Casino Point - Avalon, Diver Death 9/5/11

[cheri&bill]

Also, where is this location? Avelon florida? isn't 90 - 100 feet deep for a new diver?

 

[fisheater]

Avalon, Catalina Island, Los Angeles County, California.

 

[Ayisha]

I only have two dives after my Certification and I am diving with my 6'4 husband. I am 5'3 and 130 wet. This tragic event has made me realize there is no way I could possibly be of assistance to him in an emergency where he needed assistance and was panicking (sic).

This really may not and doesn't have to be true. I am much more petite than you are and in my Rescue course, a 305 lb male DM was hand-picked for me and told to not help me. Another petite female and I had already picked each other and the instructor said he didn't want us making it "easy" for each other.

I was taught to use leverage rather than strength and the best techniques for me to be able to rescue a dead-weight diver 3 times my weight. I thought I would fail but I passed with flying colours and managed to do everything. The Rescue course was the best course I ever took, not only to rescue others, but also for self-rescue and to enhance situational awareness and prevention of accidents/incidents.

Get some experience with leaders or a good mentor and take the Rescue course. You may surprise yourself and be able to help out your husband or another diver if needed. Good luck!

 

[College Diver]

I've always advised a depth times 10 rule: Take your depth, multiply by 10, and that's your minimum gas to start ascending. So at 100 feet, when you hit 1000psi, you start up. Arrive at your 15' safety stop with 750psi, hit the surface with 500psi, and you've given yourself some margin of error.

nice one - hope you dont mind if I steal this for my classes...

 

[College Diver]

If it's correct that the victim was wearing 32 lbs with a steel 80, that sounds extremely overweighted. I rented a steel 80 on Catalina Island and I wore 10 lbs with a 2 piece 7 mm wetsuit, hood, gloves, socks and boots. I'm not sure what the victim was wearing or what would be correct for her, but 32 lbs sounds like a lot.

If she was extremely overweighted, that would take a lot of work, air and kicking to try to maintain her position in the water column. The work to maintain position would be even more pronounced at depth and harder to control.

I'm sorry, my technical background has led me to use terminology which has been misinterpreted:
the "S80" I was referring to is an Aluminum 80 - stated as stamped on the tank. Among my colleagues, S80 is understood as an 80cft stage bottle, either for deco gas or for additional bottom mix - likewise an S40 is understood as a deco cylinder.

steel tanks are referred to as either HP or LP tanks, followed by volume, as in LP85 for a Low Pressure 85cft cylinder, etc.

To clarify, the girls were using rented Aluminum 80s: which bring me to another point I would like to quickly discuss - Gas Planning.

In my opinion, and many whom I have spoke with on the subject, an Aluminum 80 is not an appropriate single, primary, tank for diving below 60 feet. Don't fool yourself into thinking it is.

When I take students out for their AOW Deep dive, we use HP100's as primary tanks and S30s or S40s as redundant gas reserves. before conducting the dives the students are drilled ad nauseum on stage handling and gas switching, including bottle passing while maintaining buoyancy and trim control. If they are not competent, the dive is not executed. I know there are many ways of conducting training for deep diving, and no one way is the "right" way to do things. That being said, this is how I conduct my training, and if I'm not comfortable with a student's skill level, we train until the issue is resolved.

 

[D_B]

Lamont's recommended "rule of thumb" is closer to the actual Rock Bottom figure needed to get you and a buddy safely to the surface and is what I use for all my dives (OW) ... depth x 10 + 300 psi (this for a AL80 or HP100)
It's equally easy to remember, or do on the fly

Another of his rough rules of thumb (for newer divers} is to not dive deeper than the CF of the tank .

 

[College Diver]

I thought the poster was using S80 to refer to steel, since we usually see aluminum tanks referred to as AL 80, for example.

If she was using steel, I maintain that it sounds like a lot of weight, but as I said, I do not know her size or configuration. If she was using aluminum, that would be closer in salt water. So does anyone know for certain?

Sorry to confuse the issue, the tank was an Aluminum 80 - I was referring to the tank as stamped "S80"

 

[Simon-]

Without meaning to hijack the thread, let me see if I can clear up the insurance question for you.

Once you become certified as a DM (regardless of agency), you are required to be insured to actually work as a DM. But there are essentially two insurance options.

- Ken

Not entirely accurate. The insurance requirement is region specific. I could have no insurance but still be in teacjing status because here the United Arab Emirates, there is no requirement for any dive pro to have their own insurance. 99% do have it, as it is a no brainer as far as instructors are concerned.

 

[drbill]

Having dived the park on hundreds of occasions and ending up guiding more than one new diver and plenty of experienced divers back to the steps, I can see how easy it would be to end up deeper and out further that you'd expect.

I'd have to disagree, Dave. Yes, the offshore slopes on Catalina can be very steep and the depth does drop off quickly (more so at the Suejac end where the max depth in the park is about 95-100 ft than the "swim platform" end where it is about 55 ft. However, any diver who is checking their gauges should be able to avoid deep water. Since the slopes are generally uninterrupted, watching one's depth gauge to see if depth is slowly increasing or decreasing would indicate which direction to head to avoid going much deeper. Of course were the divers mid-water this might not work, so that would be an exception.

 

[Scot M]

This tragic event has made me realize there is no way I could possibly be of assistance to him in an emergency where he needed assistance and was panicking

I want to second Ayisha's excellent advice. By all means, find some experienced buddies to to dive with and learn from, but also plan toward taking a Rescue course.

Helping a panicked or injured diver is all about technique. I am 6'6" and 245 lbs. When I'm simulating a panicked diver during my Rescue courses, I am very, very aggressive. By the end of the course, all of the students, regardless of size, are able to help me even when I do my very best to resist. I always tell the smallest person in the class that, by the time we are finished, they will get my dead weight body out of the pool and the ocean without assistance. It's not always easy or pretty, but the students learn that, with proper technique and some practice, they can handle even a moose like me.