Article: The Snorkeling Trap - How an unexpected snorkeling accident reveals possible gaps in how the diving industry approaches snorkeling excursions

[Steve Barsky]

You can view the page at http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/content.php?r=241-The-Snorkeling-Trap

 

[knowone]

Steve.
Any chance of a signed copy of your rebreather book to Brisbane Australia 4012
Cheers
Emile

 

[Steve Barsky]

Hi Emile,
Sorry, but the book is out of print. I recommend Jeff Bozanic's book if you don't already have it.

Steve.
Any chance of a signed copy of your rebreather book to Brisbane Australia 4012
Cheers
Emile

 

[vladimir]

Why are inflatables not appropriate platforms for supervising snorkeling (leaving aside, for the moment, how repugnant a concept "supervised snorkeling" is)?

 

[Steve Barsky]

I am not saying they are not. That's just what the plaintiff's experts contended.

 

[Mike]

I yearn for a time when personal responsibility may again return to our daily lives and this nanny state world we live in disappears as just a bad memory. 15% responsible for a woman dying as a result of a heart attack.

I wonder if the woman is turning in her grave over her husbands disgusting actions after her death and wonder what she would say to him if she could?

 

[-hh]

An interesting story. I agree with the conclusion that the deceased contributed to their demise, although I'd personally put the value at higher than 85%...at least 95% IMO. My rationale is that the deceased clearly had absolutely no intention to freedive at all, because they were experienced and had explicitly chosen to leave their fins behind.Personally, what I suspect happened was that they wasn't feeling well (possibly because she was having a heart attack) and decided to enter the water for a float (hence, no fins). Submerging would have been more likely due ot a loss of buoyancy, such as by the lungs exhaling a little ... a likely evenf if one stops breathing while still on the surface. The air 'burp' was observed by the lifeguards was probably due to the body rolling over (mouth up), etc...about the only failure in diligence was that they allowed an individual who was supposed to be one of their peers venture into an out-of-bounds area. The consequences of this was that the deceased wasn't able to be rescued from 20-30fsw depths promptly by lifeguards, but this factor alone does not provide a high degree of assurance that the victim would have survived anyway. For example, there's ample examples of scuba divers who make it to the surface in distress (heart failure, etc) and even make it to the boat & pulled onboard ... but then die anyway.

 

[mureedhu]

This is a good awareness story for resort owners who has strong currents around their house reefs. Here in the Maldives there are snorkelers who have difficulty coming back to the reef and had to be rescued! The Average snorkelers also may not have an idea of how far they go before they could return to the starting point of their snorkeling.