Your regulator may be accidentally pulled out of your mouth by another diver, piece of kelp, or your own arm. Would you remember the regulator recovery skill you were taught in your open water class?

Most divers never practice the skills they learned in open water, but they should. The time you spend getting comfortable performing skills such as mask clearing, regulator recovery, and purging a reg could spell the difference between calmly resolving an issue underwater and letting a problem snowball into a disastrous situation.

“The reg recovery skill — like the mask-clearing skill — is easily practiced while standing in shallow water,” says Bill Dausses, an 18-year PADI Instructor and the Dive Safety Officer at the Oklahoma Aquarium.

Here are the steps:

1) Stay calm. Panic can lead to poor decision-making, such as bolting to the surface and risking decompression sickness, when an easier, safer solution is available. Remember the mantra: Stop, Think, Act.

2) Exhale continuously. As in any other situation underwater, do not hold your breath. Maintain an open airway by exhaling a small stream of bubbles.

3) Recover the reg by using one of these methods:

The Sweep Recovery Method

You were taught this in open water, and it is the most effective way to find and recover your second stage. Lean toward the right, which should help the reg float away from you, unless it is snagged on something. “I tell my students to touch their thigh and then slide it back to touch the tank on its side,” says Dausses. “From there, just take that hand and raise it straight out from the side — as if you are signaling someone. Then swing it in front of you while taking your other hand to sweep along that arm to catch the hose.”

The Reach Recovery Method

Push the bottom of your cylinder up with your left hand, and with your right hand, reach over your right shoulder and locate the first stage at the top of your cylinder. Locate the second stage hose with your right hand, and follow the hose to the second stage.

4) Put the second stage in your mouth — it will of course be filled with water, so you need to clear it. Relax — you learned this skill, too. There are two methods for reg clearing:

The Blast Clear

Since most reg recoveries take only a few seconds, you should have plenty of air left in your lungs to perform the “blast clear.” “Actually, you will most likely only need to use a puff of air,” says Dausses. Exhale through the mouthpiece, which forces the water out through the regulator’s exhaust valve.

The Purge Clear

The purge clear uses the button on the front of your regulator to inject a blast of air for clearing instead of using your own breath. It is used whenever you do not have enough air left in your lungs to use the blast clear. To do this method, push your tongue against the mouthpiece and briefly press the regulator’s purge button.

5) Inhale slowly. If there’s still water in the regulator, purge again.

At this point, you should be good to go to continue the dive, but as in any other situation underwater, if you are uncomfortable for any reason and would prefer to end the dive, signal to your buddy that you’re ready to ascend.