Freedivers need to follow safety protocols as much as divers. In this Lessons for Life account, Eric Douglas shares the story of a diver who suffers shallow-water blackout on a dive. Keep reading to find out how you can stay safe freediving.

Eighteen dives into a liveaboard trip, an equipment malfunction pushes a diver 90 feet to the surface in about 15 seconds—a rate of about 6 feet per second.

The excitement of a new experience causes a missed predive safety check, triggering an emergency at the start of a night dive.

A new diver commits a cardinal sin: ignoring ear pain during descent. Divers should equalize early and often and never brush off ear pain.

A technical diver cannot be resuscitated after he rejects alternate air sources to address a free-flowing regulator.

A diver decides breathing pure oxygen is all she needs to address DCS symptoms, impeading proper treatment.

A diver ignores nerves to avoid losing money on an expensive dive, a risky choice that leads to a drowning incident he was lucky to survive.

DCI finds a spearfisher who puts the pursuit of a prize catch over his own safety.

Disaster strikes when a spearfisher neglects to watch his air supply underwater.