DANs Report on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities and Project Dive Exploration: 2003 Edition
[DAN Fatality report01-40
Experienced solo diver ran out of air
under ice
Cause of Death: Asphyxia due to
insufficient air
This 43-year-old male was an experienced cer-tified
diver making a solo dive under the ice
using a full-face mask. The planned dive pro-file
was 78 feet (23.4 meters) for 25 minutes.
The diver used a line to the surface to commu-nicate
with his wife and daughter. When he
failed to respond to line-pull signals, they
attempted to pull him to the surface, but they
needed assistance. He was finally pulled to the
surface, but was pronounced dead at a local
medical treatment facility. The decedents tank
was empty, and the second stage on his regu-lator
free-flowed. He also had ice on the first
stage of the regulator, and there was water and
sand inside the face mask. No postmortem
toxicology was performed, but an investiga-tive
report indicated that the diver was on
antidepressant medication. Contributing fac-tors/
significant diagnoses included hyperten-sion,
elevated serum cholesterol, and gastroin-testinal
hemorrhage.
DAN Fatality report 01-67
Inexperienced diver, diving solo,
became trapped under ice
Cause of Death: Drowning due to
entrapment under ice
This 31-year-old male had open-water certifi-cation
and limited diving experience. He
made a solo dive through a hole in the ice to
prospect for gold. It was reported that this was
not the first time the decedent had done this.
He used line pull signals to communicate to
his surface tenders. After signaling to them
that he was coming up, the tenders were
unable to pull him through the ice and the line
broke. A recovery team described the condi-tions
under the ice as treacherous, noting
they had the body several times but could not
pull it to the surface.
DAN Fatality report 01-26
Experienced solo diver made repeated
deep dives, died during treatment for DCS
Cause of Death: Decompression sickness
This 39-year-old male was a very experienced
diver with open-water certification, but he
had not made a dive during the previous year.
He had a past history of decompression sick-ness.
The diver was a participant in a
spearfishing contest and made a series of five
repetitive solo dives to greater than 165 fsw
(49.5 msw). He had computer and buoyancy
compensator problems and used minimal sur-face
intervals, exceeding the limits of any
computer or table. His fourth dive was to 165
fsw (49.5 msw). He had a surface interval of
less than 10 minutes before descending to a
depth of 180 fsw (54 msw). The diver was
experiencing symptoms of decompression
sickness prior to his last descent, but he made
the dive anyway. After surfacing from this
final dive, he complained of respiratory dis-tress.
He was taken to a local recompression
chamber, where he died after a U.S. Navy
Treatment Table 6A. At autopsy he had some
bubbles in the pericardium
DAN Fatality report 01-19
Solo nitrox diver with motion sickness
and poor physical condition
Cause of Death: Air embolism
This 42-year-old male was an experienced
diver with nitrox certification. He was seasick
prior to entering the water and planned a 100-
fsw (30-msw) wreck dive on nitrox without a
buddy. The decedent made it down to 28 fsw
(8.4 msw) and surfaced three minutes later
without the regulator in his mouth. He was
talking on the boat before losing conscious-ness.
Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.
Contributing factors/significant diagnoses
included obesity, motion sickness and tobacco
abuse.
Cause of Death: Air embolism due to rapid
ascent
Moral of the story as I see it..... People die while diving. Everyone should work to increase their safety margin. I also think it should be required reading to read all the Fatality reports as they give you an appreciation for the inherant risk associated with diving.
Many more people dive while in buddy pairs BUT, as stated earlier, most of these were due to buddy seperation. Everyone should be a self sufficient as possible.
All DAN reports can be found on the member portion of their website.
Stay Safe :getsome:
Pete
[DAN Fatality report01-40
Experienced solo diver ran out of air
under ice
Cause of Death: Asphyxia due to
insufficient air
This 43-year-old male was an experienced cer-tified
diver making a solo dive under the ice
using a full-face mask. The planned dive pro-file
was 78 feet (23.4 meters) for 25 minutes.
The diver used a line to the surface to commu-nicate
with his wife and daughter. When he
failed to respond to line-pull signals, they
attempted to pull him to the surface, but they
needed assistance. He was finally pulled to the
surface, but was pronounced dead at a local
medical treatment facility. The decedents tank
was empty, and the second stage on his regu-lator
free-flowed. He also had ice on the first
stage of the regulator, and there was water and
sand inside the face mask. No postmortem
toxicology was performed, but an investiga-tive
report indicated that the diver was on
antidepressant medication. Contributing fac-tors/
significant diagnoses included hyperten-sion,
elevated serum cholesterol, and gastroin-testinal
hemorrhage.
DAN Fatality report 01-67
Inexperienced diver, diving solo,
became trapped under ice
Cause of Death: Drowning due to
entrapment under ice
This 31-year-old male had open-water certifi-cation
and limited diving experience. He
made a solo dive through a hole in the ice to
prospect for gold. It was reported that this was
not the first time the decedent had done this.
He used line pull signals to communicate to
his surface tenders. After signaling to them
that he was coming up, the tenders were
unable to pull him through the ice and the line
broke. A recovery team described the condi-tions
under the ice as treacherous, noting
they had the body several times but could not
pull it to the surface.
DAN Fatality report 01-26
Experienced solo diver made repeated
deep dives, died during treatment for DCS
Cause of Death: Decompression sickness
This 39-year-old male was a very experienced
diver with open-water certification, but he
had not made a dive during the previous year.
He had a past history of decompression sick-ness.
The diver was a participant in a
spearfishing contest and made a series of five
repetitive solo dives to greater than 165 fsw
(49.5 msw). He had computer and buoyancy
compensator problems and used minimal sur-face
intervals, exceeding the limits of any
computer or table. His fourth dive was to 165
fsw (49.5 msw). He had a surface interval of
less than 10 minutes before descending to a
depth of 180 fsw (54 msw). The diver was
experiencing symptoms of decompression
sickness prior to his last descent, but he made
the dive anyway. After surfacing from this
final dive, he complained of respiratory dis-tress.
He was taken to a local recompression
chamber, where he died after a U.S. Navy
Treatment Table 6A. At autopsy he had some
bubbles in the pericardium
DAN Fatality report 01-19
Solo nitrox diver with motion sickness
and poor physical condition
Cause of Death: Air embolism
This 42-year-old male was an experienced
diver with nitrox certification. He was seasick
prior to entering the water and planned a 100-
fsw (30-msw) wreck dive on nitrox without a
buddy. The decedent made it down to 28 fsw
(8.4 msw) and surfaced three minutes later
without the regulator in his mouth. He was
talking on the boat before losing conscious-ness.
Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.
Contributing factors/significant diagnoses
included obesity, motion sickness and tobacco
abuse.
Cause of Death: Air embolism due to rapid
ascent
Moral of the story as I see it..... People die while diving. Everyone should work to increase their safety margin. I also think it should be required reading to read all the Fatality reports as they give you an appreciation for the inherant risk associated with diving.
Many more people dive while in buddy pairs BUT, as stated earlier, most of these were due to buddy seperation. Everyone should be a self sufficient as possible.
All DAN reports can be found on the member portion of their website.
Stay Safe :getsome:
Pete
