Diver Incident at Dutch Springs Nov 6 2010

[kpdivers]

I had the issue on Saturday at Dutch Springs. In essence what happened was all due to operator error. I did all of my checks and the equipment was operational. The problem was that I put the unit on manual and did not reset to my set point. I was standing in 4ft of water and was adjusting my daughters weights. I went under to pick up a weight and that was all she wrote. I passed out. Walking to the water and while adjusting her weights the loop became hypoxic or CO2 built up and I passed out. All the talk of CPR did not happen and can be confirmed with the Hecktown Ambulance Service. Once they put the mask on me I regained consciousness. I went to St. Lukes for observation and was released on Sunday.

I walked away with a scare only for my family and a good dose of humility for me. The heroine that kept essentially a fainting spell from becoming a death was my 15 year old daughter. Never underestimate your children or the wise investment in a first aid course for your kids. My daughter saved my life and kept her head while doing so. I am very proud of her and thankful. She kept her daddy alive. No dishwashing for her this week.

Thank You COLDSOUL1,

Thank you for your private message and for clarifying what happened, and putting an end to the flying innuendo's that some of the other board members were so quick to throw out there without having the facts. Can you imagine if people would just do one simple thing before speaking, and I love this line from the movie "Hitch", CHECK YOUR SOURCES!!!!!!

As we approach a season filled with celebrations, I want to wish you and your family the best Season as it approaches, one of which I'm sure will give a new meaning to the word "Holiday Spirit". Be well fellow diver and best wishes to you and your family.

 

[kpdivers]

I had the issue on Saturday at Dutch Springs. In essence what happened was all due to operator error. I did all of my checks and the equipment was operational. The problem was that I put the unit on manual and did not reset to my set point. I was standing in 4ft of water and was adjusting my daughters weights. I went under to pick up a weight and that was all she wrote. I passed out. Walking to the water and while adjusting her weights the loop became hypoxic or CO2 built up and I passed out. All the talk of CPR did not happen and can be confirmed with the Hecktown Ambulance Service. Once they put the mask on me I regained consciousness. I went to St. Lukes for observation and was released on Sunday.

I walked away with a scare only for my family and a good dose of humility for me. The heroine that kept essentially a fainting spell from becoming a death was my 15 year old daughter. Never underestimate your children or the wise investment in a first aid course for your kids. My daughter saved my life and kept her head while doing so. I am very proud of her and thankful. She kept her daddy alive. No dishwashing for her this week.

Thank You COLDSOUL1,

Thank you for your private message and for clarifying what happened, and putting an end to the flying innuendo's that some of the other board members were so quick to throw out there without having the facts. I have only one thing to say to those people and it comes from the movie "Hitch" CHECK YOUR SOURCES!!!!!!

As we approach a season filled with celebrations, I want to wish you and your family the best Season as it approaches, one of which I'm sure will give a new meaning to the word "Holiday Spirit". Be well fellow diver and best wishes to you and your family.

 

[SeaCobra]

I am very proud of her and thankful. She kept her daddy alive. No dishwashing for her this week.

You should be very proud of her and take a little credit yourself for getting her the proper training and raising a strong daughter. No dish washing? I think you are her a car, perhaps a jag. Sorry about your drysuit, time for a new one anyone.

The scuba world would be very boring without you in it my friend, glad it all worked out well.

Jeff

 

[DandyDon]

No dish washing? I think you are her a car, perhaps a jag.

:laughing: Yeah right. His buddy did her job. Commendations are in order, but well. I'm sure it was very scary for her. Hope she's taking it well, talking it out with trusted friends, not stuffing it.

Sorry about your drysuit, time for a new one anyone.

Were you there? I figured he was in a dry suit from one report, and I guess it was cut off. If he has DAN Preferred or Mater Plan, I suppose it's covered.

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

Thank You COLDSOUL1,

Thank you for your private message and for clarifying what happened, and putting an end to the flying innuendo's that some of the other board members were so quick to throw out there without having the facts. Can you imagine if people would just do one simple thing before speaking, and I love this line from the movie "Hitch", CHECK YOUR SOURCES!!!!!!.

Please read the sticky at the top of the forum. The purpose is not to lay blame but to analyze an event as best we can so that we can learn from it an not repeat it. There is never an official report. We are not determining an official cause. We are trying to talk about the what ifs and learn from them.

Here are a few take aways before coldsoul showed up--which by the way almost never happens--it was nice to hear his take

1 Diver has problem
2 Buddy is paying attention
3 Buddy keeps head and calls for help
4 You don't have to be deep or at the end of a dive to get in trouble
5 Having people around you that are trained can make a big difference in how an incident turns out

The biggest take away is that he had a buddy who was paying attention and it saved his life. Not having a buddy who is paying attention is a recurring them in the fatality threads. Sometimes we have problems underwater and a little help from a buddy really does mean life or death. How quickly a buddy notices and responds makes all the difference in the world.

After he participated we got some other info about operator error on his gear, but anyone can learn the lesson about the buddy paying attention regardless of what gear he was using and whether or not it was working. There are a million reasons he could have passed out. Any buddy, diving any gear, in any dive situation can have buddy awareness and be prepared to help.

We rarely have the facts. So we guess as best we can. Then we talk about how to either avoid those issues or overcome them if they happen to us.

kpdivers, you might say there is no value in that. I disagree strongly. I owe my life to an accident discussion a few years ago. What I learned in the thread helped me solve some real world dive problems that were getting out of control in a hurry. The incident in the thread that I learned my valuable lessons from was never clearly determined as to what happened to the fellow who passed. Some of his family graciously participated in the thread and I am not sure that they ever found out either exactly what the chain of events were that caused his demise. They only had bits and pieces of info. We discussed the little we knew and drew conclusions and lessons to be learned from that. That is really all we can do as we have no official role in any sort of investigation. We can learn from others even without knowing all the facts. Their situations spark a discussion and that really does save lives.

 

[Cave Diver]

I had the issue on Saturday at Dutch Springs. In essence what happened was all due to operator error. I did all of my checks and the equipment was operational. The problem was that I put the unit on manual and did not reset to my set point.

What unit where you diving?

 

[Jax]

Diver taken from Dutch Springs on 6 Nov did not have CPR performed on him. Once the diver had a mask placed on him he regained consciousness. This can be confirmed with the Hecktown Ambulance Service that responded. In addition, the diver suffered from hypoxia due to operator error. Nothing was wrong with the equipment. I know because I was the diver.

Thank God, and thank you for telling us about it.

 

[padiscubapro]

I had the issue on Saturday at Dutch Springs. In essence what happened was all due to operator error. I did all of my checks and the equipment was operational. The problem was that I put the unit on manual and did not reset to my set point. I was standing in 4ft of water and was adjusting my daughters weights. I went under to pick up a weight and that was all she wrote. I passed out. Walking to the water and while adjusting her weights the loop became hypoxic or CO2 built up and I passed out. All the talk of CPR did not happen and can be confirmed with the Hecktown Ambulance Service. Once they put the mask on me I regained consciousness. I went to St. Lukes for observation and was released on Sunday.

I walked away with a scare only for my family and a good dose of humility for me. The heroine that kept essentially a fainting spell from becoming a death was my 15 year old daughter. Never underestimate your children or the wise investment in a first aid course for your kids. My daughter saved my life and kept her head while doing so. I am very proud of her and thankful. She kept her daddy alive. No dishwashing for her this week.

Bill,
The first respondent (can't remember the womans name but before ambulance arrived) did do chest compressions but was quickly stopped once it was determined that you had a pulse..

I was the instructor that examined the gear while the police was there..

I sent you an email if you want to talk..

It was showing a sp of 0.7, with a po2 of 0.12 (and slowly rising as the dsv was open-- it rose to 0.15 after about 5 minutes) , I'm pretty sure the meg changes this display to MAN when set to manual mode.. the solenoid firing was set to 8 second off (don't remember the on time).. When the meg is set to manual mode the solenoid WILL fire regardless, when the loop goes below 0.20ata 02.. in reality manual mode is really a sp 0f 0.20..

This is an important safety feature on all the eccrs that I can think of that allow you to set a manual mode

The solenoid WAS firing (and primary battery voltage was good) but no O2 was being added.. I was not allowed to check it but its possible the the qd swagelok was not fully engaged.. This should have been seen during a brebreathe and seeing if the po2 is going up and down as expected..

It was good that your daughter called for help when she was unable to raise you as the diver who did get you in had to swim you up with difficulty.. Thankfully your DSV stayed in your mouth..

 

[warmwaterturner]

"Authorities called for a water rescue about 11:30 this morning, but the rescue was canceled after other divers were able to pull Bedford from the water, police said."

Nice work, divers!

 

[limeyx]

I had the issue on Saturday at Dutch Springs.

Thanks for your candid report & analysis of the incident.