Accident at Gilboa?

[Saltwater Junky]

Perhaps she had a full-face mask. Likely - no ..... Possible - yes.

 

[BlueFrog]

I dove there on Sunday and I can't confirm either of them, but I was told two different stories by other divers. Story #1 her mask "fell apart" and she panicked, shot to the surface. Story #2, she had a reg freeze up and free flow, panicked, ripped her mask off and shot to the surface. She was a new diver and didn't really know how deep she was when it happened so as a precaution, they treated it like a possible deep accident. Again, I wasn't there and didn't confirm or investigate either so can't say what really happened.

Gilboa has had several deaths (4) over the last couple years so management does a good job of treating any and all problems with the safety of the diver in mind. As to the water temps, it was cold. My temp reading was 35 degrees at 118 feet. Was mid-40's in the shallow section.

 

[Notso_Ken]

I spent the weekend diving at Portage this weekend. Read the newspaper when I got home Monday and seen this article.

Local News: Mask malfunction sends diver to hospital | sheriff, mask, county : LimaOhio.com

I was just about to get in at one platform when she was brought out at the next one down.

I don't know what happened under water, but I did hear them say "unconscious" and that they had her on O2.

I also heard somebody say about the tubes, but she did NOT surface anywhere near the tubes, more like the platform to school bus area.

Glad to hear she was treated and released.

Ken

 

[crpntr133]

Could also be that the media has Gilboa in its cross hairs.

I just don't see bolting to the surface from that shallow being a big deal.

 

[srhein]

I have to agree and disagree with the carpenter above. I do think the media doesn't treat Mike fairly. There was nothing in the paper about the fund-raising raffle for the Kids Wish Foundation Mike was running this weekend, nothing in the paper when he and his staff added the copter and remodeled the office and bathrooms, nothing in the paper about the hotels and restaurants in Findlay that were full of divers this weekend. Every article does manage to refer to past accidents, whether related or not.
I do think the response to the incident was appropriate. One of the diver's party surfaced with her, and yelled for 911 to be called. Even though other divers had oxygen to her in 3 minutes or less, and she was breathing when she surfaced, rocketing to the surface even from a relatively shallow depth can have very negative consequences. Like everyone else, I am just happy that she is okay.

 

[jtivat]

I spoke to Jodi after the incident and was told the following. She was an OW student that panicked and bolted when trying to clear her mask. The doctor that was called was told she had come up from over 100' so the chopper was sent. She was only at 22' to 25' and was fine. She actually was back at the quarry latter the same day and contemplating trying again the next day.

There were also two incidents at the deep end that I witnessed. The first was three divers all in singles 80's who thought they would go to 100'. All three had free flows and all three corked but seemed to be fine.

The next was two divers who corked around the trailer from 110' one of their regs still free flowing. The second diver did not have a free flow but followed his buddy up. The first diver was on the deck breathing O2 for a while and seemed ok. The second went back down and spent some time at 15' before resurfacing. I latter witnessed Mike trying to explain the importance of practicing breathing off a free flow to the two divers.

 

[crpntr133]

And if they tried to go to 100' on JUST an AL80 I would wager money that they didn't clear it with Mike.
Glad to hear that the OW student is ok and not afraid of trying scuba again.

 

[fisherdvm]

We were there 2 weeks ago, and was told that several free flowing regs caused a diver to go the chamber for treatment at Gilboa, so they made us review our gears carefully. So my instructor made sure that all of us had cold proof regs. One of the AOW student said that he was told his scubapro (brandnew) was one of the best, I think it was an MK25 or something, so he believes he should be fine. Down on the 70 ft platform for about 8 minutes or so, and his reg started free flowing. Between the 5 of us, we had about 4 pony bottles. So everything was fine. Once at the surface, the student's reg did not have an environmental kit installed, and the reg was open to freeze. Apparently his dealer didn't sell him the "best reg" for michigan weather like he requested. Myself and another diver used two old blizzards and didn't have any issues, even when we dove cold water about 1 month ago, and in January when there was still ice on the lake.

 

[jkaterenchuk]

I spoke to Jodi after the incident and was told the following. She was an OW student that panicked and bolted when trying to clear her mask. The doctor that was called was told she had come up from over 100' so the chopper was sent. She was only at 22' to 25' and was fine. She actually was back at the quarry latter the same day and contemplating trying again the next day.

There were also two incidents at the deep end that I witnessed. The first was three divers all in singles 80's who thought they would go to 100'. All three had free flows and all three corked but seemed to be fine.

The next was two divers who corked around the trailer from 110' one of their regs still free flowing. The second diver did not have a free flow but followed his buddy up. The first diver was on the deck breathing O2 for a while and seemed ok. The second went back down and spent some time at 15' before resurfacing. I latter witnessed Mike trying to explain the importance of practicing breathing off a free flow to the two divers.

I had a OW student do the same a few weeks back in a different quarry except I had a firm grip on the student to ensure a controlled ascent and was prepared to give him my octo if he would have spit out his primary.....I suspect that the instructor will be looking for this possibility in the future. This kind of panic does happen on occassion with a student in cold water. Even when they are flawless in the pool.

See the thread in Accidents and Incidents on using a pony tank in cold quarries. Even the supposed best cold water regs have been know to freeflow. I have seen it on several occassions. Even the SP Mk25 with enviro kit.

John

 

[SpartanDiver]

I have my OW checkout dives at Gilboa in a couple of weeks. Am I correct in assuming that the basic skills demonstrations take place down at the underwater platforms?

I'm looking forward to finally experiencing Gilboa.