death at kirkfeild today

[VooDooGasMan]

Thanks Tyler, and now you have raised a ?, if in a solo class, where was instructor or other class mates. I understand your friend the instructor is a good one, yet he is responsible for his students, and one has died in his class. Not to be the mean one , but your post has this protection over all involved.

When out diving it is a given, when in class there is a very high number of deaths in the last few years in classes, and it is the instructor and affiliate, either LDS or club, and to most this is just not good in a whole that the world reads that divers die during a dive class.

I hope family, understands, as they knew he has diving log of dives under his belt.

 

[DandyDon]

VWGM, after OW, my various Instructors often stayed on land for many of my training dives.

 

[smellysocks]

When the incident began, I was in the other side of the quarry, underwater with two OW students. We did not know there had been problems until we surfaced and saw EMS on the scene.

I wanted to separate some of the facts from the fictions being discussed in this thread.

I stated early in my post that I would only speak to what I witnessed myself, and because I don't know anything more than I have already said, I won't speculate on anything else. I know the instructor involved was in the water with the students and was involved in bringing our friend to shore.

Unfortunately, there is nothing more to the story. There were sufficient numbers of police on the scene and plenty of divers in the water that there will be a thorough report. When the postmortem is complete and the investigation is done, I will update this thread appropriately.

The sad reality is, sometimes people die suddenly. I wish this wasn't the case yesterday, and believe me, as someone who was there and knew the victim, it pains me greatly to not know why he died. To begin to point fingers at this point is irresponsible and premature.

 

[DeepSeaDan]

Greetings,

Just as a point of fact, the mean depth of Kirkfield Quarry is 25'; I've found a few spots a shade over 30', but you'd have to start digging to find much more.

In all of the years I've been teaching there, this is the 1st fatality that I'm aware of.

To his family & friends - my sincere condolences on the passing of your relative/friend.

Regards,
DSD

 

[cruiser]

Voodoo--when I did my solo cert dives, my instructor stayed on land. I thought that's how it's done for a solo certification.

 

[openmindOW]

Mr. Caughhill, thank you for your posts and for your contribution to this discussion.

 

[sweir]

The Ontario Underwater Council has posted an incident report on the death of the diver in Kirkfield Quarry. Not much information, in fact this thread has more details about the accident than the posted report. This, according to the OUC, is the second death in the province this year.

 

[shoredivr]

Voodoo--when I did my solo cert dives, my instructor stayed on land. I thought that's how it's done for a solo certification.

Not my experience at all. The instructor gave me the task list on the boat before the dive(s), then spent the dive observing somewhere about 25-30 ft away while I performed the tasks.

*edited* to reflect information on the OUC accident page. http://www.underwatercouncil.com/do...of_ontario_scuba_diving_incidents_in_2011.pdf

"Within seconds of being brought to shore the victim was put on 100% Oxygen, with AED, until EMS arrived."

 

[DeepSeaDan]

Not my experience at all. The instructor gave me the task list on the boat before the dive(s), then spent the dive observing somewhere about 25-30 ft away while I performed the tasks.

*edited* to reflect information on the OUC accident page. http://www.underwatercouncil.com/do...of_ontario_scuba_diving_incidents_in_2011.pdf

"Within seconds of being brought to shore the victim was put on 100% Oxygen, with AED, until EMS arrived."

It is a sad reality that EMS response to this incident was :30 ( as stated in the O.U.C. report ). Ambulances roam the district, & response times depend on the location & availability of a unit; the problem is further exacerbated in that EMS dispatch would be looking for an ALS ( Advanced Life Support ) crew as opposed to a BLS ( Basic Life Support ) crew for the incident ( the closest unit would respond regardless, but they'd be looking to get an ALS crew there a.s.a.p. ).. For patients vsa ( vital signs absent ), the need for ALS skills ( I.V. infusion & cardiac drug therapy to name a few ) is obvious; unfortunately, not all ambulance crews are trained to this level.

This incident, like so many others, underscores the realities we face in the diving community, as our u/w ventures often take us away to the relative hinterland. Let this be a reminder for all of us to redouble our efforts to do all we can to minimize the risks associated with diving. Skills practice, continuing education, regular recertification of 1st Aid skills, refreshment of diving rescue procedures along with personal fitness & health monitoring will all contribute to safer enjoyment of our sport.

Regards,
DSD

 

[Dive-aholic]

Voodoo--when I did my solo cert dives, my instructor stayed on land. I thought that's how it's done for a solo certification.

The instructor should be in the water during the solo dives. How can the instructor evaluate your skills from the surface??

Voodoo--when I did my solo cert dives, my instructor stayed on land. I thought that's how it's done for a solo certification.

No, that's not necessarily how it's done. I'm always close enough to my students to intervene in the event of a situation. The course needs to be based on the skills being taught. Unfortunately, the basic standards aren't high enough to produce a good solo diver. Fortunately, TDI/SDI allow instructors to teach to higher standards.


I teach a 2 day solo diver course and my students go through many skills not included in the standards. They are required to carry a redundant source of air. And they are required to demonstrate self-sufficiency. At no point are they unsupervised during the dives.