Brazilian diver dies in Playa del Carmen - March 3rd

[guibs]

Mergulhadora brasileira morre no México

I'm keeping the same formatting and wording of the original article which is not that good even in Portuguese. Free translation:

"Sixty six year old Brazilian diver died in a scuba diving accident march 3rd in Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Report from a witness who followed the case:

After diving with a Brazilian diving school group for a week, victim and another 5 divers hired an additional Shark dive with local dive operator Phantom Divers in Playa del Carmen.

Although being master scuba diver certified, victim showed high anxiety and gas consumption, having had several problems during the week, including trouble equalizing and a flooding mask. Her mask was lent by a relative and victim refused advice of buying a new mask the fit her face, given by friends.

According to witnesses, divers in the Shark Dive were overweighed by more than than double normal weigh, in order for divers to remain on the sandy sea floor.

As soon as the group reached the bottom, victim signed a dive abort. The dive master asked for her to calm down but she repeated the sign and went for the surface.

The dive master attempted to help and, according to him, victim had a completely flooded mask and took her regulator out of her mouth. Dive master attempted to replace it but victim rejected it, showing clear signs of panic.

On the boat, CPR was performed and oxygen administered. Dive boat made it back to the beach.

The victim managed to regained conscience and was aided by a couple in the boat who happened to be MD until an ambulance arrived, but ended up passing away.

Still according to witness reports, the diver was exceeding the limits of her diving capacity and was not following recommendations given to the divers.

The diving school and the travel agency responsible for the trip have given total assistance to the victim and her relatives, who are in Playa del Carmen waiting for the body to be freed for repatriation.

The local coroner has ruled the death as drowning."

​

This reads like a lot of blame shifting on the victim in order to cover someone's shortcomings... I know people who knew the victim and think this report seems a bit biased. Does anyone have more information on this? I didn't see this pop up anywhere else.

 

[Buliwyf]

Bummer, sorry for ya'lls loss. Was right across from Phantom's shop last week, most or the week.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

According to witnesses, divers in the Shark Dive were overweighed by more than double normal weight, in order for divers to remain on the sandy sea floor

Having done this dive when I was a fresh AOW only diver, I don't think this is a bad idea, given the strong currents on the sea floor I felt. When I did it, I was perfectly weighted for a dive, and it wasn't easy to stay in one place.

​

As soon as the group reached the bottom, victim signed a dive abort. The dive master asked for her to calm down but she repeated the sign and went for the surface.

The dive master attempted to help and, according to him, victim had a completely flooded mask and took her regulator out of her mouth. Dive master attempted to replace it but victim rejected it, showing clear signs of panic.

}
If the witnesses corroborate this account, I don't see any sort of shifting of blame. If the victim was a master scuba diver, I would expect her to handle a leaky mask and a fully flooded one. It is annoying, but not something to induce a panic. Of course, I have no idea what her AOW course was like, what specialty courses she took and what they were like, and what her rescue diver course was like. The question I have, are the events in the article provided by the DM or witnesses or both?

I'm going to assume that this was a dive where they are in about 40 fsw on their knees, holding onto pointed plastic sticks to dig into the ground (my experience there). How could this be considered beyond her training capacity?

 

[Dan]

Condolences to her family & friends.

The accident description doesn't sound like the act of DM, more like a new diver.

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

I love these posts as they contain valuable information for a new diver who has yet to experience any real issues. I also hate seeing them as that means another diver has left us.

Now reading this I have to admit it is very confusing. It states she was a MSD yet the issues I see are not major issues that would induce panic in a diver who has reached the MSD level. Now of course there could be much more to it like panic from diving with sharks, etc. At this point who knows but I offer my condolences to her friends and family.


Hopefully we can learn more about this incident so that we all become smarter and more knowledgeable divers.

 

[Steve_C]

The accident description doesn't sound like the act of DM, more like a new diver.

Admittedly it is translated but it does say Master Scuba Diver and not Dive Master. They are very different ratings. One is rec, one is pro.

 

[Dan]

Admittedly it is translated but it does say Master Scuba Diver and not Dive Master. They are very different ratings. One is rec, one is pro.

Thanks pointing this out. Still, having a Master Scuba Diver indicates a higher experience level than my measly AOWC. I can see a student OW would do such panic behavior.

 

[guibs]

Admittedly it is translated but it does say Master Scuba Diver and not Dive Master. They are very different ratings. One is rec, one is pro.

Indeed, Steve. The victim was a Master Scuba Diver, which means 50+ dives according to PADI standards. She had also been diving for 5 days which I take to mean at least 10 logged dives on the trip.

Mexican media seems to reporting this as a DCS incident, as does this article in english Dive tourist dies from decompression sickness .

How this can be considered a DCS hit from this dive profile beats me. An embolism would be more likely, but I would expect that to be the cause of death in the coroner report?

 

[simcoediver]

Condolences to her family & friends.

The accident description doesn't sound like the act of DM, more like a new diver.

I agree with this, could have been one of those divers that did OW to DM in 2 months?

 

[Texasguy]

Thanks pointing this out. Still, having a Master Scuba Diver indicates a higher experience level than my measly AOWC. I can see a student OW would do such panic behavior.

If the person was not in the water in a while, perhaps, years, the training will wear off. The achieved certificate level would not... Thus, the difference in performance.

Probably of interest would be the last dive date that the user has indicated on a form.