Accident correlation to solo/lost buddy

[Rick Murchison]

In a recent thread on an accident where a diver was diving alone and lost, the following discussion started. It is a good discussion and rates its own dedicated thread...


Hoppy asks "However, I do have a question. How can the skipper or DM or whoever allow him to get in the water on his own ?
Surely it's incumbent on them to stop him effectively diving solo."

NetDoc: "Solo diving has a life of it's own down here in Florida. Right or wrong, very very few boats impose a Dive Master or Buddy restriction on ANYBODY."

icyman: "In almost all of these fatalities in the last few post on it its a solo diver."

jlayman800: "Hey Hoppy. You haven't missed anything. Some people, including myself on occasion, choose to dive solo. It has its risks that we accept. The benefits include not getting stuck with a buddy that is finished with his 3000# in 15 minutes and better spear fishing chances. There are other reasons to numerous to list here including the freedom to explore without always looking for your buddy. I have had some really bad experiences with buddies of opportunity."


cancun mark: "80% of divers that die do so while separated from their buddy, or solo diving.
There is nothing more to be said about it, it is dangerous and silly. Get a buddy."

novadiver: "Where did this statistic come from ? Because it didn't come from DAN or any other agency that I know of."

Mike Ferrara: "It comes from reading all the accident reports.
It's very rare to have an eye witness to a diving death. I would even say that Mark probably underestimated the percentage. The vast majority of divers who die are alone when they do."


novadiver: "Accident and incident analisis should be limited to facts.
If you could show these facts I would appreciate it"


Mike Ferrara: "I'm not trying to convince you of anything. I and many of the other divers on this board read accident reports on this and other boards on a weekly and sometimes daily basis rearely does any one see the accident happen.
Read them yourself.
We have 2 active threads on the board right now from recent accidents. Both divers died alone.
If you do a search on the board you'll find many more."


novadiver: "I was looking for actual factual information on the subject of diver deaths and the cause of them."


My comment: Solo diving has additional risk. If you are alone you have less ability to get yourself free of an entrapment or entanglement; if you suffer some debilitating event you will likely drown without help nearby. Notice that these increased risks can't be solved with redundancy - if you choose to dive solo you choose to accept that additional risk.
Rick

 

[jagfish]

In relation to another thread now running in the Solo section, I think it is prudent to point out that buddies that become separated are not really "solo" divers in the sense that a true solo diver conducts the dive with the intent of going it alone with all the planning, precautions and redundant equipment one would have for solo.

In this sense, I find it totally understandable (and regrettable) that buddies that become separated represent the majority of incidents.

For one thing, I can imagine that their mind would be preoccupied with the singular focus of finding their buddy, to the exclusion of other essentials such as air management, etc. They may even have been relying on a "dominant" buddy for navigation during the dive making the situation even worse once separation occurs.

 

[Mako Mark]

1 Well planned (technical)Solo dive,

2 diving without a buddy (or same ocean)

3 losing buddy while underwater



These are VERY different things, but unfortunately often get lumped together. I think that this lack of definition is one of the things that makes this such a hot topic and causes arguments on the boards.

 

[jagfish]

1 Well planned (technical)Solo dive,

2 diving without a buddy (or same ocean)

3 losing buddy while underwater



These are VERY different things, but unfortunately often get lumped together. I think that this lack of definition is one of the things that makes this such a hot topic and causes arguments on the boards.

Exactly...
My guess would be that the casualties in category #1 would be negligible compared to 2 & 3...

 

[Doc Intrepid]

1 Well planned (technical)Solo dive,

2 diving without a buddy (or same ocean)

3 losing buddy while underwater


These are VERY different things, but unfortunately often get lumped together. I think that this lack of definition is one of the things that makes this such a hot topic and causes arguments on the boards.

I agree with this statement. They are very different situations.

One issue, however, is that certain hazards remain constant to all of them, regardless of how the solo status occurred.

Narcosis is one example. How many times have we heard of a situation where one diver of a team became narced before another, and was brought to a shallower depth by the buddy?

Blackouts, in shallow water or deep, are another example. They can occur without warning. They are not necessarily medically related. They can result simply from the parameters of a dive. Causation in any specific case is not well-established enough to be entirely predictable. Dr. Paul, on this board, had one occur to him and wrote eloquently of the situation and its aftermath.

Medical conditions are another. Heart failure, lack of cardiological endurance, seizures, etc. Its always a question of whether the condition would have manifested itself had the diver instead been on the golf course, but I suspect that the rigors associated with both required physical exertion as well as depth, pressure, stress, etc. are different in diving than in other sports.

In each of these cases, redundant equipment, gas sources, valves, etc. are unlikely to remedy the situation. In each case if the stricken diver is with a team, survival may be possible. If the stricken diver is solo, regardless of how they came to be in that status, survival is likely not possible.

This is something that solo divers need to reconcile in their minds, regardless of how they come to find themselves alone.

 

[novadiver]

1 Well planned (technical)Solo dive,

2 diving without a buddy (or same ocean)

3 losing buddy while underwater



These are VERY different things, but unfortunately often get lumped together. I think that this lack of definition is one of the things that makes this such a hot topic and causes arguments on the boards.

Solo as a technical aspect = bingo

 

[TwoTanks]

This thread has summed it up very nicely.

The only thing that I would add is that when buddies get seperated they are suposed to surface after a quick search and if they don't then they are doing an unplanned solo dive.

TT

 

[Rick Inman]

Exactly...
My guess would be that the casualties in category #1 would be negligible compared to 2 & 3...

Yup. To connect well planned solo diving (not an oxymoron) to buddy-dependant divers that are not diving as a team, is like saying that, if 50 divers died separated from their buddies and 2 divers with pink fins dies, it is therefore more dangerous to dive without your buddy or with pink fins. The two just don't connect.
BTW, if the numbers and stats are really there, why is no one posting them, hummm??

 

[Scubakevdm]

cancun mark: "80% of divers that die do so while separated from their buddy, or solo diving.
There is nothing more to be said about it, it is dangerous and silly. Get a buddy."

100% of these deaths were preventable.... they didn't have to go diving, they could have stayed at home. There are risks inherent to diving period. There are things that you can do to minimize risk. You are responsible for identifying and managing risk in your own dive. If you don't think that solo diving is a good idea, maybe you shouldn't do it.

 

[TwoTanks]

100% of these deaths were preventable.... they didn't have to go diving, they could have stayed at home. There are risks inherent to diving period. There are things that you can do to minimize risk. You are responsible for identifying and managing risk in your own dive. If you don't think that solo diving is a good idea, maybe you shouldn't do it.

I saw somewhere that 90% of accidents happen at home.

One of them probably would have drowned in the tub or had a heart attack taking out the trash, or worse been nagged to death.

TT