Canadian woman lost - Puerto Vallarta. Mexico

[aquacat8]

I have experienced “almost” buddy separation because of this: radio ascent and shortened safety stop of instabuddy. I could see them overhead but continued my slow ascent and additional minutes of safety stop. A minor but annoying example of poor buddy contact. What do you do when you buddy, not under stress but just as their diving style, either descends or ascends more rapidly than you and maybe your ears or your computer like?

 

[aquacat8]

“Radio” was “rapid” above sorry typo

 

[Bob DBF]

“Radio” was “rapid” above sorry typo

Ya got to love spellcheck.

What do you do when you buddy, not under stress but just as their diving style, either descends or ascends more rapidly than you and maybe your ears or your computer like?

There would be stress because one is no longer buddy diving if both divers are not paying attention to each other and close enough to help with any issues the other diver is having.

I try to sort out what I consider bad behavior with the buddy before I splash. When it starts going bad underwater, I try to contact the diver and remind them of our buddy status. If it continues to go bad, I have more options since I've been diving a while and have seen and delt with some bad behavior. A new diver would have to decide whether to stay with the group (if in one) or surface and report a lost buddy and the cirscumstances.

In any event, the debrief at the end of the dive will be interesting and one may be looking for a different buddy for the next dive.



Bob

 

[Shasta_man]

<<Contrary to what you postulate, it is not hard for inexperienced divers to know what to do...follow the basics and standards of the agency under which they were trained and if in doubt head to the O2 rich environment above the surface.>>

It should be that simple but it isn't. If it was, we wouldn't have these types of accidents. Those divers have learned enough to complete their training but are still inexperienced in how everything works. How diving works, how their gear works. Diving with experienced people, whether friends or a dive guide, tends to promote the "trust me" dive because everyone is going and I should be able to just go too. It takes some experience of actually diving before you have a handle on how it all works. Very sorry to read this story as I can imagine that the son in particular but also the father is in a hell they may never escape from.

 

[Steelyeyes]

<<Contrary to what you postulate, it is not hard for inexperienced divers to know what to do...follow the basics and standards of the agency under which they were trained and if in doubt head to the O2 rich environment above the surface.>>

It should be that simple but it isn't. If it was, we wouldn't have these types of accidents. Those divers have learned enough to complete their training but are still inexperienced in how everything works. How diving works, how their gear works. Diving with experienced people, whether friends or a dive guide, tends to promote the "trust me" dive because everyone is going and I should be able to just go too. It takes some experience of actually diving before you have a handle on how it all works. Very sorry to read this story as I can imagine that the son in particular but also the father is in a hell they may never escape from.

In 1981 I was diving with two guys that had just completed their dive master training at the same time I did. We also had an OW qualified diver with us. Things went sideways, a surge tossed one of us up into some rocks. He bashed his head, cut his knee, broke the vent on his BCD, and got swept out to sea as visibility rapidly deteriorated. I was right behind him and got tossed around but managed to get loose and return to the other divers. Conditions for an underwater search were impossible so we made an ascent and started looking for him on the surface.

To shorten a long story we found him, made a long surface swim and performed a successful rescue. When we got to him he had very little positive buoyancy due to his broken vent valve and HIS WEIGHT BELT still being on. Yep, even trained dive masters under stress don't perform perfectly.

Muscle memory is also a thing. This woman could very well have hit her vent button on her BCD instead of the power inflate button once she was on the surface. Do that with your regulator out of your mouth and panic can ensue quickly. Something like that is less likely once you've used the equipment more than a few dozen times.

 

[dmaziuk]

When we got to him he had very little positive buoyancy due to his broken vent valve and HIS WEIGHT BELT still being on. Yep, even trained dive masters under stress don't perform perfectly.

I always though once you establish positive buoyancy, you don't have to drop any more weight.

 

[Steelyeyes]

I always though once you establish positive buoyancy, you don't have to drop any more weight.

His head was only partially above water. He had his snorkel out of the clip and was holding onto it with both hands. The sea state was ugly, waves well over six feet high. Dropping his weights would have made his situation better.

To his credit he did try to drop his weight belt but instead unclipped the waist band on his BCD. We were taught to have the weight belt release set up for the dominant hand and the tank/BCD the opposite. He had them both for the dominant hand. That meant his only buoyancy was established by an air bubble the size of two coke cans in the collar portion of his bladder that was above the broken vent valve and his drained AL80 which wasn't very well strapped on.

 

[Mr.K]

My family recently got OW certified in PV at the same site as this accident. This thread really reinforced the importance of the buddy system and clear communication with your DM if being led by one. It seems very important to discuss these issues and hopefully we all become better and not repeat mistakes that might be avoidable.

 

[My Sunshine]

I am Gloria Miller’s husband. It has been just over 10 months since we lost our Sunshine Little GI am not a diver and never will be. PADI and DAN have all the information needed to answer every question posed on this thread. The Dive Master provided his report to PADI. Using information gathered while searching for my wife as well as providing our sons recollection of events to experienced Dive Experts I provided a report to PADI and DAN pointing out what we believe could have been done differently to prevent this tragic incident and just as importantly hopefully prevent a reoccurrence.

I am very surprised that PADI does not do some sort of follow up Incident Safety bulletins for its membership. We have given PADI and DAN full permission to use our report and information in any manner they wish to promote safety.

I have no intention of posting our report or getting into a discussion about the incident on this board. I hope you can understand why it would cause me and my family personal trauma to do so. I would encourage members or leaders in your group to contact PADI to acquire the information so you can use it for the benefit of all.

Sincerely

David Chambers
Vernon, BC

 

[DandyDon]

I have no intention of posting our report or getting into a discussion about the incident on this board. I hope you can understand why it would cause me and my family personal trauma to do so.

We would not want to ask anything from you other than what you would want to share with us. We discuss accidents here at times, or at least post what is offered, in hopes of reducing our own risks. We never want to cause any distress for a family member.

I would encourage members or leaders in your group to contact PADI to acquire the information so you can use it for the benefit of all.

I doubt that Padi would release anything to us here. They might publish something on their own.