November 2, 2011 Florida Keys Diver Death

[diversdaughter]

Hello divers. Having read the poem posted by a member "If I Should Die While Diving", I feel compelled to share my father's story.

He was a 65 year old man. Extremely active, 3 rounds of golf on a 100 degree day was not unusual for him. Gym several times a week, etc. He learned to dive in Saint Kitts a little over a year ago and apparently fell in love with the sport. On a recent month long trip to Australia he was bummed to learn that he would need a medical clearance to dive the Great Barrier Reef so unfortunately he ended up snorkeling instead. This most recent trip to Key Largo was relatively last minute. The plane arrived 30 min early. The cab arrived early. The rental car, the hotel room, everything was running smoothly so when they realized they had extra time, they called to see if there was still room on the 1pm boat. A fatal mistake for my dad. He never did get to dive that day. The autopsy revealed an accidental death due to strenuous exertion in rough seas. That was the first time I had been told the water was rough.

Upon reading that to his dive buddy, I heard for the second time that yes, the water was very rough. 4 foot seas at least, I was told. I don't yet have the actual investigation report nor do I have his dive log. Both should arrive in the mail tomorrow. Once I receive it, I will post the specifics if for no other reason than to help other divers. There is just one question that I have and I am hoping someone can point me in the right direction. Exactly how long would you normally tread water before descending? He was a balls to the wall kinda guy. A decorated Vietnam Combat vet, he sky dived for his 60th birthday. He would do what everyone else was doing without complaint for however long it took. I'm told about 1/2 the divers were in the water already. Clearly he over did it but is there a protocol anywhere for this kind of thing?

Any guidance at all would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all

 

[DandyDon]

Hi Diversdaughter and thanks for sharing. There are certain reasons why condolences are prohibited in this forum, but sometimes hard to abide by that. Sounds like your dad had a full and active life and I have a hunch he'd rather go in the action that sitting around some retirement home - or maybe I am reflecting my own feelings here.

I don't have a hard answer for your question: Sometimes we plan to enter and drop immediately in hard currents or rough waters, but I don't know the conditions, briefing or plan for your dad's dive - and it sounds like they were waiting to descend as a group. He shouldn't tread water actually, as we wear Buoyancy Compensator vests or similar - just inflate and float as needed, but there certainly could be much more to his story.

May I ask when this happened?

thanks

 

[trtldvr]

Dvrsdghtr, thankyou for posting.

As Don has said there is no hard and fast rule for time on the surface before desending. Training agancies generally teach divers to wait on the surface for everyone in their party to be ready. They have divers orient themselves, check gauges, signal to eachother, then slowly descend feet first. This practice can be good in calm water and with newer, less confident divers, however there are many situations when it may be prudent to "hit the water descending". In situations of ruff surface or strong current, the less time on the surface the better.

Trtldvr

 

[diversdaughter]

Thank you so much for replying!

I realize I left out a tremendous amount of information and I did that specifically because until I receive that report in the mail I am only going on heresy from his diving buddy (a certified dive master) and the investigating officer.

It happened on Wednesday, November 2, 2011. Yes, he was waiting for everyone to enter the water. His buddy states he did a buddy check on the boat and then my father entered the water. When his buddy entered, the way he described it to me, he followed the line to a buoy and could not locate my dad so he dropped down for a minute and looked around. He resurfaced and told the DM that he could not locate his buddy. My father was located, I'm told, 1000 ft away. He was alive and his only complaint was that he was tired. His buddy said he was pulled slowly and calmly to the boat, no panicking or yelling at any time. The only indication something was wrong was when they asked for oxygen. It was once back on the boat that he lost and never regained consciousness.

I've read other incidents posted here and I promise to post the specifics of the investigation when I receive them. If I can prevent this from happening to one more person that would be enough. I am just grateful he didn't drown.

 

[diversdaughter]

Absolutely he was the kind of guy who would rather go out the way he did, just 20 years from now

 

[Garrobo]

I get sick and tired of people speculating on how easy and fun it is to die while diving or anything else. Having a heart attack while diving is NOT my way of happily 'going out doing the thing I like to do' or any other time. People who make remarks like this are insulting to the departed. My brother died a month ago at 73 'in his sleep'. Yeah? How does one know that he was asleep and didn't lay there in agony for hours till he finally died and was found the next day?

 

[DandyDon]

I get sick and tired of people speculating on how easy and fun it is to die while diving or anything else. Having a heart attack while diving is NOT my way of happily 'going out doing the thing I like to do' or any other time. People who make remarks like this are insulting to the departed. My brother died a month ago at 73 'in his sleep'. Yeah? How does one know that he was asleep and didn't lay there in agony for hours till he finally died and was found the next day?

I didn't say it was fun. It generally sucks. I've seen a parent leave quickly, and I've seen one suffer for a year - so as I said, maybe I am just reflecting my feelings to suggest being active at the time is preferable. I worry that my death might be hard on family if it died while we're out hiking, climbing, etc on an outing, but I will go sometime - and I hope it happens quickly and they remember how glad I was to be there.

We don't know what happened here, and I didn't see any possible references to the accident here in the forum or on online news. I guess she'll be back later today with more info as she gets it. I'll look when I return from an outing with them tonight.

 

[SC_Hoaty]

......

 

[DandyDon]

.....

 

[Johnoly]

... I don't yet have the actual investigation report nor do I have his dive log. ........Any guidance at all would be greatly appreciated.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Some times with Florida Medical examiners (ME), you'll need to be very specific to request certain documents. If you just say send me the 'report' they'll send you a general summary that may not answer all the questions you have. Florida has 'sunshine' open records laws and you'll need to submit your request in writing and I usually will do it with a signature required, since many of my written requests for documents have been ignored or they will only send half of what I requested. The ME's typically try to release as little as possible, since they are concerned of their involvement if legal action begins. It can be like pulling teeth, so be forewarned.

Read this post that I did a while ago on what to ask for:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/280557-lbts-diver-death-3.html#post4361251

Some family members don't want all the details, but please remember that every accident is not 1 single cause. It is always a sequence of events that individually may not be harmful, but when connected together result in an accident. (ie a car with a-older brakes, b-snow, c- a red light, all connected bad, but individually none are harmful). In reading through this incident, you will particularly want to look at the investigator's accident site report, the pathologist's table report and the Electrolytes report. Those should hold the answers you're looking for.