Diver drowns on Dive Boat Karen, Brooklyn, NY

[deeper thoughts]

Monday morning quarterbacking and everyone is always an expert.
Prayers to the family.

 

[victor]

Why oh why did he not dump his weight belt.

This is cold water diving so he was, probably carrying 20+lbs of lead. One quick flick of the buckle would have sent the lead plummeting to the bottom and him bobbing to the surface.
This should be drilled and drilled again into the minds of a diver. If all else fails get rid of your weight belt.
If you are out of air on the surface and struggling, dump it, what is a few pounds of lead going to cost.
It should be the last thing you do if you are loosing consciousness underwater, yes it would be an uncontrolled ascent but that’s better than drowning on the bottom.

If you are on the surface then there is a chance you will be rescued, 30ft down with poor visibility your chances are very limited.

Panic is a strange thing, all we can do is train against it, practice and practice until our responses are conditioned and panic does have a chance.

 

[DandyDon]

Must have been at least some heavy current if they couldn't find his body. I suppose he wasn't being attacked or bitten by something?

It's called the Gulf Stream. Runs on a regular basis along there.

Sad loss to panic, when following traning would have worked so much better, it sounds. Also sounds like the crew and other divers did as well as prudently possible.

I have wondered why the NC wreck boats don't pull chase boats? Anyone know...?

 

[scubadobadoo]

In addition to panic, he may have been suffering from a heart attack or some other condition that futher distressed him or kept him from dropping his weights. Who knows. What I do know, having suffered a panic attack and bolting to the surface before in my earlier diving days, is that once the panic takes hold of you, you are lost to the world and listening and reason go out the door. It's almost impossible to reverse this process once it is full blown. It's easy for us to say what he should have done but he was probably a mental loss in the last few minutes. It's a feeling I hope to never experience again and have tried my hardest to train my brain to fight the impulse. The real question isn't what could he have done to stop panicking but rather what could have been done to prevent the start of the panic in the first place. Medical condition? Perhaps the start was the buddy seperation? Low viz? Animal sighting? Tired? Diving beyond ones experience? A ton of other things that come to mind but aren't worth mentioning out of respect to the diver and his family. We may never know.

 

[DeepSeaDan]

In addition to panic, he may have been suffering from a heart attack or some other condition that futher distressed him or kept him from dropping his weights. Who knows. What I do know, having suffered a panic attack and bolting to the surface before in my earlier diving days, is that once the panic takes hold of you, you are lost to the world and listening and reason go out the door. It's almost impossible to reverse this process once it is full blown. It's easy for us to say what he should have done but he was probably a mental loss in the last few minutes. It's a feeling I hope to never experience again and have tried my hardest to train my brain to fight the impulse. The real question isn't what could he have done to stop panicking but rather what could have been done to prevent the start of the panic in the first place. Medical condition? Perhaps the start was the buddy seperation? Low viz? Animal sighting? Tired? Diving beyond ones experience? A ton of other things that come to mind but aren't worth mentioning out of respect to the diver and his family. We may never know.

...is likely on the right track. From the sounds of it, the gentlemen may have suffered a lung over-expansion injury, including possible c.a.g.e., thus unconciousness a short time after surfacing is a strong possibility, awaiting confirmation on autopsy.

For what it's worth, I like there to be at least one diver on the boat at all times who is ready to assist a surface swimmer, be it by "throw" or "go", thus that person must be familiar with the rescue apparatus on board, as well as being dressed in to the point where a quick, properly equipped entry can be made ( exposure suit, m,f & s & a flotation device ). I teach alot of rescue diving & I suggest to my newly-minted rescue divers that they take it upon themselves ( if necessary ), to be ready for such quick action. That means discussing such preparedness with the D.M. &/or the Skipper if they are in fact going to take on this duty.

Regards,
DSD

 

[sealkie]

I`m involved in a fledgling club in New York and we are actively encourging local diving - this incident has prompted me to write something for the club aimed at divers new to local dives. Reminding them of the speration plan, the importance of using a wreck reel, the dangers of over weighting and the impotance of keeping mask on / reg in until your feet are both on the boat deck. Not to mention if you can`t stay on the surface get rid of the weights. I`m sure had any of these things been said to the diver before he got in the water it might have made a differance. People rarely revisit their basic open water texts and there is some damn good information in there thats worth re-reading.

Very sad incident - lets hope we can learn something and use it to avoid a similar issue in the future

 

[Seuss]

It could be argued that the captain should had got (sic) a better idea of the skill / experience level and cautioned the divers accordingly - I would have strongly advised against this dive unless he was in the water with a very experienced buddy based on this information - I don`t know what the deal was with the buddy - he could have been a very experienced diver

It could also be argued that a captain's job is only to ensure that the patrons get to and from a site safely. Nowhere, that I know of, does the US Coast Guard require that a captain be able to accurately judge a divers skill level nor does the US Coast Guard require that a captain play the role of SCUBA police.

I hate to sound crass, but from the time I roll off the boat until the time I step back on the boat, my safety, as a diver, is my own responsibility.

 

[DandyDon]

It could also be argued that a captain's job is only to ensure that the patrons get to and from a site safely. Nowhere, that I know of, does the US Coast Guard require that a captain be able to accurately judge a divers skill level nor does the US Coast Guard require that a captain play the role of SCUBA police.

I hate to sound crass, but from the time I roll off the boat until the time I step back on the boat, my safety, as a diver, is my own responsibility.

The role of Captain does not suggest checking on divers to see if they should be there - only operation of the vessel and what happens onboard that affects the boat and others aboard. Only if the Skipper is assuming other roles - like trip organizer - would s/he even confirm that the diver was certified.

 

[ShakaZulu]

If you loose your buddy, after 1 minute of searching surface........He may have been out of air, and in the panic forgot to drop the weight belt. I wear my BP crotch strap over my weight belt, going to take a while if I'm in this situation. Stop, breathe, think and act. Very sad, and my condolences to the family.

 

[sealkie]

It could also be argued that a captain's job is only to ensure that the patrons get to and from a site safely. Nowhere, that I know of, does the US Coast Guard require that a captain be able to accurately judge a divers skill level nor does the US Coast Guard require that a captain play the role of SCUBA police.

I hate to sound crass, but from the time I roll off the boat until the time I step back on the boat, my safety, as a diver, is my own responsibility.

That is indeed why I said it COULD be argued - I`m sort of on the fence about this one - While not necessary I think getting some information about the divers experience level is prudent. However - as I mentioned - the capt may have checked this and/or the buddy may be been an experienced diver and/or the diver himself may not have been entirely honest about his experience.

I agree as divers we are adults and responsible for ourselves - but a little help now and again is no bad thing

Don - In these cases the skipper is the trip organiser - it is his boat and he is promoting the trip so he does have a duty to at least check the diver is certified.