Coroner warns against full-face snorkel masks after fatality - Hurghada, Egypt

[DandyDon]

I learned to snorkel and free dive using a cheap mask and snorkel with no purge valve when I was young and too adventurous, but no problems. I always thought these looked questionable...

Full-face snorkel mask causes IPO fatality

Coroner warns full-face snorkel masks 'putting millions' at risk following the death of a snorkeller from Immersion Pulmonary Oedema (IPO)

divemagazine.com

A coroner has warned that full-face snorkel masks could be putting ‘millions of people’ at risk, following the death in 2020 of a tourist brought on by Immersion Pulmonary Oedema (IPO) while snorkelling near the Red Sea Resort of Hurghada.

IPO is a build-up of fluid in the lungs caused by an increase in pressure in the pulmonary capillaries, leading to a lack of oxygen (hypoxia) which can be fatal if not treated rapidly. People suffering from high blood pressure (hypertension) are particularly at risk due to the additive effects of being submerged in cool water.

The 63-year-old snorkeller, Angela Kearn, had recently been diagnosed with high blood pressure and was also undergoing hormone replacement therapy, which the coroner reported had also contributed to her death.

Ms Kearn had been wearing an ‘Easybreath’ full-face snorkel mask that she had purchased 5 years earlier and had previously used without incident. However, she began experiencing difficulties while snorkelling during her trip in January 2020, and died at Hurghada’s Nile Hospital after being taken from the water.

Full-face snorkel masks have long been thought to be the underlying cause of a number of snorkelling fatalities. Concerns were raised in 2018 following a series of snorkelling deaths in Hawaii, widely reported at the time to have been caused by an excessive build-up of carbon dioxide in the mask.

Egypt’s Chamber of Diving and Watersports (CDWS) warned against the use of full-face snorkel masks in August, 2020.

 

[SlugLife]

I remember reading articles years ago warning about cheap full-face snorkels. I personally would probably also be skeptical of even the higher quality ones. What I don't know is if there exist higher quality ones which are better designed to expel CO2, but I personally probably wouldn't use one.

It's worth noting that Scuba FFMs are quite different from Snorkel FFMs, though Scuba FFMs can still be dangerous in other ways if one is untrained.

 

[MikeHoncho]

Coroners are not medical doctors and have limited medical training in the US. Maybe not so outside.

 

[Ryan Neely]

Yeah, I've been watching this case for a couple of weeks. I tried to reach out to the Assistant Coronor who filed the report this article is based on. While I did find the report, I can't find contact information for the coronor.

Nowhere in the report did she elaborate on how the mask or the victim's hormone therapy contributed to the development of IPO (despite making claims that they did).

I'd love to hear the nuanced reasons behind this if anyone has any real information on it.

(For example: I understand that a CCR [specifically backmounted] can create a negative pressure in the lungs which can lead to IPO; is this what is happening with the full face snorkel mask?)

 

[Divedoggie]

Not all Full Face Snorkels are created alike! There are those which pass ANSI Standards for CO2 elimination. Hands down the best piece of equipment that I had my children use when they learned to snorkel.

 

[DandyDon]

Not all Full Face Snorkels are created alike! There are those which pass ANSI Standards for CO2 elimination. Hands down the best piece of equipment that I had my children use when they learned to snorkel.

I don't see the appeal. With the emergence of purge valves, I thought the snorkel had been perfected. I learned without one just blowing the water out at the surface.

 

[Jcp2]

I don't see the appeal. With the emergence of purge valves, I thought the snorkel had been perfected. I learned without one just blowing the water out at the surface.

Mouthbreather

 

[DandyDon]

Mouthbreather

Like all other scuba divers.

 

[dlofting]

Not all Full Face Snorkels are created alike! There are those which pass ANSI Standards for CO2 elimination. Hands down the best piece of equipment that I had my children use when they learned to snorkel.

Do you know what the design differences are that make some Full Face Snorkels better for CO2 elimination ?

 

[Shaun_Mc]

Do you know what the design differences are that make some Full Face Snorkels better for CO2 elimination ?

I think some have better fitting pockets that go around your mouth and nose.