Bent in Belize--Blue Hole Incident

[vladimir]

New divers shouldn't be led to believe their fate is out of their hands and it's totally just a matter of luck whether they will get hurt or die diving, but there is cause / effect to your actions.

New divers: your fate is not entirely in your hands. You are, to some extent, rolling the dice. You can tilt the odds in your favor by following prudent dive practices.

 

[ktomlinson]

Bent in Belize

0.9; I'm good.



Well, I know that NOW, don't I? I knew that going into the dive too, and I worried about it. It was the dive that worried me more than any others I'd ever done. I did it anyway, figuring I was the least likely to get sick.



I can tell you precisely. I filmed it:

Here we're starting the swimthroughs at 4:15:
View attachment 133684

And here's the guide telling us to start ascending at 11:35:
View attachment 133685

So that's 7:20 at 150 feet. Or as they say in Belize, "All the DMs tell me that their computers never went below 130."

Having said that, I I reiterate what I said before. When I bike to work, I assume that a bike never has the right of way. If a guy in a van blows a stop sign and t-bones you, do you care whose fault it is? It doesn't matter. It's your body, it's your fault.

Some of the best learning comes from our biggest survivable mistakes. I reran the profile using air as the gas and a .9 (my worst sac ever) sac with 12 minutes bottom time (if you started ascending at 11:30) and show that you would use 89cuft of gas and have almost 15 minutes of deco. Personally I think that the 150' dive wasn't the biggest mistake you made that day. I am very surprised that more people don't run out of gas on that dive. Were you diving air or a light nitrox mix? Did anyone run out of air on the dive? Do you happen to remember talking to other divers about how much gas they had at the end of the dive?

 

[TechDeep]

No kidding. If you give luck nothing but "good" outcomes to choose from, it doesn't matter what you roll. Once you start adding in outcomes like "chamber ride", "death", or "lifetime impairment" that's when you're gambling.

I've been a very lucky person most of my life. Sunday was especially lucky.

Actually I was referring to how our actions contribute to our "luck".

Hard work over a long period of time usually results in a "good luck" outcome.

Breaking rules and going against our training usually results in a "bad luck" outcome.

 

[vladimir]

Did anyone run out of air on the dive?

In an earlier post, the OP said one of the divers was sharing air with the divemaster.

 

[themagni]

What did unlucky have to do with any of this?

Every mistake was a conscious decision to ignore proper dive training and safety protocols, seemingly based on the belief that I'm in such great shape I'm impervious to harm. Somebody played with fire and got burnt.

If anything good is to come of the incident it should be a lesson for all divers to remember to dive safely and conservatively no matter what shape you might be in. The lesson certainly is not about being lucky or unlucky. New divers shouldn't be led to believe their fate is out of their hands and it's totally just a matter of luck whether they will get hurt or die diving, but there is cause / effect to your actions.

That's precisely why I started this thread and didn't hold anything back about the choices I made. It was a set of mistakes that could have ended up far, far worse than they did. You don't always hear this side because people are dead, embarrassed, or don't think it's DCS. I'm the perfect profile for someone who thinks that they can get away with this, and you can until you don't. And honestly, I wasn't sure on Monday if I was going to be around on Tuesday.

I've received a lot of private messages from people who have had all kinds of problems diving and lot of support for what I said and laying this bare. Someone has to learn things the hard way, and this time it was me.

---------- Post Merged at 10:14 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:12 AM ----------

Actually I was referring to how our actions contribute to our "luck".

Hard work over a long period of time usually results in a "good luck" outcome.

Breaking rules and going against our training usually results in a "bad luck" outcome.

We agree completely on this but are phrasing it differently.

 

[beaverdivers]

I would like to share a " bends " incident.

We had a small group diving Bora Bora in Tahiti back in 2000.

As we headed out to the dive site, one of the crew mentioned something about feeding the sharks. We thought he was joking. We had not signed up for a shark dive. This was our second day of diving in the beautiful, clear waters of French Polynesia. The crew moored the boat and gave a dive briefing. The plan was to go down the mooring line to 60 feet
and tour around for 45 minute, then return to the mooring line. There was to be a 3-5 minute safety stop on the mooring line at 15 feet. Buddy teams would then exit the water one at a time up the ladder at the stern of the boat. Sounds simple enough.

The dive was going fine, but the dive guide had led the group down current and as we headed back to the mooring line, the current had increased. One buddy team, consisting of diver 1 and diver 8, had struggled to get to the mooring line. In fact, diver 8 had to tow diver 1 back to the mooring line. They proceeded up the mooring line and did their 3-5 minute safety stop.

Unbeknown to us, while we were struggling to get back to the mooring line, the crew was chumming off the stern of the boat with fish parts. I was still at 50 feet on my way back to the mooring line, and upon looking up, saw a feeding frenzy of grey reef sharks under the boat and by the ladder. Diver number 1 left the mooring line for the ladder, but missed the ladder and the strong current carried her away from the boat. There was not a tag line off the back of the boat. Exhausted, Diver 1 kicked on her back and flailed with her arms, further exciting the sharks below her. One of the crew jumped into the water to pull her to the boat. We witnessed the sharks arching their backs and shooting toward the surface directly under dive 1. Diver 8 was still on the mooring line witnessing the scene. After getting onto the boat, diver 8 was so upset about the shark incident and exhausted by having to tow her buddy against the current at depth, that she sat out the second dive. Diver 1 decided to do the second dive. After more than an hour surface interval, we got ready for the second dive.

The second dive of the day was an uneventful, shallow dive with little current and no sharks.

Everyone was enjoying the beauty of Bora Bora, and getting ready for dinner. Diver 8's roommate knocked on our door and said that Diver 8 was experiencing symptoms of the bends. We went to her room, and with our DAN handbook in hand, went through the checklist for the bends. Diver 8 exhibited all of the symptoms of decompression sickness. We called DAN, and they initiated the emergency medical response. Diver 8 was taken to the clinic in Bora Bora, put on oxygen, and prepared for airlift to Papeete. The oxygen that was administered did not really help her symptoms, but looking into the beautiful, green eyes of the attending physician made the situation much more palatable.

My wife, Emily, and Diver 8 flew to Papeete in a special plane that flew at low altitude, along with an attending physician, where Diver 8 was taken to the hospital and into the recompression chamber. Diver 8 had two chamber treatments. While on the flight to Papeete, the physician told Emily that he suspected that the decompression sickness was caused by a heart defect in Diver 8. He recommended that she see a cardiologist when returning to the United States.

After the chamber treatments, Diver 8 was released from the hospital, and in a couple of days, met up with our group that had moved on to Rangiroa. She was not able to dive for the rest of the trip.

Upon returning home, Diver 8 did indeed see a cardiologist, and was diagnosed with multiple holes in her heart, it was not a PFO. Her physician said that her diving accident probably saved her life. She could have had a stroke just sitting in her living room chair.

Her bends case had been a blessing in disguise.

She had surgery to repair the problem, and is still diving today without any problems. We feel her bends hit was do to increased workload caused by stress from having to tow her buddy and do to the anxiety caused by the shark frenzy. After downloading her air integrated computer, we did see increase workload. But it showed that her tissue groups were not even close to being saturated and she should not have been bent. Also, the dive profile 60' for 45 minutes was within the dive tables.

Diver 8 was a member of DAN, but had not purchased DAN accident insurance. Her feeling was that she wanted to support DAN, but didn't need the insurance. That has all changed after this accident.

Hopefully your bends incident will also be a blessing in disguise. ( I am not inferring that you have a medical condition. )

 

[Reefcat]

You recieved an "Earned Hit"...you could even have a bit of ciguaterra if local fish (cuda) was consumed prior to diving.
To dive on Nitrox would have been a good ounce of prevention. Divers need to remember, immediate O2 use at the onset of symptoms would have certainly helped and if it didn't , you would consider that it may be something besides DCS. Chalk it up as a big learning moment.

 

[themagni]

Some of the best learning comes from our biggest survivable mistakes. I reran the profile using air as the gas and a .9 (my worst sac ever) sac with 12 minutes bottom time (if you started ascending at 11:30) and show that you would use 89cuft of gas and have almost 15 minutes of deco. Personally I think that the 150' dive wasn't the biggest mistake you made that day. I am very surprised that more people don't run out of gas on that dive. Were you diving air or a light nitrox mix? Did anyone run out of air on the dive? Do you happen to remember talking to other divers about how much gas they had at the end of the dive?

I started recording about 2 minutes into the dive while we were settling in at 30'.

We were using air. One pair requested Nitrox and the shop did not let them on the BH. (They did use Nitrox for the second two dives) One other guy (4 dives guy) ran out of air and was sharing with the second DM.

I surfaced with... crap, I didn't write it down. That's really weird, I always write it down. I had some left, probably around 800. Definitely more than 500, my reg starts going clunk when I go below 500. Started with 3200. I was the last to surface since I still had air in the tank and figured I'd just hang out and watch the fish. There's lots to see on a safety stop.

Yeah, I learned a lot on Sunday. And Monday. And Tuesday. I'm pretty sure this week has been the most educational of my life.

 

[Hawkwood]

themagni,

I appreciate your candor and continued participation in the thread. You've learned a lot from that happened and I hope the rest of us are taking away some learning points as well. I know I am.

 

[themagni]

You recieved an "Earned Hit"...you could even have a bit of ciguaterra if local fish (cuda) was consumed prior to diving.
To dive on Nitrox would have been a good ounce of prevention. .

I eat a vegan diet. (How can you tell if someone's vegan? Don't worry, they'll let you know.) That's been suggested privately. I also wasn't drinking the night before, I hadn't had any alcohol since about 8pm on Friday, and BH was on Sunday. (There were two dives on Saturday, but I felt fine.)

Wouldn't Nitrox be fatal at that depth due to O2 concentrations? Not the "130" they say on paper, but the "150" that the dive actually is. I haven't taken that class yet.

Yes, if I hadn't been drinking on the ride back, I may have noticed the tingling sooner and grabbed some O2, but if I got O2 on the boat, it would have been chamber time once I got back anyway.

---------- Post Merged at 10:38 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:35 AM ----------

themagni,

I appreciate your candor and continued participation in the thread. You've learned a lot from that happened and I hope the rest of us are taking away some learning points as well. I know I am.

Hey man, glad to be here.

My laptop wants to take a nap though.