Bride-to-be dies in Micronesia diving trip

[sporket]

Jeff Keep's account of the incident is at rebreatherworld: A report of the loss of Jayne Bloom - Rebreather World

He said it was a normal rebreather (meg) tech dive. Normal ascent, no skipped deco (correct GF30/85), no problems/stress/current, no faults with equipment, got on boat thinking all was fine, then lost sight and it was downhill from there...

Of course something could turn up to explain this, but sometimes people get hit despite doing the "correct" deco.

This is freaky. I've never heard of this. Very interesting. And so sad.

 

[SparticleBrane]

This better not happen on my trip to Truk this coming week, especially to my girlfriend, who I am planning to propose to while on the trip!! :11:

 

[underwasser bolt]

even with the risk you're willing to accept; what they did just 4 meters away from the tec limit of 60mt.
i would consider this pushing the limits

tec limit of 60m?? using hypoxic mixes tec divers are hitting 90m. it is all a matter of training, and we don't know her's.

 

[maged_mmh]

This better not happen on my trip to Truk this coming week, especially to my girlfriend, who I am planning to propose to while on the trip!! :11:

now u spoiled the surprise; if she is to see your post

 

[diver 85]

I saw a lady bent after 3 gentle Cozumel dives - as "undeserved" as one can imagine, and I was her bud on the first 2 - not a hint of any problem at all. Later she ordered a drink at the hotel, passed out, woke up days later in Miami ICU. DAN and the top doc in Miami were clueless on why it hit - just did. She's okay now, but wow...!

scarry isn't it.......some say you have to watch Mexican liquids.......glad she survived........

 

[DandyDon]

scarry isn't it.......some say you have to watch Mexican liquids.......glad she survived........

Nah, scary is driving on US hiways and streets with other cars - or worse, riding with my daughter's driving in a metropolitan area, or with my soninlaw driving down a long, steep road into a NM canyon in road gear. I know they're sick of my critiques and requests. Gawd, even with my cavalier nature, I'm much more at risk here than on a dive trip I think as I work at redundancy and safety on the later - then reinforce my prevention & support system in the event of a surprise on the later, i.e. working at hydration, wearing my DAN tag, etc.

When I do go, there might be a boring blurb about my slipping on a soapy step in my home shower, or maybe y'all will just wonder what happened to goofy don?

It's very sad that this young lady was lost on such a wonderful and seemingly well planned dive trip, especially after reading her fiance's words on the other site. They'd dived together for 5 years tho; I don't know the fellow but I hope he can accept that she went doing what she wanted to do: Living Life Fully.

And if a google search may lead him to this thread, I wish him the best on his personal recovery from this unexplained accident.

 

[Noboundaries]

Wow, we lose another adventurer. So sad. Like the thread "If I die while diving" says, incidents cause us to examine more closely our scuba world. This poor woman's death has caused me to examine a little closer the pressures and forces on our bodies while diving.

Here's a three page online article that directly describes the "dive response" effects of pressure at depth on the human body. It may be common knowledge to many, but it did a nice job of describing the compression effects of pressure.

PBS - Scientific American Frontiers:SuperPeople:Weight of Water

The problem is that we really don't feel any different as we descend due to the dive response. Sure, we feel the spaces in our sinuses and ears contract, and there's the narcosis and toxicity effects of gases on our mental and physiological functions, but for the most part we're unaware of the pressure or the resulting force on our bodies.

I know that Pressure (PSI) = Force (lbs)/Area (square inches). Please correct me if I'm wrong, but here are some calculations of the total force in lbs on our bodies while diving.

The average adult female has a surface area of 1.6 square meters or 2480 square inches. The average adult male has a surface area of 1.9 square meters or 2945 square inches.

At 10 meters or 33 feet, the total pressure on one square inch of the body is 28.92 pounds/square inch. That means there's a total compression force of 28.92 pounds x 2480 square inches on a woman, or 71,721.6 lbs; and 28.92 pounds x 2945 square inches on a man, or 85,169.4 lbs.

At 20 meters (43.14 psi) the force is 106,987.2 lbs and 127,047.3 lbs respectively.
At 30 meters (57.37 psi) the force is 142,277.6 lbs and 168,954.7 lbs respectively.
At 40 meters (71.59 psi) the force is 177,543.2 lbs and 210,832.6 lbs respectively.
At 50 meters (85.81 psi) the force is 212,808.8 lbs and 252,710.5 lbs respectively.
At 60 meters (100.04 psi) the force is 248,099.2 lbs and 294,617.8 lbs respectively.

When put in terms of pounds of force, the compression effects at depth become a little more attention getting. And hopefully gives one a better appreciation of the source of possible consequences, especially on the heart and lungs. If Jayne's spirit and her friends are reading this, the price was too high for what I learned from her passing. It's a lesson I would have rather learned by opening a book instead of a reading a thread on her death.

 

[Otter]

In "Diving Science" by Strauss and Aksenov, I read that for SCUBA in general that there about 2-3 incidents for every 10000 dives. The 2-3 cases are about evenly split between "deserved" and "undeserved" cases. I think "undeserved" means having followed the tables and/or computer.

So 1-2 DCS incidents per 10000 dives is/are undeserved. Can't comment on this specific case, but it would be interesting to know if the victim was overtired or dehydrated, or some other contributing factor was at play.

While still pure speculation, a PFO would be suspected I would think in many 'undeserved' hits. Recall that tables, etc...are based upon mostly theoretical knowledge of how our physiology reacts to inert gas loading. The limits they show cover the vast majority of people, but not surely not everyone and not even the same person on a given day. As much as we understand about bubble physics and physiology, there are still an enormous number of variables each of us contain.

To be clear this was NOT a recreational dive -- both depth, breathing gas, and equipment all put this into a 'technical' dive category. For those who dive within the recreational dive parameters, this should be a reminder that diving, even within the individual's training level, is not risk free. Dive within your training, equipment, and comfort level and generally you will be fine...but as with life, there are no guarantees.

 

[PacketSniffer]

even with the risk you're willing to accept; what they did just 4 meters away from the tec limit of 60mt.
i would consider this pushing the limits

I hate to burst your bubble but this was not pushing the limits at all when taking their training and gear into consideration. Most of the rebreathers out there today are quite capable of dives easily down to 600 feet. They were quite clearly trained for those dives as well.

I was just down to 270ffw, in a cave, just a few weeks ago and am still here to post this. I have done that particular cave dive several times now along with many others. Was down to 240fsw in the Dry Tortugas recently as well on a wreck diving trip with many other divers. So, again, with proper training and gear, it *can* be done safely to those depths. When making statements, please be knowledgable on the topic before posting. Others are reading your statements that are even less knowledgable and your statements are repeated and it goes on. Knowledge is key.



P.S. How is the Emir these days?

 

[maged_mmh]

I hate to burst your bubble but this was not pusing the limits at all when taking their training and gear into consideration. Most of the rebreathers out there today are quite capable of dives easily down to 600 feet. They were quite clearly trained for those dives as well.

I was just down to 270ffw, in a cave, just a few weeks ago and am still here to post this. I have done that particular cave dive several times now along with many others. Was down to 240fsw in the Dry Tortugas recently as well on a wreck diving trip with many other divers. So, again, with proper training and gear, it *can* be done safely to those depths. When making statements, please be knowledgable on the topic before posting. Others are reading your statements that are even less knowledgable and your statements are repeated and it goes on. Knowledge is key.



P.S. How is the Emir these days?

thanks for the clarification, in fact i based my statement trying to correlate it with TDI standards; for CCR however, i have no idea what they used but guessed it would comply with this. maybe they are upper tier divers.
anyway it is a very sad incident.
FYI; he's in a very "good" shape
i'm about to take off from the country however, to SA