diver dies on the surface

[Eskasi]

Its one thing to choose to dive with a cold or hungover....and another to knowingly dive while suffering recently from fainting spells!

That is insane. I basically means that at any point during the dive, there is a distinct possibility of drowing all of a sudden for no reason at all and with nothing you can do about it.

A long time ago, after a serious car crash, I suffered from vertigo attacks as the "crystals" in my inner ear that helped maintain balance were loose. Each time they moved or dislodged, the whole world would spin and I would have absolutely no ability to stand up or even sit in a chair. The room/world would seem to suddenly go into "spin dry". It was horrible and scary. After just two attacks, I stopped driving for fear of KILLING myself or others on the road! It took a full year before I was confident that it was a thing of the past and also a medical.

My point it that diving while knowingly suffering fainting spells is just tempting fate....quite unlike diving with a cold. Sure, there are different levels of safety....this however strikes me as playing Russian roulette. Heck, I would not even get into a pool (or drive a vehicle) if I suffered such attacks!

 

[DeepBound]

Yes I have to be honest too, once I was on vacation, tripped and twisted my ankle, had a hard time walking, but went diving anyway. :S
It hurt to fin, but I still managed to swim around.

 

[Steve50]

I don't think a snorkel or reg in mouth would have helped in this case. When he fainted, either would have likely fallen out, or at the very least, a seal around the mouthpiece wouldn't have been made. Same result. I don't use a snorkel when diving (unless I'm teaching), mainly because it interferes with my long hose, but I don't laugh at people either.


!

I agree


If both divers would have been doing the surface swim on their backs, the situation may have had a different outcome. The one who may have fainted doesn't drown and the buddy has the ability to see what is happening, when it happens

 

[Charlie99]

Sounds like the buddy system may have been on hold.

Not on hold, just complacent. After all, what can happen on a little surface swim in mild conditions. Unfortunately, I've been there, done that way too often.

Incidents like this are good wake-up calls.

 

[JKSteger]

I'm going to get flamed to death for this but....

The crawds agree, no one should be diving with such conditions...they may kill their selves!!!!
I haven't heard anyone say a thing about all the medical conditions that people have while they are operation their 2000 pound car/truck going at 60mph on the road, right beside you and me!!!! Much more dangerous IMHO, but still no one even thinks about it until one of them causes a triple fatality on the hiway and shuts down traffic in the city for about 4 or 5 hours. Then we forget about it by the time we go to bed!

Yes, have your self checked before diving. If you accept the risk of diving with medical condition, please let thoes around you know about it.

I found out I have diabeties. It's controlled. When I found out I had it and the Dr. gave me the green light, I got information from DAN and let my buddies know about the condition, what to notice, etc. I told them what my sugar has to be before I can dive and such. If my sugar is not high enough, I will call the dive, plain and simple. I also make sure my buddies know that a "L" sign on my forhead means that I feel Low Sugar comming on and that means the dive is OVER!

J:

 

[Diver0001]

I heard another variation on this story today. Apparently the diver who died didn't lose consciousness in the water at all. He had exited the water to sort out his weighting problem. His buddy stayed in the water and was waiting for him to return.

What the buddy saw was that one minute he was on the pier working on his weights and the next time he looked the diver was in the water unconscious. The buddy didn't see it happen so the description is like two pictures side by side with no connection between them. How he ended up in the water is unknown but it would appear now that he collapsed while standing on the pier and rolled/fell into the water. I was also told that the doctors determined that he had some kind of infection in the area around his heart. I don't know how that can happen but I guess it can.

R..

 

[Dive-aholic]

Sounds like pericarditis. If so, then it was just his time. Even if he hadn't been near water, he probably still would have died.

 

[pupdiver]

Sounds like pericarditis. If so, then it was just his time. Even if he hadn't been near water, he probably still would have died.

Pericarditis? How did you diagnose that?

 

[Dive-aholic]

I didn't diagnose it. I said sounds like based on what Diver0001 said, "infection in the area around his heart". So don't even go there... :shakehead

 

[MissChelleyDives]

Hi everyone,

I've read all of the posts so far on this thread and if you don't mind my opinion on the matter, keep reading. It sounds like whether or not he was in the water on the surface, or fell from the pier when this incident occurred may not have affected the outcome. If he didn't have to adjust his weights at all and he simply continued his dive as planned, he may have still experienced the same outcome under the water which may have put his dive buddy at greater risk also. The entire situation is unfortunate. Anyone who has any type of symptoms should consider how they may affect the dive and let their dive buddy/partners know about the medical problems they may be having so that the dive buddy can consciously consider the risks of diving with this buddy at all or at least have the chance to educate themselves further about their buddie's condition and know there may be a need to keep a "closer eye" on him. This should simply be a part of the dive plan! If the dive buddy has no idea that there may be a problem, then the unaffected buddy might panic being caught "off gaurd" while trying to help and be a greater risk for becoming yet another statistic. If someone wants to put theirself at risk by diving with a medical condition whether it is fully diagnosed as risk or not, it is not totally up to that person alone, the dive buddy should be a part of that decision.

This is why I am planning to take the rescue diving class soon. I am very grateful to this board for helping us all to understand the risks of diving by allowing everyone to share their opinions about such incidents.

Sincerely,

Michelle