Baltimore diver fatality - Bainbridge, PA

[heavierthanlead]

Seems like a better researched article, than most...

 

[openmindOW]

The article was informative. Thank you for posting it.

I dove Bainbridge; it's a nice quarry for diving. Deeper than 50 feet it is quite cold. In the 40s (F).

Questions still remain.

1) What kind of gear was he using?

2) What was he doing? The rumour at the quarry is that he was using reel.

3) It sounds like the victim had a buddy. What happened?

Regarding the Radford, the Radford is not a beginner's dive. There can be current. The TOP of the vessel is at something like 75 feet.

When and where was the diver certified? What level of training did he have?

 

[RonFrank]

Let's see.. a diver who had not dove in 2 1/2 years ran out of air and died. Not all that difficult to determine what happened. The guy ran out of air at 30', refused his buddy's air, and ended up with an embolism.

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All that is known so far is that Zerwitz dove long and deep and ran out of air, said Lancaster Scuba Center founder John Walker
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Walker said he believes Zerwitz descended to 105 feet in the 120-foot-deep quarry and then rose to within about 30 feet of the surface before getting into trouble.

"There was no air in the tank," according to Walker, who added that Zerwitz had reportedly spit out his regulator. "His buddy tried to give him air and he refused it."

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An autopsy performed Monday at Lehigh Valley Medical Center showed he suffered an air embolism and drowned.

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In dark quarry, death lurks - News
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If you run out of air and someone offers you there octo/air TAKE It!

Condolences to the family.
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[openmindOW]

If you run out of air and someone offers you there octo/air TAKE It![/LEFT]

There is much that we don't know. I am sure, Ron, that you, as a Moderator, would not try to discourage discussion of this fatality.

Lots of recreational divers take a 2 year hiatus from diving and don't die during their return dives.

Bainbridge is a popular dive site. Indeed, some returning divers might want to go there to get back into diving.

I'll pose a list of questions. Answers to any of the questions would help divers to learn from the incident.

1) When and where was the diver certified?

2) When and where was the buddy certified?

3) What was the diver's level of training? What agency trained him?

4) What was the buddy's level of training?

5) What kind of gear was the diver using? Recreational? Technical? Single tank? Doubles?

6) What happened? Was it an uncontrolled descent? Was it a planned descent? What has the buddy said about what happened?

7) Did one of the divers become entangled? (There is a rumour about that there was an entanglement situation.) If so, which diver? Was the dive team practicing skills with a reel?

8) What was the dive team trying to accomplish? Were they preparing for something?

 

[openmindOW]

Here's an update. I was at Bainbridge today. The use of reels on the platforms is now banned at the quarry. There are signs on the picnic tables.

 

[Garth]

Here's an update. I was at Bainbridge today. The use of reels on the platforms is now banned at the quarry. There are signs on the picnic tables.

Reels okay elsewhere?

 

[genxweb]

Reels okay elsewhere?

I am a part time employee of BainBridge Sportsman Club, I speak on my knowledge of talking to the owner regarding the sign to clear up rumors before they start. The rest of the information in this post does not reflect anything that BSC may or may not believe. The rest is my own rambling.

The signs state the following: Reels are not allowed on the platforms or in student areas. The signs came about as part of the incident that happen

The reason for this is the chance of entanglement is very great in those areas due to cables, ow students, trees, attractions, attraction lines and so on. The lake is over 27 acres and only two areas really fall into this classification. The first area is the lagoon. The lagoon is a semi isolated section that reaches a max depth when the water table is high of 20 feet. Vis in there drops fast when students are present and this could cause issues with running a line in that section. The next section is what is refereed to the bowl. you reach this section by either swimming through the lagoon, going up and over the under water road (depending on water table) and following the quarry wall to the right. The other way to this area is to walk down the path and enter from the tip. In this section there are several platforms at various depth. The deepest it reaches here is around 45 feet (once again depending on water table). This section is littered with attractions from when the quarry was a quarry as well as items put in for divers. There is also lines running from platforms and attractions. This area could easily cause a experience reel user to become entangled, or cause a student to think your line is a attraction line and become lost or entangled as well.

The remaining part of the lake is open for the use of reels. Side note when running a reel make sure to tie it off every few feet to avoid free floating line and to help not loose your full path back if one section breaks. If you are using the reel to deploy bags make sure you are in a section where there are no over head entanglements or students.

For those that ask about the divers certification levels, it really does not matter. Each diver is made to produce a cert card that has a photo on it. If they are new to the lake and ask they are given a a quick run down on depths and attractions base on their skill level. Their are signs around the property that warn of diving with in your limits and not to exceed certain depths, with a restriction that no dive should be below 90' feet (lake reaches 130 feet, most deep attractions are no deeper then 100 feet). Even with all these precautions there are no such things as scuba police. Once a diver gets down to the lake the dive they plan and execute / try to execute is their responsibility.

Unfortunately as in this case errors happen that cause injury and or death. The error chain in recreational diving is a bit longer then in deep or technical diving. Those that are in shallower depths have more time and a clearer head to try to work out a issue then those that are down deep and run into problems.

My prays go out to the divers family , friends and dive buddy.

Remember a good diver is always learning and aware of their surroundings.

 

[Garth]

Thank you for your reply. It sounds like an interesting place to dive. A bit expensive for a year membership compared to what I'm used to though.


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