midas6t6
Contributor
All on a belt
Incident at Dutch Springs 21 May
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midas6t6
Contributor
Lobzilla
Contributor
My prayers go out first and foremost to the family of the deceased diver but also to the responders and everyone else who went to Dutch Springs for a weekend of relaxation and now has to deal with the trauma of such a tragic and entirely avoidable outcome.
As usual, there are conflicting accounts of what happened and if the details ever come out, life will have moved on and few will still care. In a few days, the official cause of death will be identified as 'drowning'. While this is an unsatisfactory explanation of the chain of events leading to the death, it is really all we need to know.
When mammals inhale water rather than an oxygen containing gas mix, the end result is going to be a bad one. A drowned diver inhaled water because the necessary breathing gas was not there when needed. The life supporting gas did not come out of his/her own regulator, did not come from the buddy's regulator, and was not obtained on the surface (or an arterial gas embolism caused by a rapid ascent prevented the oxygenated blood to reach its destinations).
Death by drowning will NOT occur if we
a) assure an adequate supply of breathing gas on our back
b) have mastered reliable air-sharing with our team even under stress
c) reach the surface in a timely but not life-threatening fashion
Is any one of these conditions really so hard to achieve?
Or more specifically, is it really such an inconvenience to plan and track our breathing gas supply and demand (!) from our buddies to do the same? Shouldn't instructors insist on this on each and every dive?
Is it really optional to frequently practice controlled air-sharing ascents to the point where they are significantly easier than putting our fins on?
Is it wise to spend hours of shopping for the coolest gadgets and then have no time or interest in understanding and mastering the operation of our life support equipment?
Would it not be responsible towards our friends and families to assess whether we have the skills and emotional make-up to deal with emergencies under water. And if we realize that we cannot respond in an appropriate, life-saving fashion, either learn to develop the correct responses or hang up our fins for good?
In other words, is there any chance that we as divers, buddies, and instructors could take our hobby and craft a little more seriously?
As usual, there are conflicting accounts of what happened and if the details ever come out, life will have moved on and few will still care. In a few days, the official cause of death will be identified as 'drowning'. While this is an unsatisfactory explanation of the chain of events leading to the death, it is really all we need to know.
When mammals inhale water rather than an oxygen containing gas mix, the end result is going to be a bad one. A drowned diver inhaled water because the necessary breathing gas was not there when needed. The life supporting gas did not come out of his/her own regulator, did not come from the buddy's regulator, and was not obtained on the surface (or an arterial gas embolism caused by a rapid ascent prevented the oxygenated blood to reach its destinations).
Death by drowning will NOT occur if we
a) assure an adequate supply of breathing gas on our back
b) have mastered reliable air-sharing with our team even under stress
c) reach the surface in a timely but not life-threatening fashion
Is any one of these conditions really so hard to achieve?
Or more specifically, is it really such an inconvenience to plan and track our breathing gas supply and demand (!) from our buddies to do the same? Shouldn't instructors insist on this on each and every dive?
Is it really optional to frequently practice controlled air-sharing ascents to the point where they are significantly easier than putting our fins on?
Is it wise to spend hours of shopping for the coolest gadgets and then have no time or interest in understanding and mastering the operation of our life support equipment?
Would it not be responsible towards our friends and families to assess whether we have the skills and emotional make-up to deal with emergencies under water. And if we realize that we cannot respond in an appropriate, life-saving fashion, either learn to develop the correct responses or hang up our fins for good?
In other words, is there any chance that we as divers, buddies, and instructors could take our hobby and craft a little more seriously?
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Ericocean
New
I went back Sunday diving again and asked about the diver. I was there too with my son and hoped the diver was ok. They told me he did not make it and had died. He was a sixteen year old boy. I was bummed, really sad. Don't have any more info.
Eric
Eric
Wow this is sad. I dive there regularly with my 11 year old son and couldn't imagine the heart break of something like this happening. I always look at Dutch as a safe, calm, relatively risk free diving experience for me and my son. The vis is always good, no current to deal with, etc. It is a great place to just go practice skills and relax.
My heart goes out to this family.
My heart goes out to this family.
Lobzilla:
Nice to think that all dive accidents are "avoidable". Driving on the freeway, getting on the subway, walking downtown, being in Joplin when a Tornado roars through, not so "avoidable".
It is my experience that most divers take things very seriously.
I'm not quite ready to hang up my fins for good but I do believe that accidents happen.
This weekend in the NE had a number of such accidents, not all of them caused by anyone not taking anything "a little more seriously."
Nice to think that all dive accidents are "avoidable". Driving on the freeway, getting on the subway, walking downtown, being in Joplin when a Tornado roars through, not so "avoidable".
It is my experience that most divers take things very seriously.
I'm not quite ready to hang up my fins for good but I do believe that accidents happen.
This weekend in the NE had a number of such accidents, not all of them caused by anyone not taking anything "a little more seriously."
No dive site is safe and risk free. Planning the dive and sticking to that plan can minimize the risk some. Good training and regular practice of it will further reduce the risk. Yet another is to be intimately familiar with your gear and your buddies and see that it is maintained and in good condition. Don;t dive with those who have lax attitudes towards safety. Even with this you or your buddy may still be in the wrong place at the wrong time and get hurt or killed. That is the risk we all take when entering an environment that is normally hostile to human life.
The effects on the rescuers and even the bystanders can be long lasting and quite devastating. Tonite I'm spending a little more time on my article and lecture for my rescue class dealing with those effects. It;s why diver rescue and the effects of it should be discussed to some degree in every class. Not just in the rescue and professional classes. If anything OW divers need it more.
And I debated about adding this but what the hell. Every time a diver dies in an incident like this, or because they are overweighted, or they didn't have a buddy who knew how to respond should look to the person or persons who decided rescue skills were not necessary in the OW class. That's who bears much of the blame.
The effects on the rescuers and even the bystanders can be long lasting and quite devastating. Tonite I'm spending a little more time on my article and lecture for my rescue class dealing with those effects. It;s why diver rescue and the effects of it should be discussed to some degree in every class. Not just in the rescue and professional classes. If anything OW divers need it more.
And I debated about adding this but what the hell. Every time a diver dies in an incident like this, or because they are overweighted, or they didn't have a buddy who knew how to respond should look to the person or persons who decided rescue skills were not necessary in the OW class. That's who bears much of the blame.
Jim: Your students are fortunate. You constantly update your courses and you use the latest information to do so.
dbulmer
Contributor
Jim,
I agree with most of what you said above but I do have to disagree with you a little bit. As OW divers we are trained to monitor our own gas and abort dives when circumstances give cause for concern. Given what little we know about this particular incident I would suggest that the fatality could have been avoided with the training that most OW divers receive and that it is unfair to apportion blame to any agency or individual instructor - further rescue training is always an asset and should be actively encouraged but a failure to adhere to the training already received is what appears to have taken place here.
For anyone new to diving I would suggest that when you dive, don't just check your own gas supply - be proactive in checking your buddy's gas supply as well. Doing this will help prevent an accident from happening in the first place.
Predive checks are necessary before the dive but in water checks are handy too. Being a good buddy is something you have to work at and if you are looking at your buddy's gauge you'll find it a good way to develop better buoyancy, trim and better awareness of what is happening around you.
It also forces you to stick close to your buddy which is a particularly useful thing to do as you develop your diving skill. If you cannot easily get to your buddy within seconds you were probably too far away. Your buddy is not just an extra body in the water , your buddy is a backup set of eyes, ears and grey matter which could one day save your life.
Skills such as sharing air, dumping weights etc are useful to practice but it is equally important to ensure that you don't let small issues cascade into larger issues where you might have to contend with stress. A good buddy can take away that stress by helping you.
I suspect that my post will fall on a lot of deaf ears but if just one diver takes what I am saying and considers what I have said and decides to be proactive then,maybe just maybe, that will help someone in the future.
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All 8 special rules for this A&I forum are important and it's good to review them whether new to posting here or not as we can forget. See http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/52701-special-rules-please-read.html
Some may wonder about these two in particular, like why not...?
As far as Take-Away info: Excerpting from....
In reviewing the above posts yet again, we've read one saying that the deceased ascended while air sharing, another saying that he did not accept air offered but did a CESA, and one saying that his weights were found on the bottom - and I suspect those were dumped on rescue or he wouldn't have sank.
OOA incidents do happen, and while the reasons are usually diver error - some of us just screw up at times, in addition to malfunctions possible. Learn what it takes to recover and practice those steps....
Accident prevention is always best, but are you prepared to save yourself when caca hits the fan?
Some may wonder about these two in particular, like why not...?
Simply because these two can undermine the possible examination of cause, effect, and how to prevent similar accidents in our own dives. Of course we hate to read about a diver dying, but condolences should be posted in the Passings forum only; maybe do so and link that here? And if there is any blame to be assigned, wouldn't it be best to do so in a preventative manner by offering a post on how things should be done in Basic Scuba rather than trying to convict some entity here?
As far as Take-Away info: Excerpting from....
If I may add (d) master and drill on whatever it takes to stay on the surface...!
In reviewing the above posts yet again, we've read one saying that the deceased ascended while air sharing, another saying that he did not accept air offered but did a CESA, and one saying that his weights were found on the bottom - and I suspect those were dumped on rescue or he wouldn't have sank.
OOA incidents do happen, and while the reasons are usually diver error - some of us just screw up at times, in addition to malfunctions possible. Learn what it takes to recover and practice those steps....
1: Don't overweight! Planning weights needed before entering the water can get confusing, changing suits from previous dives, diving FW after diving SW, and/or simply forgetting what worked well before. Keep notes, review them, and adjust prudently - adding and subtracting on a pad or slate to avoid mistakes. Most of us grew up with calculators and it is amazing how often we can't get this simple part right in our heads.
2: Drill on orally inflating at the surface to the extent that if you do a shared ascent or CESA, scared as you may be, you will be prepared to do that immediately.
3: Drill weight ditching and if you find yourself in trouble, dump them. There are replaceable. If you can reach the surface but have any difficulties, drop them then. If you cannot reach the surface safely, drop them so you can - which will indeed lead to an uncontrolled ascent and possible injuries, but we can treat those better than drownings.
Hell, I can speak with some experience here as I have screwed up a couple of times, and while I have attempted to learn better from my mistakes, and did share my mistakes in Close Calls, even as bad as my diving has gone at times - I have managed to orally inflate on the surface, the other hand on a weight pouch in case needed. 2: Drill on orally inflating at the surface to the extent that if you do a shared ascent or CESA, scared as you may be, you will be prepared to do that immediately.
3: Drill weight ditching and if you find yourself in trouble, dump them. There are replaceable. If you can reach the surface but have any difficulties, drop them then. If you cannot reach the surface safely, drop them so you can - which will indeed lead to an uncontrolled ascent and possible injuries, but we can treat those better than drownings.
Accident prevention is always best, but are you prepared to save yourself when caca hits the fan?
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