Death at Terrigal - NSW, Australia

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DandyDon

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From Diver dies on NSW Central Coast
A diver has died after being dragged from the water on the NSW central coast.
The 30-year-old was diving at Terrigal on Saturday morning when his friend came ashore to report him in trouble, an ambulance spokesman says.
Volunteer surf lifesavers rushed out on inflatable rescue boats and commenced CPR as ambulance personnel were called to the scene around 10.50am (AEDT).
Finding the man in cardiac arrest, they prepared him for the ambulance helicopter but he was pronounced dead before it could take off.
 
A lot of what is currently being reported in the media about this diver death at Terrigal is incorrect.
Returning from a dive on the EX HMAS Adelaide, our dive boat (Pro Dive Central Coast) was advised of a diver in distress.
The divers on board proceeded to the distressed diver and took action to rescue him and commence CPR
It took only 6 minutes from the time we were notified of a diver in distress to the time we had him in our boat commencing CPR.
The surf life saving boat arrived shortly after CPR was started and the diver was transferred to their boat as it could get him to shore more quickly.
On the Pro Dive boat was an instructor, dive master, Navy clearance diver, rescue diver and a trained nurse.
The diver was close to rocks floating on his back when located and 2 divers entered to retrieve him at great risk to themselves in rough choppy water close to the rocks.
Divers setup was tech style harness BCD with twin mounted tanks. Diver had a manifold system but used only one Octopus. Diver used a dry suit.
No air was charged in the line when removed from the dry suit. BCD could not be inflated with the inflater hose buttons. Air bubbles were coming from around the first stage where it was connected to the manifold. The divers buddy advised he had communicated with the deceased diver on the surface before returning to shore. It is not know at this stage what caused the diver to get into difficulty.
 
A lot of what is currently being reported in the media about this diver death at Terrigal is incorrect.
Returning from a dive on the EX HMAS Adelaide, our dive boat (Pro Dive Central Coast) was advised of a diver in distress.
The divers on board proceeded to the distressed diver and took action to rescue him and commence CPR
It took only 6 minutes from the time we were notified of a diver in distress to the time we had him in our boat commencing CPR.
The surf life saving boat arrived shortly after CPR was started and the diver was transferred to their boat as it could get him to shore more quickly.
On the Pro Dive boat was an instructor, dive master, Navy clearance diver, rescue diver and a trained nurse.
The diver was close to rocks floating on his back when located and 2 divers entered to retrieve him at great risk to themselves in rough choppy water close to the rocks.
Divers setup was tech style harness BCD with twin mounted tanks. Diver had a manifold system but used only one Octopus. Diver used a dry suit.
No air was charged in the line when removed from the dry suit. BCD could not be inflated with the inflater hose buttons. Air bubbles were coming from around the first stage where it was connected to the manifold. The divers buddy advised he had communicated with the deceased diver on the surface before returning to shore. It is not know at this stage what caused the diver to get into difficulty.

How distressing. So you're saying the diver had manifold twins but only a single regulator?
 
No. He had a single octopus (ocy). 1 x first stage, 1 x primary regulator, 1 x backup regulator 1 x SPG line 1 x inflater hose line 1 x line to dry suit.
From what I saw the twin tank manifold was of the type that uses one ocy set only.
have a look at the news report. There is a police officer that carries the bcd up the beach. It is hard to see but it looks like one set.
I looked after seeing your question as I thought I could be mistaken, as at the time, I was being smashed by waves into the hull of our boat trying to free the diver from the harness in order to get him on our boat. DIVER FOUND ON OCEAN FLOOR : NBN
 
No. He had a single octopus (ocy). 1 x first stage, 1 x primary regulator, 1 x backup regulator 1 x SPG line 1 x inflater hose line 1 x line to dry suit.
From what I saw the twin tank manifold was of the type that uses one ocy set only.
have a look at the news report. There is a police officer that carries the bcd up the beach. It is hard to see but it looks like one set.
I looked after seeing your question as I thought I could be mistaken, as at the time, I was being smashed by waves into the hull of our boat trying to free the diver from the harness in order to get him on our boat. DIVER FOUND ON OCEAN FLOOR : NBN

This man being interviewed said the diver was found on the bottom and brought up...?
1.JPG

Lots of the lifesaving squad on hand. The story mentioned some were rookies in their teens! You can click this pic to enlarge, but still can't make out much about the rig...?
2.jpg
 
The 16 year old most certainly did a fantastic job. His mentor was in the IRB that we transferred the diver from our boat to. Towards the end of the footage you see me walk up to him and shake his hand and tell him he did a great job. The poor bugger was distraught as this was the first time he had to perform CPR on a real patient. Unfortunately this was also his first fatality.
Nitro91 was also on the boat that initially rescued the diver and assisted from the divers right side, cutting free the BCD webbing and assisting in getting the diver on board. It took 2 on the boat and 2 in the water to heave him up.

@DandyDon, the man being interviewed is talking crap. On scene he was explaining to the other life savers after the diver was transferred to an ambulance, that the diver had activated an emergency buoyancy device to bring him to the surface. The fellow obviously had no idea about dive equipment. Myself and one of the other rescuers pulled him up straight away and explained to him what really happened. He seemed to be making up details on the fly. Im sure he did not intentionally do this, but I think its more important to have the facts from people who did the rescue and were on site at the location.
The rookies he talked about: They placed some floats on the sand to mark out a landing area for the chopper. This was despite the police inspector on scene advising them the chopper could not land on the beach and would be landing on a nearby oval. They also helped prevent onlookers coming onto the beach to gawk whilst paramedics and senior life guards were working on the diver. A lot has been exaggerated by the reporter and this man being interviewed.
I am extremely angry that this guy being interviewed also states the diver was pulled from the bottom by his buddy.
He was not, and this statement indicates a problem occurred underwater. This misinformation does not help in discovering the cause of the accident or what we divers could take away and learn from it.
The diver was located about 30 meters from the shore. There was a 2 to 3 foot rough choppy swell and strong current. The diver was found floating on his back with his head (and airways) just below the water line (head tilted back). The diver was extremely blue with dilated pupils. Rescue breaths were not an option and virtually impossible due to the rough conditions, getting him on the boat for CPR was more important. This I remember vividly and can assure you this is FACT as I was the first to get to him followed closely by anther diver from our boat, who also happens to be a navy clearance diver.
I also spoke to his buddy back on the beach while the diver was being worked on. He said that they had surfaced, communicated on the surface and started for shore. Upon reaching shore the buddy realised he was not with him and was unconscious in the water. The buddy then did the right thing and raised the alarm with people around the area then waited on the rocks at the waters edge to flag down and direct any rescuers. If he had gone back in from his location he would probably have been smashed against rocks creating a double tragedy.
It seems every time there is an accident or death media speak to the wrong people and do not get the facts.
 
Scubadivesydney, thanks so much for providing your first-hand version of what happened - and for for your role in trying to save the diver.
 
Thanks katepnatl... I think having the facts is important so we can all learn from any mistakes, even if the facts are not helpful, at least then we dont change things based on someone's theory or inaccurate reporting. I read something in another forum earlier today i would like to share below.
If I should die while diving.
If I should die while diving please do not hesitate to discuss the incident and assess every element with a view to furthering your understanding of how to enhance diver safety.

If I should die while diving get the facts. They won't be readily available and will definitely not be correct as reported by the media. But get the facts as best you can. If I should die while diving understand, as I already do, that it will most likely involve fault on my part to some degree or another so do not hesitate to point that out.
If I should die while diving some of the fault will probably belong to my buddy and that needs to be honestly assessed as well though I must admit this is one area where I hope that compassion will be in the mix.

If I should die while diving there might be those who try to squelch discussion out of a misplaced notion of respect for the deceased, family and friends. They can say nice things about me at my funeral... but in the scuba community I want the incident discussed.

If I should die while diving at least I didn't die in bed.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/123910-if-i-should-die-while-diving.html
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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