'Don't hold your breath...'

How many times have we heard that during various lectures lectures? Hundreds, I bet! I recently experienced at first hand how important that instruction is.

There were a couple of sessions in the pool in the NAC before Christmas, where we could practice new skills and have a bit of fun. The bit of air that I had in my bottle only lasted the first session, so I used the second one to do a bit of snorkelling and surface diving. The pool is 5 metres deep, so is ideal for practicing those surface dives. When I surface dive I tend to hold my breath, just in case the journey back to the surface takes a bit longer than anticipated!

While snorkelling along at one stage I noticed Algis and Remis cruising along the bottom in their scuba gear. It was time for another dive, so I decided to join them. Being the hospitable guys that they are, they invited me to join them and offered me a few puffs from an octupus. Now I've never been known to refuse a drink, so I certainly wouldn't refuse a few puffs of air at 5 metres! We shot the breeze for a while, and then it was time for me to head for the surface.

I'm a great believer in relaxing and taking things easy, so I headed for the surface at a gentle angle. It was just as well! I was only gone a second or two when a strange tightness in my chest told me that something was amiss. I knew straight away what I had done (or hadn't done!). Those few puffs of air were at 5 metres (about 1.5 bar), and if I failed to breath out I was in big trouble. Luckily enough there was no problem with the signals between the lungs, brain and diaphram ... I exhaled with such force that I nearly took the NAC roof off (for the second time in its short history!).

So when you scuba-dive, breathe!

Anon

Newsletter Articles

Notes From the Chair
Beyond Lambay
Borneo
Breathless
Cuba 2008
My Trainee Weekend