Diver dies in Sea of Cortez

[Wingtip]

I agree it's a tragedy when any diver is lost, and I mean no disrespect to the family, friends, or Mr. Jones who acted heroically to try and rescue/revive the victim. My deepest condolences go out to all of them.

As for the analysis of any accident I feel that more should be done to learn lessons and apply them. Of course the physical cause of death will be drowning, it seems shortsighted to focus on the coroner's findings. This was a trained diver with all the acroutements, training, and I assume experience required to participate and exist under the water, drowning simply implies that something in the training and equipment went askew and allowed water to enter the airway. Newsflash, that's what happens when something goes wrong. Looking deeper to identify what went wrong should be the objective in these "investigations."

 

[Cudabait]

Wingtip,

Thank you. Your last post totally supports my position. Your rapid assumption and assertion that the cause of death was by drowning due equipment malfunction or any other diver related action at this point is short sighted to say the leaast. Who are you to say that drowning could not have been preceeded by stroke or coronary thrombosis, each in itself could have caused drowning. Who are you to even imply that the victim was not already dead at the surface and, as such, preceeded the heroic efforts of Mr. Jones?

You guys have a great holiday. I,m not burning anymore of my life on this unfortunate lady,s demise. My warmest condolences to family and friends.

 

[BigJetDriver]

MikeFerrara once bubbled...

2, We have a 77 year old in tough conditions. I would say that there is a pretty good chance that contributed.

“No matter how careful you are, how good your equipment, how complete your preparations, accidents can happen,” she said. “Katie knew this, and she used to say, ‘If I get killed diving, at least I’ll be doing something I love to do.’ ”

So, Mike, my question would be: "Do you have a cut-off age at which you would make people stop diving?"

Just curious, as they say.

BJD

 

[MikeFerrara]

BigJetDriver69 once bubbled...




So, Mike, my question would be: "Do you have a cut-off age at which you would make people stop diving?"

Just curious, as they say.

BJD

Certainly not. As you of course know, though, we need to match the environments in which we dive with our abilities. Ability, which I would define as the combination of phisical condition and skill. is the determining factor, IMO. But some will follow the DM anyplace be it deep, inside wrecks, into coral caves or into strong currents.

 

[drbill]

Since I head down to La Paz Sat for two weeks of diving, this was not good news. My condolences to the family and friends.

Although I'm a few decades younger than the diver who died, and recognize age can be a contributing factor, I have also dived with much younger divers whose recklessless was a larger factor in a potential fatal situation than my age.

Dr. Bill

 

[Charlie99]

drbill once bubbled...
Although I'm a few decades younger than the diver who died, and recognize age can be a contributing factor, I have also dived with much younger divers whose recklessless was a larger factor in a potential fatal situation than my age.

It's not clear to me that her age was a factor at all.

Etched into my memory is a dive briefing from a few years ago off the island of Lanai. The day before, a diver had swum beyond the point of a cove and had been swept away by a strong current. To keep from being carried further and further away, the diver swam to the shore and made a very dangerous exit onto lava rock being pounded by swells. The diver got beat up on the rocks, then mentally froze up in a mild state of shock. The DM & Captain repeatedly emphasized during their briefing that they knew which direction the current was going, to stay away from the shore break, and that if we got carried away by the current, to just get good and buoyant on the surface and "we'll just pick you up on our way back to Lahaina".

In the heat of the moment, which is the lesser of two evils isn't always obvious.

In the Sea of Cortez incident, since the diver didn't survive, we will probably never know whether she purposefully attempted to go ashore or whether the surge was so strong that she got washed into the rocks against her will.

 

[OCdiving Deb]

On Monday, local diver Scott Jones relived that fateful moment of his rescue in the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. It was Jones' good fortune that "The Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin was also in the area that day. The moment was caught on videotape.

On the tape, you can hear Irwin during the rescue.

"On the rock...on the rock...on the Sea Lion Rock. The bloke is there but no sign of the woman....and it looks like he's hurt. (I'm) gonna radio the spotter plane...that's one down and one to go...but it looks like he's hurt."

For the rest of the story...
http://www.whbf.com/Global/story.asp?S=1547306&nav=0zGoJQko

kelphelper