Delaware Water Gap Mishap takes one life

[BoltSnap]

I have never known NAUI to reduce the number of required dives for any course even by one dive let alone from 5 to 1.

One can't ignore the possibility that there is an underlying medical condition that was the actual cause for accident. I have had students in the past falsify their medical records to take the scuba course even when they had real serious medical conditions that would be very dangerous for them to go U/W on scuba. Fortunately, I was able to find out about their medical conditions before we had the chance to go to Open Water for their training dives.

 

[mritter]

It is very easy to sit in the warmth of your home, in front of a computer and express your analegy of what might have happened and who may have been at fault. None of this means anything since none of you where there and haven't a clue as to what happened. I have and continue to dive this area every year and won't offer an opinion as to what might have happened, since I also was not there at the time. Conditions in a river often change quite rapidly and cannot always be predicted no matter what time of year it is. I have been diving in NEPA up until last week and will probably continue until everything is froze over, all though I wouldn't do it in a wet suit. I am not young and vibrent. I am older and colder. This man may have been ok in a wetsuit. The bottom line is there was a terrible accident that cost a young man his life and caused a young woman to become a grieving widow. All in the search for adventure and enjoyment. I am sure the RIGHT people will investigate and make a determination and the lawyers will find someone alive to place the blame.

 

[cappyjon431]

It is very easy to sit in the warmth of your home, in front of a computer and express your analegy of what might have happened and who may have been at fault. None of this means anything since none of you where there and haven't a clue as to what happened. I have and continue to dive this area every year and won't offer an opinion as to what might have happened, since I also was not there at the time. Conditions in a river often change quite rapidly and cannot always be predicted no matter what time of year it is. I have been diving in NEPA up until last week and will probably continue until everything is froze over, all though I wouldn't do it in a wet suit. I am not young and vibrent. I am older and colder. This man may have been ok in a wetsuit. The bottom line is there was a terrible accident that cost a young man his life and caused a young woman to become a grieving widow. All in the search for adventure and enjoyment. I am sure the RIGHT people will investigate and make a determination and the lawyers will find someone alive to place the blame.

While I agree with you that it is all conjecture at this point, and I have great sympathy for the victims in this case, the purpose of this forum is accident analysis. There are hundreds of threads in this forum where we have discussed the unfortunate results of dive accidents. ALL of the victims and their families deserve sympathy, but in the large majority of cases, we do not find out the specific causes of these accidents. What is left for us is to discuss these accidents and try to learn through the discussion on how to avoid similar mistakes for ourselves and (if applicable) our students.

Applying your logic ("None of this means anything since none of you where there and haven't a clue as to what happened") would seriously limit discussions in this forum. While I am a very experienced diver with over 3500 logged dives, I am still learning and i have learned a great deal from the discussions in this forum. Are you suggesting that only those present should be able to discuss the issues brought up in these threads?

 

[Jax]

Delaware Water Gap mishap kills scuba diver - mcall.com

Delaware Water Gap mishap kills scuba diving student
By Frank Warner, OF THE MORNING CALL
7:33 p.m. EST, December 13, 2010

A scuba diver died at the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area after he was caught in a swift Delaware River current and lost consciousness Saturday afternoon as he practiced diving with his wife, authorities said.

John J. Osterhoudt, 27, of Wappingers Falls, N.Y., was taking scuba lessons with two instructors and his wife, Arlene, near the Dingmans Ferry Bridge when the current separated him from the group as he ascended from a depth of 14 feet, the National Park Service said Monday.

Osterhoudt tried to swim to shore, but as one of the instructors swam toward him he went limp and face down in the water, the Park Service said. The instructor grabbed Osterhoudt and tried to get him breathing again as they headed for the river bank.

On the shore, the two instructors used CPR on Osterhoudt and a park ranger applied a defibrillator. He was taken by ambulance to Bon Secours Hospital in Port Jervis, N.Y., where he was pronounced dead.

The chain of events began when one of the instructors signaled for Osterhoudt and his wife to surface, the Park Service said. The couple acknowledged the signal and began rising, but the current swept Osterhoudt away.

Park rangers are investigating the incident, which happened in Pike County, about 22 miles north of Stroudsburg.

Osterhoudt was a pharmacist for a Target store in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

There isn't a lot of information here -- but being "swept away", yet still close enough for either the instructor or DM to swim toward him . . .

It doesn't add up that the conditions really contributed, except that the group wasn't close enough to ascertain what happened to the student.

 

[Jax]

When the group was at the shop in the morning picking up gear, the instructor reported to my friend (also a Dive Master, but not the one involved in the incident), that he had received a "Special Dispensation" from NAUI, the certifying agency, to conduct the class in a single dive, at that location, despite the maximum depth being roughly 14 to 15 feet.

I have never known NAUI to reduce the number of required dives for any course even by one dive let alone from 5 to 1.

One can't ignore the possibility that there is an underlying medical condition that was the actual cause for accident. I have had students in the past falsify their medical records to take the scuba course even when they had real serious medical conditions that would be very dangerous for them to go U/W on scuba. Fortunately, I was able to find out about their medical conditions before we had the chance to go to Open Water for their training dives.

Perhaps Chris misunderstood, and the special dispensation was only for the depth?

 

[Chris3D]

Perhaps Chris misunderstood, and the special dispensation was only for the depth?

The comment was made in response to my friend's reaction to the fact that they were only bringing a single tank each to the dive site, so I'm fairly certain it was about the number of dives.

It is very easy to sit in the warmth of your home, in front of a computer and express your analegy of what might have happened and who may have been at fault. None of this means anything since none of you where there and haven't a clue as to what happened.

As this is an accident analysis forum, unless I've misunderstood, the purpose is precisely to consider the known circumstances leading up to this accident and surmise what may have happened in an effort to learn from it and possibly avoid a similar incident in the future. To suggest that only those who directly witnessed the events be justified in commenting is to suggest this very forum shouldn't exist. Because of the law suit that will surly follow, no one who witnessed it would ever comment here and we'd loose the ability to learn anything from it.

What is known is that an instructor took two new students to a river for instruction. That river had, as several news stories have reported, current which contributed to the incident. This particular area of the river has a depth of about 15 feet. These two facts alone indicate a less than ideal dive site for conducting OW dive training - the presence of current and the inability to achieve an adequate depth. This isn't to suggest that training should only take place under ideal conditions, but simply that this site had 2 marks against it from the start.

What's admittedly hearsay is the relayed comment from my friend regarding the special dispensation from NAUI to conduct the OW class in a single dive. If it is to be believed, which given my personal experience with the instructor, I'm inclined to do so, this is another mark against the conduct of this class.

Without even attempting to assign blame, we can already learn from this accident. Standards exist for a reason, and when you start to add up multiple near and/or outright violations of those standards, the margin for safety will be reduced, that's simple logic. It's also worth considering, had the accident not taken place, just how competent these divers would be having only had a single dive to 15 feet? In all likelihood, not very, which also reduces the margin for safety.

Who's fault any of this is is for the courts to decide, which obviously hasn't happened yet. But that doesn't make it inappropriate for us to discuss the incident and try to draw some general conclusions that may help avoid similar events in the future.
.

 

[bleeb]

Perhaps Chris misunderstood, and the special dispensation was only for the depth?

The comment was made in response to my friend's reaction to the fact that they were only bringing a single tank each to the dive site, so I'm fairly certain it was about the number of dives.

This inference that the dispensation was about the number of dives seems to me to create another area of uncertainty that might be worth clarifying. Most average size adult students (i.e. not including some petite women) on their OW checkouts in cold water blow through gas pretty fast, and it seems to be a common experience of going through an entire Al80 in 20-30 minutes. So it wouldn't be just the number of dives, but also the total dive time that would be significantly less than the norm. With a small class and efficient execution of the dive plan, less than the 80 minutes mentioned earlier in this thread seems possible, but how much less? It would be interesting to understand what the instructor and agency were using for rationale. This may not have directly impacted the accident itself, but understanding the thinking would determine this more definitively.

What is known is that an instructor took two new students to a river for instruction. That river had, as several news stories have reported, current which contributed to the incident. This particular area of the river has a depth of about 15 feet. These two facts alone indicate a less than ideal dive site for conducting OW dive training - the presence of current and the inability to achieve an adequate depth. This isn't to suggest that training should only take place under ideal conditions, but simply that this site had 2 marks against it from the start.

As a couple of posters have already mentioned, although current in the river is common (my word, not theirs), it's not universal and someone would have had to have been there to report definitively. The news report mentions the DM or instructor making contact with the victim, which at least implies the current may not have been obnoxiously turbulent. So, while it's plausible that a current at this particular location could have contributed, it's not quite a given.

It's also worth considering in greater detail HOW a 15 foot bottom might have been both good and bad. On the one hand, shallow water buoyancy is more difficult to control, which sounds like it might have been a factor if the suggestions of embolism are true. On the other hand, how many brand new divers haven't corked their first time in cold water. It's something just about every diver must be able to handle safely. On the plus side, a 15 foot depth would be more familiar to student divers from the pool, and a significant number of checkouts aren't all that much deeper. On the fourth hand, depth, even ones most experienced divers would consider shallow, often seems to be a source of a certain amount of anxiety in new divers, and less anxiety might be a good thing.

 

[openmindOW]

. . . shallow water buoyancy is more difficult to control, which sounds like it might have been a factor if the suggestions of embolism are true. On the other hand, how many brand new divers haven't corked their first time in cold water.

what kind of thermal protection was the student wearing? The water was cold.

I teach in cold water. In that kind of water, our students often wear rental 7 mil wetsuits - often 2 layers.

 

[scubafanatic]

I'd agree with the embolism 'theory'......low vis, turbulent waters, thick 'floaty' wetsuits, very shallow water, brand new divers with minimal bouyancy control/situational awareness......certainly sounds like someone 'corked' to the surface.

 

[Jax]

Scuba Diver Dies at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area | National Parks Traveler
Scuba Diver Dies at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on December 13, 2010 - 10:06am

National Park Service investigators are trying to determine what caused the death of a 26-year-old New York man scuba diving with friends at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

NRA officials say John Osterhoudt, 26, of Wappingers Falls, New York, died Saturday after diving in the Delaware River at Dingmans Ferry Access.

Mr. Osterhoudt was one of four people diving near the Dingmans Ferry Bridge where the water depth is about 14 feet, a park release said. Two of the divers were instructors, and two, including the victim and his wife, were students. One of the instructors signaled the students to surface; the Osterhoudts acknowledged and began a normal ascent. Due to the current, the group became separated as they were ascending, however, the release said.

Mr. Osterhoudt began swimming to shore; however, as the instructor swam towards him, he noticed that the student was face down in the water and unresponsive, the release said. The instructor initiated surface breathing while towing the man to shore, then immediately began CPR with the second dive instructor.

A National Park ranger responded and applied an AED, with no response. The ranger continued CPR until Delaware Township EMS arrived and took over. Mr. Osterhoudt was transported by ambulance to Bon Secours Hospital in Port Jervis, New York, where he was pronounced dead.