Feb 19 2017 Cozumel diving fatality

[notallwhowanderarelost]

So your saying she knowingly dove with faulty equipment?

Thanks for posting and joining....we all joined to share the love of diving and to learn.

It was definitely known that her BCD would have to be inflated manually before she got in the water. My intention is not for any of this to reflect poorly on her. Hindsight is always 20/20. Definitely did not seem like a huge deal at the time to manually inflate. There are so many unknowns with this, I would never point to this as the sole cause of the accident.

 

[mdb]

When I purchased my first BC in 1973 the only way to inflate was manual inflation.

At the end of the dive we would put several breaths of air into our BC'S and make
a slow ascent.

It seemed natural.

We also practiced "buddy breathing" at the end of each dive passing the "donor" reg
and taking two breaths each time.

Condolences to the family.

A good woman lost doing something we all love.

 

[SoFlaDiver954]

Good afternoon. I hate that this is my first post on scubaboard...First of all or our thoughts and prayers go out to Tammy and her family. This was definitely one of the hardest things we have ever been a part of.
My wife and I were on the boat with Tammy. We were diving with another DM but after reading a lot of speculation on whether or not she removed the power inflator hose or if it failed I wanted to comment on one thing. The hose/bcd connection was not connected until we reached the dive site. At that point, she and the DM identified that the connection on the power inflator hose was not the same size as the connection on the BCD. Her only option was to inflate manually for the dive. We parted ways at the start of the dive so I don't want to speculate from there. Another reason I wanted to comment is to encourage everyone who reads this. If you don't feel good, don't go....No matter what!! I believe we are all responsible for making that decision before every single dive!

Thanks for joining and I'm sorry for the stressful situation you probably had to endure on the boat. It had been mentioned previously that she was using her own gear. If it was her gear, how would she have not known that the inflator hose and BCD were not compatible until reaching the dive site? Was this a new hose? (You may or may not know the answer, I'm just thinking "out loud").

 

[notallwhowanderarelost]

Thanks for joining and I'm sorry for the stressful situation you probably had to endure on the boat. It had been mentioned previously that she was using her own gear. If it was her gear, how would she have not known that the inflator hose and BCD were not compatible until reaching the dive site? Was this a new hose? (You may or may not know the answer, I'm just thinking "out loud").

I believe it was her BCD but the dive shops regulator setup.

 

[boulderjohn]

After 164 posts, I am going to try to list what is known about this case, replying primarily on the several people who posted eyewitness accounts. Please correct any misinformation.

1. The victim was a very experienced diver with many dives around the world.
2. The victim was using a mixture of personal and rental equipment, and there was a mismatch with the inflator hose system. [Speculation: her BCD was equipped with an inline alternate air source, but the rental BCD included a conventional inflator hose. You cannot use a conventional inflator hose with an inline alternate air source.]
3. The victim agreed to use the system for the dive, using oral inflation to achieve buoyancy.
4. During the dive, the victim indicated she was not feeling well and wished to end the dive.
5. The DM accompanied her for part of the ascent, but she had no assigned buddy for the ascent, and no one saw her reach the surface.
6. She was later found deceased on the reef by another couple.
7. The couple that found her later heard that she had suffered a stroke.

 

[TotDoc]

I thought f was final check.

you are correct on that...but the intent is to make sure you have all the rest of the stuff you need, like fins, film, etc...so I figured I'd let that one slide

 

[dmaziuk]

2. The victim was using a mixture of personal and rental equipment, and there was a mismatch with the inflator hose system. [Speculation: her BCD was equipped with an inline alternate air source, but the rental BCD included a conventional inflator hose. You cannot use a conventional inflator hose with an inline alternate air source.]

That would be weird: if it's her air2, she would know it won't work with rental regs.

(Note to self: always pack inflator hoses that came with our BCs and check the fit at the rental counter.)

 

[boulderjohn]

That would be weird: if it's her air2, she would know it won't work with rental regs.

(Note to self: always pack inflator hoses that came with our BCs and check the fit at the rental counter.)

It's an easy thing to forget if you have been using your own regulator and your own BCD together for a long time. If you were to purchase an inline air source early in your career and dive with your own setup for many dives over a long period of time, you may not have ever had the occasion to use one system with the other, and so you may not even recall (or possibly never even have known) that they are not compatible.

I once did a scuba review for a woman who had about 150 dives and who had only gone about a year since her last dive. She really didn't need the review at all, except for one thing. When she set up her gear at the side of the pool, she looked at her air integrated computer and thought out loud, "All right, now it's reading the nitrox mix and sees that it's 32%." It took a lot for me to convince her that her computer was not analyzing the nitrox but was rather still set to 32% from some time in the distant past when she had set it for that percentage. I had to tell her that the shop was not going to give her 32% for a pool refresher class, the shop itself did not have the ability to make 32%, I was the only shop employee with the ability to make nitrox, and I did not put nitrox in that tank. She finally believed me. You would be surprised what very intelligent people will become confused about in terms of scuba gear as time goes on.

 

[DandyDon]

At that point, she and the DM identified that the connection on the power inflator hose was not the same size as the connection on the BCD.

That sounds like it wasn't her BC? A rental? I have been tempted to not pack my own BC as it is huge, but I do - in part because connections like that vary.

If you don't feel good, don't go....No matter what!!

Then there are those who get seasick but are told that they will feel better once they get in, which often works. Results can vary.

 

[mstevens]

The above quote implies that mstevens had first-hand knowledge or has been in contact with someone who has first-hand knowledge of the problems with the divers gear.

I was responding to a post by my friend Jen and used the names of my wife and son, whom she knows.

Also, if you read what I wrote, it should be clear that we figured out the issue with Tracy's power inflator. What sort of person do you think I am given that I said that disconnecting the hose "quickly and easily fixed" a problem if you thought that lead to a death?

Who, by the way, did you presume Michael was if you presumed Tracy was the dead diver?