Posted by Wayne on July 02, 2002 at 13:46:17:
In Reply to: Re: Does learning take place? posted by Tribes on July 02, 2002 at 12:34:38:
It was August of 1975 when I did my original SCUBA certification. I still remember doing the emergency ascent. I remember how surprised I was at the amount of air that I exhaled. I remember thinking how easy it would be to embolize if I ever held my breath while ascending. It is a lesson that stuck with my for almost 27 years. I doubt that simply reading about it in a book, or doing a swim across the pool pretending that it was going up, would have stuck with me for all this time.
Is it a dangerous thing? Yes. Is it a manageable risk? I think so. A well anchored ascent line for the instructor to use is a must IMHO to ensure that the ascent can be stopped if the student stops exhaling.
From my own experience, I think it is a good lesson and probably helps to drive home the point about breathing and breathholding. So to me it is about more than just how to do the ESA.
Wayne