the air immediately, you can experience an uncontrolled ascent, which could lead to a lung overexpansion injury or DCS. If your disconnected power-inflator hose itself continues to free-flow, you should ascend immediately at a normal rate, as your air supply will be quickly exhausted. One way to slow a buoyant ascent is by flaring. To flare your body, get yourself face up and parallel to the surface. Spread your arms and legs out and away from your body and hold the blades of your fins parallel to the surface. Doing this will create as much surface area and drag as possible to slow your ascent. Regulators do not usually fail in a closed position in which they will not deliver any air. Usually, any malfunction causes a free-flow. If either does happen, or your regulator second stage floods because of a leaking exhaust valve, you must treat the situation as an out-of-air situation. Follow the procedures outlined in Chapter 3 for handling out-of-air problems. Seasickness Seasickness is an unpleasant occurrence that no one enjoys. Seasickness results when the signals from your inner ear and the signals from your eyes to your brain do not match. If you start to feel nauseous while on the boat, do the following to help prevent seasickness: 1. Avoid eating greasy foods. 2. Stay out of the cabin or any enclosed space on the boat. 3. Settle yourself in a spot midway between the bow (front) and stern (back) of the boat and between the starboard (right) and port (left) sides. This is the boat’s midpoint. The boat is most stable at its midpoint. 4. Look at the horizon. If you must vomit, go to the lee (downwind) side of the boat to be ill. Never use the boat’s head (bathroom). Many divers who get mildly seasick find that they usually feel better once they are under water. You must not dive if you are actively vomiting or extremely nauseated, though, because of the danger of inhaling vomit through your regulator. This can cause you to choke and the vomit can injure your lungs, or cause lung infections. If you know you get seasick and can avoid it by using medication, it might be permissible to do so. If you do take medication for seasickness, it must not produce adverse side affects (such as drowsiness or dizziness) that could put you in danger under water. You must test the medication for its effects on you well in advance of your day of diving. Be aware that the effects might be radically different when under pressure so you must be alert to the effect of the medication under pressure as well. If you wait until the boat is moving to take medication, it is too late. For best results, you should usually start taking seasickness medication the night before your trip. Follow the dosage instructions of the manufacturer. Choking and Coughing It is possible to inhale a little water when you breathe through a regulator under water and start to choke. You should try to prevent this from occurring by using the following steps: 1. Raise your tongue to the roof of your mouth to form a barrier to keep drops of water from going through your mouth and into your throat. NAUI Scuba Diver 164 Problem Solving FIGURE 7-4. IF YOUR POWER-INFLATOR MECHANISM STICKS IN THE OPEN POSITION, AND YOU CANNOT DISCONNECT IT, ASCEND TO THE SURFACE.
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