San Diego Dive Fatality 9-29-09

[bill22]

A few more thoughts...

I think its important that we should have some sympathy for the people who attempted the rescue that day too. It's easy for us to dissect everything now, but we weren't there. As I said, "hindsight is 20/20"...

The primary reason (I hope) for examining everything that happened is to help people who may find themselves faced with a similar situation in the future, so that maybe another tragic result can be avoided.

No one knows how they will react in a stressful situation until faced with it. There are a lot of things that happen to us physiologically when we're under stress. It's why training and mental preparedness are so important.

Any of us who have been diving for a while have probably had situations that we were in that could have turned out tragically. "There but for the grace of God go I".

Without a doubt it was a tragic accident. If it helps others be more aware while diving, more safety conscious, and less complacent so that we don't lose someone else, then at least something good will come out of it.

 

[CompuDude]

Another example of very simple things that should have been done. I'm not sure why someone responding in this situation, would "unbuckle" the bcd instead of the weight belt. Seems exactly backwards

Entanglement was mentioned so was the DM thinking to drop the BCD to take care of the entanglement issue and under the stress of the situation forgot to drop the weight belt first? This is assuming that there was a weight belt and the BCD was not weight integrated. However if that were the case the distressed diver should have been positive due to his exposure protection once separated from everything.

Complacency can happen to all of us. It's an easy trap to fall into. If it reaches a high enough level it becomes an accident waiting to happen. It's a thing that I'm sure that the persons involved in the attempted rescue still think about. It has to be a pretty tough thing to live with, knowing that you could have saved someone and failed

Hindsight is always 20/20.

My thought on that is that the DM was too used to dealing with weight-integrated BCs and not accustomed to weight belts. Else dropping the weights first would have been the clear course of action.

No idea if that's what actually happened, but it's certainly plausible.

 

[Power Scuba]

My thought on that is that the DM was too used to dealing with weight-integrated BCs and not accustomed to weight belts. Else dropping the weights first would have been the clear course of action.

I'd give that a 95% chance of being the case. When helping someone on the surface, it's not immediately possible to see their weight belt... especially in Ca water. You have to LOOK for it (or feel for it).

I can't imagine anyone taking off a BC first if they know the person is wearing a weight belt.

Weight belts are less and less common these days.

Bill

 

[bill22]

I'd give that a 95% chance of being the case. When helping someone on the surface, it's not immediately possible to see their weight belt... especially in Ca water. You have to LOOK for it (or feel for it)....

Bill

If so then his being in the water with no exposure protection, no fins, and no mask, just exacerbated the mistake.

Sad, sad, sad, situation Definite reminders here that we are trained a certain way for a reason....