Accident in Brockville

[Pedro Burrito]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Again, please use this thread to discuss the specific incident. I moved the rebreather discussion to:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/re...ebreather-discussion-brockville-incident.html

Thank you

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[Hatul]

The rebreather is the elephant in the room. The second most likely suspect is a medical issue with the diver.

The problem for the rebreather diver is that failure of the rb to provide gas with a safe range of PPO2 can impair the diver's mentation to correct the problem or go to bailout. When a person breathes a hypoxic mixture not only does it impair cognition and ability to solve simple problems but also they are not aware that they're impaired.

 

[Tortuga68]

I think you're looking for the other thread... it's two doors down on the left

 

[DiverSheila]

Leeds OPP Investigating Death of Diver - Eastern Ontario Network (EON)

 

[Ayisha]

A Preliminary OUC Incident Report should be available sometime soon at http://www.underwatercouncil.com/downloads/incident_reports/ouc_2013_scuba_incident_reports.pdf

and can also be accessed by scrolling down to Ontario Incident Reports > 2013 at Ontario Underwater Council

It will be updated as more information and results of testing become available.

 

[Ayisha]

The Incident Report has been published at http://www.underwatercouncil.com/downloads/incident_reports/ouc_2013_scuba_incident_reports.pdf

Please note that this is a preliminary incident report and the investigation is still in progress. Thank you everyone for your patience and to everyone who was interviewed and provided expertise regarding this tragic accident. Condolences to all of Mr. Brow's family and friends from the OUC.

 

[Hatul]

The Incident Report has been published at http://www.underwatercouncil.com/downloads/incident_reports/ouc_2013_scuba_incident_reports.pdf

Please note that this is a preliminary incident report and the investigation is still in progress. Thank you everyone for your patience and to everyone who was interviewed and provided expertise regarding this tragic accident. Condolences to all of Mr. Brow's family and friends from the OUC.

The coroner said the cause was a heart attack. Is that the conclusion from an autopsy?

Also even if he had a heart attack it still does not mean that that was the initiating cause of his death. For example let's say he had some coronary disease. A rebreather delivering a hypoxic mixture may precipitate a heart attack, but the underlying cause of the accident would still be rebreather failure. What was the result of the analysis of the rebreather?

 

[swamp diver]

The coroner said the cause was a heart attack. Is that the conclusion from an autopsy?

Also even if he had a heart attack it still does not mean that that was the initiating cause of his death. For example let's say he had some coronary disease. A rebreather delivering a hypoxic mixture may precipitate a heart attack, but the underlying cause of the accident would still be rebreather failure. What was the result of the analysis of the rebreather?

There is more than one fatality in that publication and it appears you have read an earlier one. See page 9 (pdf) for the fatality on June 30,2013.

 

[doctormike]

A bit off topic, but I am impressed with the very existence of the Ontario Underwater Council and their fairly quickly released initial report. I'm not sure if we have a regional umbrella organization like that in the states.

Generally, in these threads we are admonished to "wait for the final report of the investigation", but in most fatal accidents in the US this may never be available to the public (litigation reasons?). It is very helpful to other divers to have access to this information so that we can learn from mistakes.

 

[Ayisha]

The coroner said the cause was a heart attack. Is that the conclusion from an autopsy?

Hatul, as Swamp Diver pointed out, the fatality that you are referring to is a different accident that occurred earlier this year. Please scroll down to the accident that occurred on June 30th. The OUC does not have the results of Mr. Brow's autopsy at this time.