Diver dies in the Keys

[Rick Murchison]

... given his age ...

What d'ye mean, "given his age?" eh, laddie? He was a mere pup!
---
Sad, tragic. Prayers aloft for the family and friends.
Rick

 

[Rick Inman]

Weight belts are an idea who's time has come and gone. Except that they're cheap, they should have been replaced by Weight Integrated BCs or harnesses long ago.

I certainly disagree, but I'm a luddite.

Nope, I agree with you, weight belts have their place. It's a an easy and, when done properly, safe means of adding weight. Intergrated weights are in no sense "more secure" (I know of more cases of weight pouches falling out than people accidentally dropping belts). For me, my belt is simply a means of adding more weigh to my rig. I can hardly imagine a scenario in which I would ever want to ditch under water. To that extent, I run my crotch strap over my weight belt. While most of my weight comes from my plate and weight plates (when diving singles), the belt just has the extra weight needed to offset my backgas. If I needed to ditch weight at the surface, I could drop the belt (it's easy and a practiced skill), or just take off the rig, or if need be, cut it off.

Good topic - Are Weight Belts Obsolete?

To help keep this thread from getting too specific on this idea, I'm starting a thread, based on Terry's quote about weight belts, here:http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?p=2746053#post2746053

 

[Rick Murchison]

Good topic - Are Weight Belts Obsolete?

Welll... lessee... when I'm wearin' double steels, yeah, they're obsolete. When I'm wearin' my DUI weight harness, or any BC with integrated weights, yeah, they're obsolete...
But when I'm doing my favorite kind of diving, in warm water with a little wisp of a tropical BC, there I use a weight belt with a few pounds in it, so no, it is decidedly not obsolete.
Rick

 

[davidl40414]

I was diving with the boat that responded to the emergency and helped give him CPR, the Vitamin Sea, not the same boat he was diving with but one nearby when this happened. I wasn't on the boat when they picked him up, we were still in the water when our boat responded to the emergency and left us (not that far, less than half a mile). My understanding of what happened (and remember I wasn't on the boat when they picked him up, I was busy swimming to the boat, so this is only what other divers and the captain told me) is that he had a heart attack underwater. They told us at the time that he didn't actually try to take off his weights, they just slipped and got stuck on his feet. I don't know if that's true. Apparently his son was already panicking a little because of having some trouble breathing and tried to get on the boat and left his buddy. That's why they surfaced only a few minutes after they went in. This slowed down the rescue process. Neither of them were in very good physical condition. After half an hour or so of CPR the coast guard boat took him away and our boat picked us up. I'm no rescue expert but it seemed that both of the captains handled the situation well and did everything possible to make sure everyone was okay and try to save the guys life. Apparently the son spent most of the day at their dive shop before they got confirmation of the death.

As a relatively new diver it was my first experience with a diver death so it was a definite reminder of the potential dangers even on very easy dives and to always stay with your buddy. As I was diving with my own dad it was a little scary. The scariest thing for me was actually not being able to find the boat, surfacing and eventually seeing it far in the distance without any idea why. Then after observing them giving somebody compressions I became worried about the other divers on our boat. It put a damper on our spirits, but we still went on and competed our second dive successfully after that.

 

[deeper thoughts]

I was diving with the boat that responded to the emergency and helped give him CPR, the Vitamin Sea, not the same boat he was diving with but one nearby when this happened. I wasn't on the boat when they picked him up, we were still in the water when our boat responded to the emergency and left us (not that far, less than half a mile). My understanding of what happened (and remember I wasn't on the boat when they picked him up, I was busy swimming to the boat, so this is only what other divers and the captain told me) is that he had a heart attack underwater. They told us at the time that he didn't actually try to take off his weights, they just slipped and got stuck on his feet. I don't know if that's true. Apparently his son was already panicking a little because of having some trouble breathing and tried to get on the boat and left his buddy. That's why they surfaced only a few minutes after they went in. This slowed down the rescue process. Neither of them were in very good physical condition. After half an hour or so of CPR the coast guard boat took him away and our boat picked us up. I'm no rescue expert but it seemed that both of the captains handled the situation well and did everything possible to make sure everyone was okay and try to save the guys life. Apparently the son spent most of the day at their dive shop before they got confirmation of the death.

As a relatively new diver it was my first experience with a diver death so it was a definite reminder of the potential dangers even on very easy dives and to always stay with your buddy. As I was diving with my own dad it was a little scary. The scariest thing for me was actually not being able to find the boat, surfacing and eventually seeing it far in the distance without any idea why. Then after observing them giving somebody compressions I became worried about the other divers on our boat. It put a damper on our spirits, but we still went on and competed our second dive successfully after that.

May i ask you the sea conditions please.
Thnx

 

[deepstops]

As a relatively new diver it was my first experience with a diver death so it was a definite reminder of the potential dangers even on very easy dives

While I agree, this event could have just as easily happened on the golf course. While we have "diving deaths" in our sport, I never see reports of "golfer deaths".

 

[H2Andy]

well, i do'nt want to disagree too strongly, because i overall agree with you, but generally speaking, you don't have to exert yourself on a golf course to the degree that you may have to in the water, with a slight current, bad stuff happening, and the boat a ways away ...

under those circumstances (which don't happen in a golf course), men over 40 or so are more prone to a heart attack than if that same day they had been golfing

but yeah ... if this man had died while playing golf, it wouldn't have been a "golfing" accident; whereas because he was scuba diving, the media focuses on that

 

[Jeff Toorish]

I was diving with the boat that responded to the emergency and helped give him CPR, the Vitamin Sea, not the same boat he was diving with but one nearby when this happened. I wasn't on the boat when they picked him up, we were still in the water when our boat responded to the emergency and left us (not that far, less than half a mile). My understanding of what happened (and remember I wasn't on the boat when they picked him up, I was busy swimming to the boat, so this is only what other divers and the captain told me) is that he had a heart attack underwater. They told us at the time that he didn't actually try to take off his weights, they just slipped and got stuck on his feet. I don't know if that's true. Apparently his son was already panicking a little because of having some trouble breathing and tried to get on the boat and left his buddy. That's why they surfaced only a few minutes after they went in. This slowed down the rescue process. Neither of them were in very good physical condition. After half an hour or so of CPR the coast guard boat took him away and our boat picked us up. I'm no rescue expert but it seemed that both of the captains handled the situation well and did everything possible to make sure everyone was okay and try to save the guys life. Apparently the son spent most of the day at their dive shop before they got confirmation of the death.

As a relatively new diver it was my first experience with a diver death so it was a definite reminder of the potential dangers even on very easy dives and to always stay with your buddy. As I was diving with my own dad it was a little scary. The scariest thing for me was actually not being able to find the boat, surfacing and eventually seeing it far in the distance without any idea why. Then after observing them giving somebody compressions I became worried about the other divers on our boat. It put a damper on our spirits, but we still went on and competed our second dive successfully after that.

David, that was a well written report of what you saw and experienced, thanks for taking the time.

Condolances to the family and friends and especially the son. This is clearly a tragedy and I hope the son does whatever is necessary to help him cope.

Jeff

 

[ReefHound]

I have seen heavier divers have problems with weight belts sliding down their legs. If this is what happened and the belt was not unlatched, it could easily be caught on the fins, even inhibiting his ability to fin.