Diver Drowns in Batangas, Philippines

[wershwie]

I heard they were guests of Acacia Resort. I'm very curious about what happened. I hope there could be more information on this.

Did they have a DM with them? If the boyfriend had to surface earlier, this should also have been made known to the DM and she should have gone on a safety stop with the rest of the group when it was time to ascend. Didn't they say there was another friend? Who was the last person to see her underwater, and when was this? Was the diver who retrieved her body, Jason Mendoza, part of her dive group? Which boat was used? How long before she was retrieved did she go missing? Did anyone get hold of the profile data in her dive comp?

Koala is one of the least complicated dive sites along the bay. As mentioned above, it's a gentle slope and currents are very manageable. It's really concerning when we have tragedies in such seemingly harmless areas My condolences go to the family and friends of Myla...

 

[clgsamson]

The investigators should have checked and analyzed the air contents of the tanks.

It is just weird to think that the least two (2) least challenging/difficult dive sites in Anilao have had 2 fatal incidents (Twin Rocks the other, 2 fatalities last year).

 

[jogab]

"boyfriend felt dizzy"

Has the air been analyzed?

They were with a dive master and another for an intro dive. If they got tanks from the same resort (which has the greatest possibility), all divers would have experienced the same symptoms, the dive master and the other newbie are ok i suppose. They were also on their second dive already, CO poisoning would have happened since the first dive.

 

[bleeb]

They were with a dive master and another for an intro dive. If they got tanks from the same resort (which has the greatest possibility), all divers would have experienced the same symptoms, the dive master and the other newbie are ok i suppose. They were also on their second dive already, CO poisoning would have happened since the first dive.

From more knowledgeable posters in other CO threads, I think there are two erroneous misconceptions here.

First, if tanks are being directly filled off a compressor (i.e. not banked), it's possible for only one tank in a batch to be contaminated with CO. This may have something to do with ignition of lubricants, or overloading of catalytic filters, both of which may sometimes only last a short while.

Second, with CO poisoning, it's a matter of the total dose a person accumulates over a short period (days). CO poisoning is a function of exposure time and dose, and the latter is affected by both the concentration in the breathing gas and the depth of the dive. So it's not definite that symptoms would have been recognized during the first dive, especially if they were still mild. I'm guessing it's one of those things where you can shake off a certain amount, but things get much worse much more quickly once you pass a certain point.

 

[divengolf]

We've had too many "bad breathing gas" accidents if this is, in fact, another one. Right now it's just speculation, but bleeb is correct in that all tanks from the same diveop don't necessarily show symptoms of CO for the reason stated.

This is something that the recreational dive organizations, I.E. PADI, NAUI, SSI, etc. should be all over. Even DAN is doing very little to highlight the dangers of CO and bring it to the forefront.

That's why I carry an Analox CO analyzer and check every tank.

 

[beester]

Crazy... just dived those sites 2 weeks ago. Indeed very gentle and easy sites. Of course if the cause is CO, that's very bad... this will hit you without much warning.

 

[DevonDiver]

This is something that the recreational dive organizations, I.E. PADI, NAUI, SSI, etc. should be all over. Even DAN is doing very little to highlight the dangers of CO and bring it to the forefront.

DAN can provide education. The dive agencies can provide directions/stipulations, only in so far as they can dictate standards needed for a particular dive center to hold membership with that agency. No dive shop is forced to maintain agency membership - such decisions typically result from marketing/promotional benefits.

The only way to regulate safety standards in diving, is for a government to formulate specific legislation governing an activity. That's not hard, because international and industry standards have existed for quite some time and could easily be adopted as a national policy.

As with all things, legislation is worthless unless effectively monitored and enforced without bias or corruption.

I read with interest this morning, that the PCSSD (Philippines Commission on Sports Scuba Diving) is seeking a more active enforcement role, under the auspices of potential new legislation/ordinance governing recreational scuba diving activities in the Philippines:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/163411/safety-gear-trained-scuba-divers-mulled-in-sports-measure

Sadly, the article is so incoherently written, that it's hard to decipher exactly what issues the ordinance identify and hope to cover.

However, what is clear is that enforcement would be a 'local administrative concern' for penalties (and thus monitoring) - which means, in essence, that non-divers/non-subject matter experts, within the local authorities, would be expected to actively identify concerns and levy 'administrative fines' to offenders. We all know how well that'd work, don't we?

 

[Quero]

DAN can provide education. The dive agencies can provide directions/stipulations, only in so far as they can dictate standards needed for a particular dive center to hold membership with that agency. No dive shop is forced to maintain agency membership - such decisions typically result from marketing/promotional benefits.

The only way to regulate safety standards in diving, is for a government to formulate specific legislation governing an activity. That's not hard, because international and industry standards have existed for quite some time and could easily be adopted as a national policy.

As with all things, legislation is worthless unless effectively monitored and enforced without bias or corruption.

I read with interest this morning, that the PCSSD (Philippines Commission on Sports Scuba Diving) is seeking a more active enforcement role, under the auspices of potential new legislation/ordinance governing recreational scuba diving activities in the Philippines:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/163411/safety-gear-trained-scuba-divers-mulled-in-sports-measure

Sadly, the article is so incoherently written, that it's hard to decipher exactly what issues the ordinance identify and hope to cover.

However, what is clear is that enforcement would be a 'local administrative concern' for penalties (and thus monitoring) - which means, in essence, that non-divers/non-subject matter experts, within the local authorities, would be expected to actively identify concerns and levy 'administrative fines' to offenders. We all know how well that'd work, don't we?

And if it's anything like Thailand, the offenders (e.g., dive boat owners without proper safety equipment, fishing vessels in marine parks) are the cousins of the authorities who are supposed to be doing the enforciing (e.g., local inspectors, park rangers), so there's an inherent conflict of interest in which loyalty to family/village/local powerbrokers trumps the duty to enforce regulations.

 

[DevonDiver]

It's a lot like Thailand.

 

[clgsamson]

How do you investigate this kind of death? How is it done in the other countries? US authorities/setting comes 1st to mind.