray that the insurance won't let you down

In order for the dive to be successful, the diver must not only think over the choice of the ascent mode in advance (and strictly follow it underwater), but also be absolutely healthy and rested at that time. Also, he should not smoke and take alcohol and drugs (especially tranquilizers) either before or after the ascent. At first, one should also avoid severe physical activity- For example, you should not go to the gym in the evening.

It is also dangerous to fly an airplane earlier than a day after a dive (and 72 hours after multiple dives in one day). This exacerbates the development of decompression sickness.

Just in case, you need to find out where the nearest recompression pressure chamber is located, which is necessary for the treatment of decompression sickness. But since 1 hour of operation of this installation costs from $ 700 to 2500, and in severe forms of the disease, continuous treatment for several days may be necessary, the best way out for a person planning diving is to purchase a special medical insurance. For up to 20 days, its cost will be about 30 euros, and for a year it will cost about a hundred euros.

Breathe deeply!

If the victim has developed decompression sickness, it is better to start treatment as soon as possible, and not wait until arriving at home. Moreover, special recompression pressure chambers, in which you can set a special mode, in ordinary Russian medical institutions unfortunately not today. Last time such a pressure chamber worked at the Russian Research Center for Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences in the 90s, but due to the high cost of its use, it no longer functions.

Therefore, such patients can be treated only in oxygen pressure chambers. The method of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) is not the most effective in this case, but it is better than nothing.

Diving, or snorkeling, is a very popular form of recreation. The so-called snorkelers dive under the water - divers swimming while holding their breath, and scuba divers. Both are at risk of injury. This risk is very high for people who go underwater with scuba gear.

It is for this reason that almost all resorts prohibit the rental of special equipment for those who do not have a certificate that can be obtained by training with an instructor.

However, unfortunately, there are many people who risk their health and go under water without the necessary knowledge and skills.

What are the risks of a self-taught diver?

The most dangerous is barotrauma, damage caused by pressure change environment. Sharply rising and plunging, a person experiences a difference in pressure. Wherein internal organs and body tissues are deformed, compensating for the pressure drop.

Such deformation can cause various disorders in the body, up to the most sad consequences.
Barotraumas are of several types:

Barotrauma of the middle ear. It affects not only scuba divers, but also snorkelers. Most often occurs during descent. The diver feels discomfort, pain and ringing in the ears. If a careless swimmer continues to descend, his eardrums may rupture. Proper air blowing, which is taught in diving courses, will help to avoid this injury.

Dental barotrauma. It occurs if the teeth are prone to caries and they have cavities or poor-quality fillings. When you rise too fast, the nerve can feel pressure, resulting in a sharp toothache.

Barotrauma of the intestinal tract. Occurs when air is swallowed. During the ascent, the gas bubble in gastrointestinal tract expands, leading to abdominal pain and vomiting. A similar injury can be obtained if you drink champagne or highly carbonated water before diving.
Face crimp. Occurs during a dive when the mask presses against the soft tissues of the face like a suction cup. This leads to hemorrhage in the capillaries of the skin and eyes.

Barotrauma of the lung. This is the most dangerous injury a diver can receive. It may occur when ascending or changing the swimming depth to a smaller one. An experienced diver knows that when ascending, it is necessary to exhale air. If this is not done, dangerous complications may arise:

• emphysema (chest pain, voice change, cardiovascular disorders),
• pneumothorax, or rupture of the lung (sharp chest pain, shortness of breath, cyanosis of the face, weak pulse),
• gas embolism, or air bubbles entering the bloodstream. The victim has impaired vision, hearing and coordination. He loses consciousness. Paralysis and myocardial infarction may occur. There are frequent cases of death.

How to help a diver with lung barotrauma?

Barotrauma of the lung is treated by a special diving doctor in a recompression chamber. However, in the event of a gas embolism, the victim needs first aid. medical care. It must be put on the left side without a pillow, forbidding to get up and sit down. In the absence of spontaneous breathing, artificial ventilation of the lungs is indicated by the mouth-to-mouth method.

How to prevent barotrauma?

• When ascending, it is necessary to control the ascent rate. This can be done by focusing on air bubbles. You should not float faster than they float.
• Under no circumstances should you hold your breath while underwater. Your lungs must be constantly in motion.
• As you come up, be sure to exhale.
• Be sure to use the blowing technique that you will be taught in the course.
• Never dive into the water while intoxicated, less than two hours after eating, in a state of fatigue and nervous excitement.
• If you are diving at a resort and plan to return home by plane, do not dive before leaving: once on high altitude, characterized by low pressure, you can get barotrauma.

Who is not suitable for diving?

There are a lot of contraindications for diving:

Chronic infections and acute infectious diseases(tonsillitis, bronchitis, colds, and so on), asthma, diabetes, hypertension, diseases of the upper respiratory tract, eye diseases, in particular, progressive myopia, pregnancy, critical days in girls and menopause, all types of neoplasms, and so on.

Don't be careless about your health. Remember that inexperienced divers who have not undergone special training risk irreparable harm to their bodies.

Diving is one of the very popular and recreational activities. Like any sport, it comes with certain risks. But the athlete is quite capable of minimizing these risks.

In this article, we will talk about how to dive, without risking anything at all.

But before we talk about the basics of diving safety and describe the gestures and signals used by professional divers to communicate, let's talk about how dangerous diving itself is.

Is diving dangerous?

If you are going to a resort, the instructors, who have a strong commercial interest in you as a source of income, will assure you: "Diving is absolutely safe."

They will back up their words with some facts and rules. Much of what they say will turn out to be true in the end.

However, do not forget: be that as it may, diving accidents do occur from time to time. Fortunately, they are all subject to analysis. Therefore, other divers can learn from the mistakes of their stricken predecessors.

So, now let's talk about what can cause an accident and how to avoid it.

Human factor

During diving, a person and his equipment work in tandem. Each of them performs its functions. But sometimes it is the athlete himself, and not his equipment, that makes dangerous mistakes.

Murphy's Law

What we call the law of meanness or Murphy's law, real professionals can explain from a practical point of view.

The fact is that many believe that if a beginner is underwater, who does not know much yet, then it is with him that troubles will happen.

In fact, the chances that an experienced or a young person will become a participant in a difficult situation are exactly the same. Just the first will be able to cope with it easily, and the second - with difficulty.

Therefore, during training, be careful and responsible. Get the most out of your workouts. Dive for the first time with an experienced diver, not with a novice diver like you. Then no law of meanness will get to you.

Panic

Unfortunately, panic for a person is an uncontrollable state. The athlete cannot turn it on or off at the click of a finger. Meanwhile, panic is a very dangerous phenomenon, which often causes inappropriate behavior and, as a result, death of people (not only divers).

Any, even the smallest incident in an environment alien to a person can cause a panic attack. Panic is almost impossible to fight before it starts, so you should attack it first.

Must be practiced during training and training difficult situations, learn to solve them calmly. By doing these exercises, the likelihood that a panic attack will overtake you underwater will decrease.

Most often, panic overtakes the diver if his nostrils touch. However, experienced divers know how to overcome the fear of filling the mask with water.

1. It is necessary to dive during training without a mask at all. Then you will get used to the fact that the air comes to you even when the nostrils are in contact with big amount water.
2. Learn to get rid of water. To get rid of the water in the mask, tilt your head slightly back and slightly lift the bottom of the mask (the top should be pressed against your face). Then take a deep breath in through your mouth and a long breath out through your nose. The air will displace the water.

Saving the drowning - the work of the drowning

Even if you dive in the company of experienced scuba divers, be sure that you can help yourself in case of emergency.

Count only on own forces. To do this, before the real immersion in the pool, work out difficult situations again and again and get out of them.

You can't give up on the little things

Preparing for a dive, there should be no "little problems". Any, even the most insignificant deviation must be eliminated. Indeed, under water, every imperceptible breakdown can play a cruel joke on you.

Therefore, the phrase "nothing, it will do" once and for all is deleted from the diver's lexicon.

Do I carry everything with me?

Some young athletes are so suspicious that they take with them a huge amount of things underwater that supposedly can save them if something happens. As a result, they overload themselves very much and it is because of the “rescue items” that the life and health of the athlete may be in jeopardy.

In order to free you from the need to choose for yourself what may be useful to you when diving and what will be superfluous, we will tell you what items professional scuba divers usually use.

Safety equipment

Now let's figure out what small items can in the case dangerous situation save the diver. What does the so-called diving insurance consist of?

What can be heard

In case of danger, you will have to somehow send a distress signal to your colleagues. You won't be able to scream. You can use a whistle.

Remember that this method is suitable if your comrades are somewhere nearby or if you managed to get to the surface and whistle already outside body of water. After all, sound does not propagate in water with difficulty, and your comrades may not hear your whistle if they are far away.

Buoy

A special scuba buoy will help you quickly rise to the surface if the need arises. Also, with its help, you can mark a point or give a signal to colleagues on the surface.

Buoys are:

• marker;
• decompression;
• transport;
• for spearfishing.

In any case, the essence of the operation of any buoy is the same: it is easily carried by an athlete, since it is very compact when deflated, and when danger arises, it quickly inflates and rapidly rises to the surface.

Slate

A slate is a small plastic board on which you can write something. Not every diver uses such a device. Communication with gestures is much more reliable.

Rope

Rare belay does without a regular rope. Of course, no one can pull you out of the water by the string in case of danger. But you can, with the help of a rope, give several signals to those who are on the surface. It is also your simplified GPS beacon, with which colleagues can locate you.

Rope signals are given with jerks:

• 1 jerk - "everything is ok";
• 2 jerks - "I stand still" or "stay in one place";
• 3 jerks - “dive” or “dive”;
• 4 jerks - “getting up” or “getting up”;
• a large number of frequent jerks - "danger, you need to climb."

Light

Also, rare diving insurance does without a flashlight. We draw your attention to the fact that it must be waterproof and have a sufficient charge.

The lantern will help you not only to survey the impenetrable underwater darkness. It can also be used to signal:

• driving a flashlight in a circle - “everything is in order”;
• drawing a vertical line with a lantern - “attention”. This signal can be replaced by frequent fluctuations of the lantern near your partner;
• pressing fingers to the glass - "how much air do you have?".

sign alphabet

There is no question of any underwater safety if you do not know how to communicate with members of your diving team. To do this, you need to learn the basic gestures that will be useful to you underwater.

We will try to describe the main gestures to you, however, some teams come up with additional signals that are understandable only to them.

Let's float!

When such a signal is given, the scuba diver shows his colleagues a protruding thumb.

Let's dive!

When such a signal is given, the scuba diver shows his colleagues a protruding thumb down.

Everything is OK!

When such a signal is given, the scuba diver shows his colleagues a circle of thumb and forefinger. The rest of the fingers are kept straight.

If the scuba diver works in mittens, then he puts all his fingers into a tube.

If such a signal is given at a great distance or on the surface, the diver makes a ring of two hands above his head. He can hold one bent arm above his head if the other is busy at that moment.

No air!

When such a signal is given, the athlete passes the edge of his hand along his throat several times.

Problems!

When giving such a signal, the athlete shows colleagues a straight palm, which sways from side to side, turning at the wrist.

Trouble!

If such a signal is given underwater, the athlete shows his colleagues a hand that unwinds in a circle. On the surface, the same signal is given by claps on the water.

I'm cold!

If the athlete wants to inform colleagues that he is freezing, he hugs himself with his arms.

I have a cramp!

If an athlete has a cramp in a limb, he informs his colleagues about this by clenching and unclenching his fist.

Stick together!

If the athlete wants to ask two colleagues to stick together, he shows them two joined index fingers. Such signals are more often given by the elders in the group.

Where is the ship?

If the athlete is confused and cannot determine where the water vessel on which he sailed is located, he folds his palms in a boat to ask colleagues for directions.

Danger!

Athletes-divers do not indicate danger with their fingers. They straighten their arm in the direction from which the threat is approaching. In this case, the brush remains clenched into a fist.

Look!

If an athlete asks a colleague to look at something, pay attention, he points to his eyes with his middle and index fingers.

Stop!

If the scuba diver wants to stop a colleague, he turns his straightened hand with his palm towards the one to whom the signals are addressed.

Let's swim there!

The divers show each other the direction in which to move with their palms clenched into a fist. In this case, the thumb sticks out in the direction in which you should move.

Repeat!

When giving such a signal, the athlete describes the circle with his index fingers.

Question!

If the athlete wants to ask something, he shows his colleagues the index finger, bent with a hook.

How much is on your gauge?

If the athlete wants to know how much gas his colleague has left, he taps the index and middle fingers of one hand on the palm of the other hand.

These are the main gestures used by diving scuba divers. Scuba diving also includes other signals that represent numbers, marine life, and so on. But they have little to do with security.

Even if you know perfectly well all diving signals, do not be lazy to periodically discuss and recall them with the team. Every time before diving, check that your insurance is working and that the equipment is in order.

Don't forget that any scuba diver's best insurance is his skill and self-control. Therefore, practice a lot, hone your behavior in difficult situations.

These are the basics of diving safety. If you can tell more about them, please do so in the comments.

The sea, the sun and sunken ships, that's what I remember about the rest in the city (). visit Turkish capital diving, and even with a valid certificate, and not to look around the local underwater beauties - blasphemy, not otherwise. But you should always remember that diving is dangerous and fraught with many risks.

The biggest danger of diving

Any school will tell you right away that main danger, which you may encounter when diving, is you yourself. Therefore, it is imperative get trained.

To avoid problems, you must take care of yourself not only in the water, but also before diving. Namely:

• follow the safety regulations;
• choose only good equipment;
• your health must be excellent (no alcohol);
• don't dive alone.

Barotrauma and how to avoid it

Immersion is directly related to pressure increase, and the ascent is vice versa with downgrade, and naturally our body reacts to these drops, the problems caused by these jumps are called barotrauma.

There are many types of barotrauma, and knowing about them will not help you much. Better remember how to prevent barotrauma:

• control your ascent rate(banal rule, you should not rise faster than the air you exhale);
• required when ascendingexhale;
• learn blowing techniques(you should be explained in the course);
• don't get on the plane(or to another aircraft) after diving.

Inhabitants of the deep sea

As my instructor said: “You are not splashing in your bathroom, so look around!”. We're invading foreign environments and it's worth being careful with its inhabitants. Jellyfish, stingrays, snakes, poisonous fish - a must study the dangerous inhabitants of the fauna in your region.

By the way, sharks are not so dangerous, because if you are an amateur, then in resort areas they almost never meet.

Risk Reward

What awaits you if still take the risk? The award is just amazing. To complete the experience, I advise you to choose a place with hsunken ships and other things, because they not only look beautiful under water, but also are a kind of a magnet for life.

All scenarios below are based on real diving accidents documented by the Divers Alert Network (DAN) to assist divers.

Uncontrolled ascent often causes loss of cargo
At the end of the dive, the female diver suddenly lost her weight belt, after which a rapid ascent to the surface began from a depth of 6 meters. “I started exhaling and deflating the dry suit as fast as I could, and I also tried spreading my arms and legs to increase resistance. My partner tried to intercept me, but I dragged him along with me, too, ”said the female diver.

The team of partners interrupted their dive and swam to the shore. Fortunately, neither she nor her partner reported any injuries.

Note fromDAN:

A lost weight belt must not result in a rapid uncontrolled ascent. Putting a lot of weight on just one belt is akin to putting all your eggs in one basket. It can also increase the load on the belt buckle, making it more likely to open unintentionally.

On the other hand, this female diver tried to spread her arms and legs and increase the resistance to slow her ascent. In the face of an uncontrolled ascent, this was the best course of action and may have prevented the incident from turning into something more serious.

If the diver has a BCD with built-in weights, the weight can be distributed between the non-resettable back pockets, the weight strap and the two weight pockets integrated into the BCD. Steel cylinders and weight slings are other ways of distributing the necessary weight to different points on the diver's body.

Uncontrolled ascents are relatively rare, but when they do occur, every diver should remember the first rule of diving: Never hold your breath!

Unintentional uncontrolled ascent due to inadvertent inflation

On the seventh day of the dive tour, on board a large dive boat, a diver unexpectedly jammed a low pressure inflator during a dive. The diver flew from a depth of 28 meters to the surface in about 15 seconds.

“[The incident happened] on my 18th dive in these seven days of diving. We did a Nitrox dive with about 32% oxygen throughout the week,” the diver explained. – I pressed the inflator button on my new BC; it jammed, and I was thrown right to the surface ... despite the fact that I desperately pressed on the valve mounted on my shoulder. There was so much noise and so many bubbles surrounding me and blocking my field of vision that I probably wouldn't be able to disconnect the inflator hose even if I remembered to do so. I jumped to the surface, was lifted onto the boat, and the helmsman immediately gave me a DAN bottle of oxygen, which I continued to breathe after returning to the boat.

The incident occurred during the first dive of the day, after about 20 minutes of being underwater. The diver did not enter the water again, drank a lot of fluids and did not stay in the sun for the rest of the day, after which he reported that "there were practically no consequences."

Note fromDAN:

This diver was very lucky that this unforeseen event occurred during the first dive of the day, after only 20 minutes, and while breathing nitrox. However, given that this was the diver's 18th dive in a week and it was in a remote area, it was very prudent to breathe oxygen, maintain adequate hydration levels, and not dive for the rest of the day.

During training, divers usually practice quickly disconnecting the inflator hose in the event of such a malfunction and quickly supplying air. It is very important to practice this skill regularly, for example, at the end of a dive, already on the surface. The more often the diver practices quick disconnection of the inflator hose, the sooner he can do so if necessary.

Rescue diver prevents uncontrolled ascent
This is the first time a diver has encountered a fast ascent at a dive site. The incident occurred during the first dive of the day in an unexpectedly strong current. Here is the lifeguard's account of what happened:

“I regularly dive with a small group of experienced divers from a private boat. We are part of a Meetup.com group and sometimes other divers join us for dives. An Advanced Open Water Diver with about 30 dives joined us when we were about to dive the Jim Thorgerson (RSB-1) wreck after work. The current was strong enough that some divers familiar with the site complained about it.

“The new diver struggled down the anchor chain with his buddy. A few minutes after I entered the water, I heard rapid thuds on the tank, and another diver pointed out this novice diver, emerging from the wreck away from the anchor chain. He acquired positive buoyancy and gained speed.

I dived with the SS Minnus DPV and was able to quickly get back up and back to the anchor chain. If I had not caught him, he would have made an uncontrolled ascent and surfaced in a strong current, unable to return to the dive boat on his own.

Note fromDAN:
This was a typical case of a diver going beyond the limits set for him by his training and experience. Informal dive groups probably do not always take this issue into account due to respect for the autonomy and freedom of each diver. At the same time, it must be remembered that even if each diver is responsible for himself, all members of the group will be affected if emergency situation; thus, divers in a group have the right to test each other's competence. This cannot be considered impolite; it is part of the culture of safe diving. The partnership system among divers who do not know each other often does not work. So it was in this case.

For the partnership system to work effectively, divers must establish certain rules before diving, be confident in the skills of the other diver, and agree to a common dive plan. When diving in a strong current, as in this case, checking the skills of a buddy on the surface before descending is often impossible. Thus, it is even more important to correctly conduct a pre-dive survey and a full cross-check of equipment by buddies.

Another diver from this group most likely saved the inexperienced diver's life. The rescuer probably would not have been successful if he had not used a scooter that allowed him to catch up with the emerging newcomer before he got too shallow and return him to safe place to the group. Tired divers who make an uncontrolled ascent often experience lung barotrauma, arterial gas embolism, and drowning. Experienced divers in informal groups should not keep to themselves and take care of themselves. Instead, they should volunteer their advice for the good of the whole group.