Two fatalities at Harvard Mine, California

[Peter_C]

It's the beginning of the diving season, when people think they can still depend on skills not practiced for the last four to six months.

We live in California. Fall and winter holds the best vis and we dive year around. Actually in Spring the temperatures drop the most. We recorded 46 degrees Saturday in the ocean. I would assume this "lake" was fairly cold, especially deeper.

I still don't get how Pollard could drown? "Wheeler left Pollard on the shore" The true story has not come out yet.

 

[Jax]

We live in California. Fall and winter holds the best vis and we dive year around. Actually in Spring the temperatures drop the most. We recorded 46 degrees Saturday in the ocean. I would assume this "lake" was fairly cold, especially deeper.

I still don't get how Pollard could drown? "Wheeler left Pollard on the shore" The true story has not come out yet.

Peter, "someone" called 911 and reported a "drowning". The news story says he died of "unknown causes". I suggest you cannot take that "drowning" thing as fact.

While Wheeler was 135 feet under, an unknown man called 911 to report Pollard as a drowning victim, Wilson said. Emergency personnel responded to the mine about 3:30 p.m., and Pollard was taken to Sonora Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

 

[mdax]

Were any of the divers trained for the depths they were diving? (tek trained does not necessarily = 200')
Any idea of the equipment they were using or gas/mix?
Sounds preventable with the right training and equipment, that's terribly sad.

 

[TSandM]

Although it may or may not be relevant to this accident at all, there is a phenomenon called secondary drowning. Although the victim may survive the initial inhalation of water, the damage done to the various mechanisms that keep the lungs inflated and exchanging gas can worsen over the next few hours, which is why we never just examine a near-drowning victim and send them home. Gas exchange can go on to be severely compromised, so yes, you can make it to land and still die of drowning, as counterintuitive as that seems.

 

[Narcaholic]

Everyone called him Dale, not David. So I have to question some of the information presented in this thread by those supposedly in the 'know'.

Dale was a PADI DM and last time I saw Jamie 8 mos ago, he was PADI Rescue. They had lots of dives and experience. Dale was really smart, and may not have been certified tec, but had as much knowledge and experience as most. The mine was Dale's favorite dive site, he'd dove it many times before. It was close by, had above avg viz for freshwater (60+ft) and had some depth.

They were both really nice guys. Bummer for them and their familiy/friends.

 

[Dive Bug Bit Me]

Wow, reading this, I have so many thoughts that it is difficult to put them all into a coherent post. Reducing them to a few key thoughts;

Firstly with respect to a missed safety stop this is not ideal but in the context of Padi tables it usually is not a biggie. A missed deco stop could be a problem. Generally we are taught that IF YOU HAVE NO DCS symptoms, you can go back within a minute or two and you can repeat the stops, adding a few minutes to the original plan (where and when to add minutes is part of the training). In water treatment of DCS is another matter. I think the shortest in water re-compression program that I have seen runs to three and a half hours. This creates a logistical nightmare for gas supplies, providing a buddy, thermal protection and hydration.

Oh, man, if Thresher Dog's story is true, that opens up a can of worms.

When you do decompression training, you talk about issues like, "What if your buddy has a problem and has to omit deco -- how much deco are you willing to forego to help him?"

My approach to this is rather simple. I typically dive the Buhlman tables. With a 30 / 80 gradient this gives about the same deco profile as VPM with a +2 conservatism in my diving range. Before a dive I also run the tables with no gradients (basically the traditional Buhman table) (I presume similar to VPM with no conservatism but do not take my word for it). This gives a far more aggressive deco profile that I can use in an emergency. I will not ascend faster than my aggressive deco profile. This means the stricken diver has two choices, hang with me for an aggressive deco profile or take your chances without me.

Someone mentioned that some divers were experienced recreational divers who dived a little beyond their training. I presume that means with deco obligations. I too thought I was a good recreational diver who could handle a little deco every now and then. I was wrong. When I took the deco course, it became clear that I was just lucky. Any idiot can hang at stops when everything is going right. Its being able to respond when things start to go awry that matters. My recreational training simply did not cover this.

 

[Dive Bug Bit Me]

I couldn't resist - one more thought...

Jamie stayed below alone somewhere by 100. He paniked, out of air I heard, and came across David Dedic and Cameron Wheeler. They were decompresing after a deep dive, maybe 200 or more. David Dedic is not a teck diver.

What?? We have David Dedic decompressing from a dive to 200 ft or more. David is not tech trained? Either he is diving trimix without training (bad idea) or he is diving air at 200 ft without tech training. Air at 200 ft is possible, but serious decompression, narcosis and carbon dioxide concerns. Without training? If this is true are we surprised that he is not with us anymore?

 

[Ben_ca]

Local TV news coverage:

Jamestown diving deaths still unexplained | news10.net

 

[DandyDon]

What?? We have David Dedic decompressing from a dive to 200 ft or more. David is not tech trained? Either he is diving trimix without training (bad idea) or he is diving air at 200 ft without tech training. Air at 200 ft is possible, but serious decompression, narcosis and carbon dioxide concerns. Without training? If this is true are we surprised that he is not with us anymore?

Based on the little info we have to examine and discuss, it does sound that way.

1: "Jamie stayed below alone somewhere by 100" sounds like the first bad move.

2: Then for Dale Dedic to say alone while his buddy escorted Jamie Pollard to the surface sounds like a second bad move. I wonder what depth they were decompressing?​

But then we certainly don't have all of the pertinent info, and probly won't this week. We often never get it.

Before those two buddy separations tho, there seems to have been some dive planning that one might call the initial bad move. We may only get to speculate on the plans as we may not get to hear them from the source - who must feel really bad about all this now and probly doesn't want to talk publicly, and if he has a lawyer - may well be under orders not to. Mine would tell me not to.

I have dived beyond my training at times and I'm lucky I wasn't hurt doing so. I certainly try to keep more within my training now.

 

[boulderjohn]

I think the shortest in water re-compression program that I have seen runs to three and a half hours. This creates a logistical nightmare for gas supplies, providing a buddy, thermal protection and hydration.

I know this is off topic, but...

I am no expert on in-water recompression, but the little I know does not include any protocols that require as much as 3.5 hours. Richard Pyle's study of IWR breifly describes three protocols, and as I read them, none comes close to 3.5 hours.

I personally know three people whose DCS was resolved through IWR using the Australian protocol (I think). I was not present for any of them, but all three had their symptoms completely resolved in a fraction of that time.