Death of British Tourist in Galapagos

[TSandM]

I didn't mean to imply that this accident had to do with being hungover. Somebody in an earlier response had mentioned hangovers as something that ought to keep one out of the water, is all.

 

[Tortuga68]

Im sorry, but divers need to step up and accept responsibilty for themselves- if you have a heart attack, if you penetrate without training, if you dive sick, if you dive period, it is your decision, and you are responsible for yourself

I will definitely endevour to decide not to have a heart attack whilst diving

I'm also happy to hear that Dr. Bill survived deciding to dive after not drinking the night before, that hardly ever happens

 

[Splash-X]

The article seems to indicate that the incident took place October 6 so I'm assuming it is from 2009?

PULEASE... how can you expect divers to do something that most non-divers won't do, accept responsibility for their actions. Seriously, the unwillingness to accept responsibility for choices an individual makes of their own free will is quite disturbing to me.

In this case, unless there were pretty obvious signs of illness or dehydration, only the diver was capable of assessing their state of health. If she was truly sick underwater, she should never have continued the dive after her buddy surfaced.

Of course it is sad to see a diver due under any circumstances, but I agree (given what little I know about this incident) that the diver should bear the majority of the responsibility for not calling the dive.

I couldn't agree more. The article states that the deceased was an experienced diver and as such she should know when to dive and when not to. If she elected to dive even though she was ill she placed herself at risk.

On trips like these where you spend thousands of dollars to go you don't want to miss a dive but if you decide to dive when you shouldn't you're possibly risking your life and not just your money.

The fact that her buddy had to surface earlier in the dive and that the deceased did not go with the buddy or tag along with another buddy team puts more of the responsibility on her.

Does the DM share some of the responsibility? I think to a degree that he does but not to the extent of babysitting the "experienced" diver.

My trip to Galapagos was on the Aggressor II where our diving was from pangas. We had 14 people split between two pangas and the panga drivers were responsible for diver counts. The DMs can't be with every person every minute of the dive.

 

[Mobybuzz]

Worthless voyeuristic reading of poor report, without any useful dive detail.
More speculation.

 

[knowone]

Worthless voyeuristic reading of poor report, without any useful dive detail.
More speculation.

Thats what I said?

And to add more useless disrespectful speculation.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

My condolences to the Donna Newton's family...

I believe this tragic incident sets a good example. I am amazed to see that the more skillful divers become the more confident they feel under water to disregard simple basics. I see that every time I dive with advanced divers:They keep poking fish and disturbing underwater life; most divers take decongestants if they experience flu symptoms and instead of terminating the dive they continue; dive with regulators clearly leaking air; some even dive with a hangover... I guess sometimes our experience work against us: No matter how many dives an experienced diver has logged, they should be able to make the right call and ascend with their dive buddies. And for the dive buddy knowing your partner is vomiting underwater you certainly should not leave them behind.

It is extremely difficult to investigate underwater incidents as it was in Tina Watson and Shelly Tyre's cases. I hope more will come into light to further investigate this tragic incident.

Waterbender IMHO you have been a bit quick to condemn experienced divers! I would suggest the problem is with the divers you have dived with! Your observations are certainly NOT consistent with mine! Over the last 12 years and nearly 500 dives I have seen good and bad divers. Most of the experienced divers I have observed and dived with do not disregard simple basics. They are not in the habit of tormenting the creatures, diving hung over or medicated. Yes there are some complacent divers out there but IMHO they are the minority not the majority as you conclude!

As TSandM pointed out experience allows people to assess and respond to problems based on knowledge and skill. Also note that some first stages are meant to "leak" a stream of air bubbles.

Remember the coroner is in the UK and would be applying British "Duty of Care" standards, disclaimers are worthless under UK law. If you provide a service you are responsible for the safety of those paying for it.

The exception is charter skippers who are providing a taxi service to/from a dive site. It is the dive organiser who is held to account if there is an incident.

Regards

Edward

I think you have hit the nail on the head here. Expectations differ depending on the locale. Most of the places I have dived in OZ the DM's are in water guides. Many places they will signal part way into the dive asking how much air you have. They ask you to let them know when you reach a certain pressure. The DM's are "leading" a group of people, they can't guide the group and keep track of what is happening with all the divers as well. Divers are in buddy pairs for a reason! If you want a DM assigned to hold your hand you need to make that clear and hire one so they have no other responsibilities!

In the States it seems common for DM's to not even be in the water I haven't dived much in the States so I base that on limited personal experience and information gleaned from SB.

I guess the key is to know what the expectations are before you get in the water! We are all adults so it is up to us to find out what the local customs/expectations are.

This is indeed a tragic event. I suspect some people are trying to come to terms with the emotions of a terrible loss in a sport they do not understand. My heart goes out to them but I am also concerned for the DM and boat staff too!

FWIW here is the link to the thread discussing this event http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ac...0-diver-dies-galapagos-peter-hughes-boat.html

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Here if we are lucky they keep their butts on the boat and leave us alone. In Puerto Rico after the first dive the DM let my student and I do our own thing. He liked it. The other 6 he had to keep an eye on. Including the guy whose tank I had to put back in at 45 feet.

 

[Blastman4444]

Interesting we just got back from Grand Cayman where my wife and I did our first dives after getting certified in a local lake. My wife got really motion sick was told to dive because it would settle her stomach. If she needed to vomit just do that and purge your regulator. She said she didn't want to dive so I agreed even after several other divers and the DM tried to get her in the water. I told them she didn't want to go and she stayed on the boat vomiting. I know one can purge vomit but why take the risk if she choked or something and wasn't able to clear her lungs could have turned into something like this.

 

[D_B]

Petunia ... I think what waterbender and TSandM are alluding to, is that at some point in their diving, after the newness wears off, they become a bit less vigilant, a little less concerned and maybe a bit complacent ... Pilots can and have succumbed to that phenomenon too

I too think that the claims of DM responsibility in the article are off base

(a comment I've heard from DM's here in SoCal goes something like this ... have a safe dive ... dont do something foolish and make me get in the water to come after you)

 

[knowone]

Worthless voyeuristic reading of poor report, without any useful dive detail.
More speculation.

Thats what I said?

Well written - missing facts and easily misinterpreted.

And Lapenta nailed it again, with his first post.