Bahamas: Missing Female Diver

[RichnLenny]

i totally agree dandydon going for another dive after losing someone? unthinkable for me personally. Its not just Meg that has made this thread a tad incoherent pages ago someone randomly threw in something about american bubble wrap guy Watson??? nothing to do with this thread.

 

[InTheDrink]

I know it's been mentioned already, and I don't have the wealth of knowledge or experience to draw on that others here have, but it really does sound like this lady took her own life. In a very conscious way.

Maybe she had cancer? Who knows. Entire speculation but from the first and second hand reports here it sounds like she deliberately fought off any assistance. I struggle to come to any conclusion other than suicide. Narcosis doesn't add up at all so I discount that. There appears no functional impairment given she was ok dumping from shoulder valve. This view point is of course predicated on the accuracy of the information supplied so far. It would be great if Halcyon, MegDiver et al. could rejoin the dialogue.

J

And Deepstops, you are right. Even the mighty Thal couldn't stop a vaguely competent and determined someone from killing themselves on a dive.

 

[Thalassamania]

And Deepstops, you are right. Even the mighty Thal couldn't stop a vaguely competent and determined someone from killing themselves on a dive.

I beg to differ, the weakest Instructor that I've ever trained could rather easily prevent the scenario that we are discussing ... now suicide by uncontrollable ascent - that's another story. You see a diver can only esablish rather limited negative buoyancy, positive buoyancy is only limited by BC size.

 

[InTheDrink]

I beg to differ, the weakest Instructor that I've ever trained could rather easily prevent the scenario that we are discussing ... now suicide by uncontrollable ascent - that's another story. You see a diver can only esablish rather limited negative buoyancy, positive buoyancy is only limited by BC size.

I'm gettnig tired of bowing to your clearly superior knowledge/experience.

If a competent diver really wants to kill them self, an instructor can at best be an irritation. Happy to be shown how this is wrong.

I've saved several would be unintended climbing 'suicides' but that was by people being idiots. If they knew what they were doing and had intended to kill themselves there's nothing I would have been able to do. Admittedly, gravity has less impact underwater but there are still countless ways to do away with yourself in this environment where no-one could save you.

In any event, it's a moot point. In most circumstances a determined diver will be more than able to take their own life. Particularly if they'd been trained by you

Still hoping Halcyon and MegDiver update us all.

J

 

[Katamuki]

That would have been a great time to dich the victim's weights, wave goodbye and follow the ascent to the surface.

Terry

At that time you would be prosecuted for negligent homicide.....

 

[Katamuki]

Widget makes a good point. Narced and competent enough to use a dump valve? I can't get new divers to use one correctly when they're sober (non-narced).

I have seen divers come to our islands and be confused between the inflator button and the dump valve button. Maybe its possible she thought she WAS inflating?

 

[Thalassamania]

If a competent diver really wants to kill them self, an instructor can at best be an irritation. Happy to be shown how this is wrong.

I'm not disagreeing, all that I am saying is that competent leadership personnel should be on top of the situation and could rather easily (tank valve hold and air siphon) prevent a descent (which was the problem).

 

[InTheDrink]

I'm not disagreeing, all that I am saying is that competent leadership personnel should be on top of the situation and could rather easily (tank valve hold and air siphon) prevent a descent (which was the problem).

In the event that the diver was out of control, yes, absolutely. But I get the feeling that this diver was descending deliberately. To be totally honest, in my very little experience, new or incompetent divers tend not to use shoulder or bum dumps. The use their inflator dump. So I'm guessing - and clearly this is guessing - that this girl knew what she was doing. In that event you're going to struggle to get someone back up.

That said, ABSOLUTELY, a half decent pro should be able to deal with a negative (not-in-control) diver, easily.

J

 

[InTheDrink]

I have seen divers come to our islands and be confused between the inflator button and the dump valve button. Maybe its possible she thought she WAS inflating?

Possible but sounds unlikely. I've seen it happen, but the reactions from this diver as reported don't seem to support incompetence - but clearly I could be wrong as I have zero first or second hand knowledge. Just something *feels* wrong about this incident. Doesn't *feel* like an incompetent getting it all wrong and getting buttons mixed up.

But something else feels wrong too. Getting the DM at the last minute... hmmm... If I were a little more CSI'd up I'd be dreaming up theories by the minute...

 

[clofty]

I have seen divers come to our islands and be confused between the inflator button and the dump valve button. Maybe its possible she thought she WAS inflating?

As a relative new OW diver I have done this with different rental gear by accident but not at depth's of more than 60'. If you were suffering from narcosis would you be able to read your depth guage and or know if you were ascending or descending at that depth?
And by the way, it is my personal opinion that I am responsible for me and being close to my buddy. I don't expect my buddy to be looking around for me every single minute (and a minute is a long time down there!).

But if someone in charge of the operation, insisted that because of my inexperience I needed a DM (not me because I'm too cautious) but figurately speaking "I" may be annoyed that I couldn't dive with my husband and his buddy. I may have PMT and be ticked off and then I may have had narcosis and had mental issues due to hormones etc....well anything is possible, there are lots of ifs and lots of variables.

In December I went on my first boat dive in the gulf with my husband and he had to try to rescue a girl who was drowning at the surface as she was spitting out her reg and holding onto the anchor line. My DH is not an advanced diver. This made me panic and I start swallowing a lot of water because the rough seas were knocking my reg out and I was trying to hold onto the line and wait for my husband to descend. The currents on the surface were a bit strong. When my husband was relieved by the DM who gained control of the girl, he got me down where I was seasick in my reg. I continued my dive. My DH kept saying why didn't I go down. I said later I was scared of the current and unsure of the viz and if I would ever find him. We kept our dive short due to the fact that we were worried about the girl and of course we didn't do a second dive...... but sorry I'm off topic

Anyway from a newb's perspective.....