Unfortunate OW cert incident

[Diverdude]

I would like to share something that happened to one of the students in my OW classes. Maybe a lesson can be learned from it or problems avoided.

Now, the student in the story was 11 years old. Her dad was a recreational diver and wanted his daughter to share in his passion for underwater adventures. During the first week and weekend was no problem. Though she was slower than most of the others, she did well in the classroom and seemed to understand the rules and skills needed for diving. The pool session seemed to go really well. She had told us she was on the swim team for her school. I believed her because she kicked all of our butts in the 200m swim. Anyway, she didnt have too many issues with the skills we practiced in the confined water portion of the class. So, we were all ready for our OW dive at the lake.

Saturday came, and our first open water experience was to take place. It was a great day for diving. The water was nice at 75 degrees and the skys were clear. We all geared up and got in the water for a basic 5 point decent and then a little tour of the platform and some of the "underwater objects". Thats when things go bad for the little girl. For some reason, she just could not equilize. One of the divemasters that was with us spent a good 10 to 15 minutes with her to help get her to equilize. She just couldnt do it. She would get to about 10 feet and couldnt go any further. So, she sat out that dive hoping that the next dive she would have better luck. She wasnt congested and she didnt have any signs of allergies. So on the next 2 dives, she would get in the water and try again and again, but all to no avail. My wife and I felt horrible for her. Well, on Sunday, she tried one last time, hoping that she could get some of the skills done. Alas, she just couldnt do it.

Its a really bad feeling watching someone get really frustrated with something that they just simply could not do. My wife gave a really good explanation as to why she couldnt equilize. Childrens anatomies are not fully developed. In an adult, the eustaton tube runs more or less down the toward the sinus cavity. Its very easy for adults to open the eustation tube. However, in children under the age of 15 or 16, the eustation tube runs straight across to the sinus cavity. Thats one of the reasons children have more ear infections because they cant drain properly. This anatomy differnece makes equilizing more difficult for children.

I thought that this was very interesting and wanted to share, especialy to all the parents out there wanting to certify there kids. Just be patient with them, because it is more difficult for them to dive.

[ladyfish]

Did she have any problems clearing her ears in the pool? She should have had to clear at least once in the deep water. If she could clear in the pool, then maybe it was more about her being nervous than anything. I've had lots of students have problems clearing at first, and I think they are very nervous and just not able to clear correctly.

I had one adult have serious problems in the lake, but when we went to the ocean (warmer water, and good vis) he had no problems at all.

Was she wearing a hood? That can cause problems too.

[Black-Gorrilla]

most pools arent deep enough for that... most of my pool class was done in 5-6 feet water and about 1 hour in a 9 foot end...

[Diverdude]

I really dont know if she had too many troubles in the pool. I do know she was trying pretty hard while in the pool, but I dont know if she had any problems. She wasnt wearing a hood and she didnt seem that nervous. Plus, we had several of the divemasters giving her all kinds of ways to equilize. She did finally get to where she could clear on land, but once she started to go down, she went right back to not being able to clear.

[Black-Gorrilla]

that sucks! shes gonna have to wait a bit to go diving then...

[somewhereinla]

Unfortunatly one of the skill that is rarely taught well is equilizing. Most of my life I thought I couldn't dive because I always felt my head ready to explode past 4 ft. On my first dive (at 36 years old), it took me a good 20mn to go down 25ft. I can still see the instructor being very frustrated and all the other student waiting for me to go down. Now I can go down 0 to 60ft in 2-3 mn.
If you have or know someone that have problems equilizing go see a doctor that specialized in diving medicine, he she will teach you proper technics. An other source of help is this excellent-must see video:

http://www.uwtv.org/programs/displayevent.aspx?rID=2272

[ScubaJenn81]

poor girl. I bet she was upset that she could not share that activity with her dad, I want to get my dad back into diving again, but he is just too busy to start again.

[tbuckalew]

Before I was married, I was doing the TA thing with a small shop working on my DM (didn't finish it as I did get married), but he would not accept a student under the age of 16 for physical development reasons, one of which was the difficulty clearing he experienced with younger childer (he said mainly under the age of 13).

It must have been extremely frustrating for the girl. Myself, I waited until my daughter was 15 before taking her out for her cert. For me, I know that she would go where ever we went - so I figured it would be easier if most of her growing was out of the way.

[snagel]

I have a 12 year old son. When he was 10 we took him on a discover scuba class (with an instructor). He did very well until he got to 10' below and he couldn't clear his ears. So, we ultimately ended the dive with him. As I said he is now 12 and is really interested in diving. I have worked with him on several occasions to try and help him clear his ears before we commit to any classes. Nothing seems to work. When I have told him to hold his nose and blow he says he just feels as though air is coming out of his eyes. Maybe the underdeveloped eustation tube may be the issue. He seems to have the same problem on planes.

S. Nagel

[scubasavvy]

Originally Posted by snagel

I have a 12 year old son. When he was 10 we took him on a discover scuba class (with an instructor). He did very well until he got to 10' below and he couldn't clear his ears. So, we ultimately ended the dive with him. As I said he is now 12 and is really interested in diving. I have worked with him on several occasions to try and help him clear his ears before we commit to any classes. Nothing seems to work. When I have told him to hold his nose and blow he says he just feels as though air is coming out of his eyes. Maybe the underdeveloped eustation tube may be the issue. He seems to have the same problem on planes.

S. Nagel

I hear you on this one. When I was younger and used to go snorkeling, it was really difficult for me to equalize at about 20 feet. Now, I've been scuba diving, my deepest depth at about 50-55 feet, with no problems. I'm thinking she just needs some time to develop.