Shallow Water Blackouts can take the lives of the world's most advanced spearos. With the information Wayne Judge presents in this video, and with proper training, you're one step closer to surviving a Blackout.
One of the biggest threats to your life when spearfishing is shallow water blackouts. Everyone is susceptible, and it can affect even the most experienced of divers from simply pushing themselves too hard. You should always dive within your own limits.
The most important thing when diving in deep waters is to have a buddy watching your dive. Make room in your capabilities for other factors. If you aren’t feeling 100% healthy or your fitness is slightly off your dive time will not be as long. You should always train for spearfishing. This can involve simple underwater laps in a pool with delays to imitate holding at the sea floor, slowly building your dive time.
Knowing when to help your buddy to avoid blacking out is very important. If you see a change in their kicking style and technique, it’s a good indicator they are about to black out. Even after getting their first breath they may still black out and require assistance, so always keep a sharp eye on your buddy. Dive with a rig line in deep waters so that you can always stick close to your buddy in case of a shallow water blackout, because the last thing you want is to lose track of your buddy and not be close enough to reach them when they do surface.
If you need to pull your buddy to the surface, do so by holding them by their face holding their mask one and supporting the head with your other hand, keeping their fins clear of your own. Once at the surface always remove the mask so they can feel they have resurfaced. Tell them to breathe to prompt them calmly, and lightly tap their face. If they are resisting slightly, blow on their face to stimulate the nerves.
Often the epiglottis will spasm and hold shut preventing breathing. One solution to this is to give one powerful breath to open the airway and encourages them to breath. Continue CPR if this doesn’t work and get them back to shore.
TALK
TAP
BLOW
RESCUE BREATH
Thanks to Wayne Judge for sharing his knowledge and experience on this topic.