Recovery diver dead, two others injured searching for body - North Carolina
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K
KeithG
Guest
from the above link:
By Donna Swicegood dswicegood@statesviile.com
Iredell Sheriff Darren Campbell said the death of a diver during a rescue operation on Lake Norman last month was a tragic accident.
Campbell said Sherrills Ford-Terrell Fire and Rescue Capt. Bradley Long, 28, drowned during an attempt to recover the body of swimmer Isia Cruz, 29, of Charlotte.
On Friday, Campbell, Criminal Investigations Division Supervisors Maj. Andy Poteat and Errin Jenkins detailed the findings of the sheriff’s office's seven-week investigation into Long’s death, which occurred near the Hager Creek Access area in Mooresville.
Campbell said a company recommended by the N.C. Chief Medical Examiner’s Office examined the equipment worn by Long, two other divers who went to the hospital after the incident on June 6 and a fourth set of gear that was on the boat being used by Sherrills Ford-Terrell Fire and Rescue.
The experts concluded there were no problems with any of the dive equipment but that Long’s primary air tank was empty. A secondary tank he was wearing, however, did have air, Campbell said.
Poteat said the incident unfolded on the afternoon of June 6 while Long and others from Sherrills Ford-Terrell were taking part in an operation to find the body of Cruz, who disappeared June 5.
Long and a second diver were working at a depth of 82 feet in an area pinpointed by sonar as a possible location of the body, Poteat said. A monitor aboard the boat indicated to the two divers that they needed to surface and Long and the second diver began an ascent, stopping at around 20 to 30 feet below the surface for a “rest stop” to avoid decompression sickness, commonly called the bends.
At that point, Poteat said, Long gave an indication that he was out of air. The second diver tried to help, and at some point, the masks of both divers came off, which caused the second diver to ascend too quickly, he said.
When he reached the surface, a rescue diver on the surface then descended to try to rescue Long, Campbell said.
Long descended to the bottom, back to a depth of about 82 feet, Poteat said.
When the third diver reached the bottom, he was in the process of maneuvering Long to get him to the surface when he experienced issues with his mask, Campbell said.
Jenkins explained the third diver’s mask began taking on water and he was unable to clear it. The pressure on his mask increased the further he dove, Jenkins said. That prompted the third diver to ascend quickly. Both he and the other diver were taken to the hospital for treatment.
Poteat said there was some indication that Long and the other diver attempted to use a regulator to access a secondary, smaller tank, called a pony tank. “It all happened so quickly,” he said, that they were unable to get a grip on the regulators.
Campbell said the investigation also revealed there is no electrical current that may have been involved in the deaths of either Long or Cruz. “There is absolutely no truth to that,” he said.
Poteat said the investigation included interviewing everyone involved as well as looking at the computer data from the dive equipment.
Campbell said the determination of procedure, training and other issues will be addressed by an investigation currently underway by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Poteat said findings from the sheriff’s office investigation were shared with OSHA representatives.
Poteat said the sheriff’s office largely focused on whether there was any criminal activity or malice that contributed to Long’s death.
“There was no foul play. It was a tragic accident of someone trying to recover a family member for some other family,” Campbell said.
By Donna Swicegood dswicegood@statesviile.com
Iredell Sheriff Darren Campbell said the death of a diver during a rescue operation on Lake Norman last month was a tragic accident.
Campbell said Sherrills Ford-Terrell Fire and Rescue Capt. Bradley Long, 28, drowned during an attempt to recover the body of swimmer Isia Cruz, 29, of Charlotte.
On Friday, Campbell, Criminal Investigations Division Supervisors Maj. Andy Poteat and Errin Jenkins detailed the findings of the sheriff’s office's seven-week investigation into Long’s death, which occurred near the Hager Creek Access area in Mooresville.
Campbell said a company recommended by the N.C. Chief Medical Examiner’s Office examined the equipment worn by Long, two other divers who went to the hospital after the incident on June 6 and a fourth set of gear that was on the boat being used by Sherrills Ford-Terrell Fire and Rescue.
The experts concluded there were no problems with any of the dive equipment but that Long’s primary air tank was empty. A secondary tank he was wearing, however, did have air, Campbell said.
Poteat said the incident unfolded on the afternoon of June 6 while Long and others from Sherrills Ford-Terrell were taking part in an operation to find the body of Cruz, who disappeared June 5.
Long and a second diver were working at a depth of 82 feet in an area pinpointed by sonar as a possible location of the body, Poteat said. A monitor aboard the boat indicated to the two divers that they needed to surface and Long and the second diver began an ascent, stopping at around 20 to 30 feet below the surface for a “rest stop” to avoid decompression sickness, commonly called the bends.
At that point, Poteat said, Long gave an indication that he was out of air. The second diver tried to help, and at some point, the masks of both divers came off, which caused the second diver to ascend too quickly, he said.
When he reached the surface, a rescue diver on the surface then descended to try to rescue Long, Campbell said.
Long descended to the bottom, back to a depth of about 82 feet, Poteat said.
When the third diver reached the bottom, he was in the process of maneuvering Long to get him to the surface when he experienced issues with his mask, Campbell said.
Jenkins explained the third diver’s mask began taking on water and he was unable to clear it. The pressure on his mask increased the further he dove, Jenkins said. That prompted the third diver to ascend quickly. Both he and the other diver were taken to the hospital for treatment.
Poteat said there was some indication that Long and the other diver attempted to use a regulator to access a secondary, smaller tank, called a pony tank. “It all happened so quickly,” he said, that they were unable to get a grip on the regulators.
Campbell said the investigation also revealed there is no electrical current that may have been involved in the deaths of either Long or Cruz. “There is absolutely no truth to that,” he said.
Poteat said the investigation included interviewing everyone involved as well as looking at the computer data from the dive equipment.
Campbell said the determination of procedure, training and other issues will be addressed by an investigation currently underway by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Poteat said findings from the sheriff’s office investigation were shared with OSHA representatives.
Poteat said the sheriff’s office largely focused on whether there was any criminal activity or malice that contributed to Long’s death.
“There was no foul play. It was a tragic accident of someone trying to recover a family member for some other family,” Campbell said.
K
KeithG
Guest
It appears that an out of gas at 20 - 30 feet resulted in the drowning of one member of a buddy pair.
Could this be a training issue?
Could this be a training issue?
Well, yeah.
Losing mask- No big deal, why panic.
OOA- No big deal, go to buddy/pony/other regulator.
Can't get pony tank working.
Seems like training and rusty experience, unless CO was messing up their thought processes.
Losing mask- No big deal, why panic.
OOA- No big deal, go to buddy/pony/other regulator.
Can't get pony tank working.
Seems like training and rusty experience, unless CO was messing up their thought processes.
OP
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Wow! Sorry, there is no excuse for drowning with a pony that has air
I realize that this is a news story, so don't take it too seriously, but what does that mean?
Surely that's just bad quoting.
The whole story sounds like newbies without enough training and experience. Maybe not, but that's how it sounds. Mask problems should never be more than an annoyance, but failure to find your pony reg is bizarre.
According to the article, the divers were working at 82 feet when they were recalled by a monitor on the boat. How was that done? I suspect the divers had communication devices, and I suspect they were using full face masks. If they were using full face masks, switching to a pony bottle is not the easy task it would be for normal divers.Handling a full face mask, especially in an emergency, requires extra training and practice.
I have been in the vicinity of two OOA cases in my life, and both cases happened early in a planned dive because the diver geared up on a used tank and did not notice it during the pre-dive check. That is very possible in this situation.
I have been in the vicinity of two OOA cases in my life, and both cases happened early in a planned dive because the diver geared up on a used tank and did not notice it during the pre-dive check. That is very possible in this situation.
A tragic accident to be sure but it's beginning to look like poor training, procedures and experience, there is no reason to run out of air, esp with surface monitors. It would be a simple thing to add a tank pressure check to the procedure....every 10-15 minutes the topside ask for a pressure reading from each diver. If it were my team, a change of equipment would also be done, J valves would be required equipment, it would have prevented this accident....it can be used with a full face mask so no mask swapping is needed, just pull the lever and go.
Basking Ridge Diver
Contributor
Have you ever dove with a J-valve and dang had it pulled down before you noticed? I have and it is not that difficult to have it pulled without notice. This is not a panacea - learn to check your spg.... Train as if you life depends on it - because it does...
Peace to the family and friends.
K
KeithG
Guest
It appears that multiple simple mistakes were made (add poor buoyancy control to the list of things mentioned above).
Since we seem to be jumping on the training / experience bandwagon I would like to learn more about the training / experience requirements for PSD (Public Safety Diving). I have not yet done a search for relevant threads, so if there are some handy ones please link them in.
Is there an organization that sets standards? Are there mandatory standards? For training? For re-training? For drills? For experience level? For type of equipment? Are there well defined standard procedures to be followed?
Since we seem to be jumping on the training / experience bandwagon I would like to learn more about the training / experience requirements for PSD (Public Safety Diving). I have not yet done a search for relevant threads, so if there are some handy ones please link them in.
Is there an organization that sets standards? Are there mandatory standards? For training? For re-training? For drills? For experience level? For type of equipment? Are there well defined standard procedures to be followed?
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