Bonaire accident issues Close Call

[Thook]

On September 5th, 2016 while diving at Site H, Monte’s Divi off of Klein Bonaire my wife had a primary stage failure. She began to inhale seawater and panicked. She was only 20 feet from the DM and me, but we were swimming against a heavy current. Desperate for air she did not think about her second stage being on her side and initiated an emergency ascent from 60’. I started to ascend myself but then saw the boat captain, who was also a rescue diver, retrieved her. I signaled the DM that we would initiate a safety stop while in route to the boat to intercept them. We met them at the boat and got her out of the water. She was completely disoriented and complaining about a severe headache. We got her in the shade, elevated her feet, and started her on O2 as the Captain radioed the incident in. When we arrived back to port an ambulance was waiting. She had aspirated and swallowed sea water, along with being diagnosed with near drowning, decompression sickness, and bent; and spent a total of 13 hours in a hyperbaric chamber before she was relieved of symptoms.

Lessons Learned:

We are both seasoned divers who without a doubt had become somewhat complacent in routine check-offs and equipment run-throughs. Although serviced on a regular basis, her regulator was 20 years old, and everything has a shelf life. 20’ separation doesn’t sound like much, but it can be too far in an emergent situation. She also happened to be 20’ behind me and not parallel so I was unaware of an issue until I saw her in the ascent. We buddy dive for a purpose. Buddies are our insurance policy. Don’t become complacent. Be vigilant. Be aware. Stay alert, and maintain your equipment.

Dive Video: BONAIRE 2016 In GoPro HD posted on Scuba Board- GoPro Video Thread and Bonaire Thread

 

[redacted]

Glad it all worked out.

A 20 year old regulator should not be a problem if it is properly maintained. What was the cause of the failure?

 

[fmerkel]

You state 'primary stage' failure. That generally means first stage. In that case the 2nd stage octo would have been of no use.
Both my wife's and my personal regulator are 15-20 years old. I have no problem with that. Most of the Scubapro line is not much different on the inside than it was that long ago.

Did you ascertain what the failure was?

(BTW-nice video of Bonaire)

 

[CuzzA]

On September 5th, 2016 while diving at Site H, Monte’s Divi off of Klein Bonaire my wife had a primary stage failure. She began to inhale seawater and panicked. She was only 20 feet from the DM and me, but we were swimming against a heavy current. Desperate for air she did not think about her second stage being on her side and initiated an emergency ascent from 60’. I started to ascend myself but then saw the boat captain, who was also a rescue diver, retrieved her. I signaled the DM that we would initiate a safety stop while in route to the boat to intercept them. We met them at the boat and got her out of the water. She was completely disoriented and complaining about a severe headache. We got her in the shade, elevated her feet, and started her on O2 as the Captain radioed the incident in. When we arrived back to port an ambulance was waiting. She had aspirated and swallowed sea water, along with being diagnosed with near drowning, decompression sickness, and bent; and spent a total of 13 hours in a hyperbaric chamber before she was relieved of symptoms.

Lessons Learned:

We are both seasoned divers who without a doubt had become somewhat complacent in routine check-offs and equipment run-throughs. Although serviced on a regular basis, her regulator was 20 years old, and everything has a shelf life. 20’ separation doesn’t sound like much, but it can be too far in an emergent situation. She also happened to be 20’ behind me and not parallel so I was unaware of an issue until I saw her in the ascent. We buddy dive for a purpose. Buddies are our insurance policy. Don’t become complacent. Be vigilant. Be aware. Stay alert, and maintain your equipment.

Dive Video: BONAIRE 2016 In GoPro HD posted on Scuba Board- GoPro Video Thread and Bonaire Thread

Thanks for sharing. Glad to hear she has recovered. I too am curious though if it was her first stage or second stage that failed.

 

[Diving Dubai]

You state 'primary stage' failure. That generally means first stage. In that case the 2nd stage octo would have been of no use.
Both my wife's and my personal regulator are 15-20 years old. I have no problem with that. Most of the Scubapro line is not much different on the inside than it was that long ago.

Did you ascertain what the failure was?

(BTW-nice video of Bonaire)

The OP meant the the Primary second stage

 

[EricTheDood]

A 20 year old regulator should not be a problem if it is properly maintained.

Maybe, but...

Although serviced on a regular basis, her regulator was 20 years old

Plastic and diaphragm materials degrade, pistons wear out, springs fatigue and get less springy.

As with many other aspects of diving, it's a probabilistic issue. Let's say the failure rate of 20 year old regs is 5%. The OP fell into that 5%.

 

[DevonDiver]

Plastic and diaphragm materials degrade, pistons wear out, springs fatigue and get less springy.

If serviced, worn components, perishable or otherwise, should be replaced.
If replacements are no longer available, the regulator should be condemned.

 

[Thook]

The reg has been retired, but when we have time we're going to take it to a tech to see if we can identify the issue....

 

[RyanT]

She began to inhale seawater and panicked.

A seasoned diver "should "never panic if their reg starts delivering water. "Should" being the operative word here. I think about emergency scenarios a lot and about what I "should" do in each situation. Unfortunately, when a person unexpectedly loses the ability to breathe, the rational brain sometimes takes a back seat. I've made my share of bad decisions. I think many of these kinds of stories often go untold because of embarassement, etc. Sharing them, however, provides a learning opportunity for us all. Thank you for sharing the lesson and I'm very glad to hear that your wife is OK.

 

[iamrushman]

thanks for sharing your story...hope all is well with your wife....