Diver's death ruled 'human error' accident

[Jedderkoppen]

where did this information come from? I see nowhere in this article or any other that says lack of O2 delivery was the cause of the diver's demise.

Snowbear,

the article states the cause of death at Hypoxia/anoxia. Hypoxia is too little oxygen in the blood and anoxia is no oxygen at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anoxia

JE

 

[Snowbear]

Snowbear,

the article states the cause of death at Hypoxia/anoxia. Hypoxia is too little oxygen in the blood and anoxia is no oxygen at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anoxia

JE

You are correct about the definition. You did well and your research on this agrees with the article as well as my own training. So please show me... where does this article say the hypoxia was due to the unit failing to deliver the flow of O2?

Hypoxia is what kills a drowning victim. Those who want to jump in and say it's cardiac arrest ~ an eventual result of hypoxia ultimately causes heart muscle to die.

My point was that the poster is speculating on what happened. It really tells us nothing we can learn from about the incident.

The article does say the equipment was checked out. Unfortunately it does not say what, if anything, was found. The media almost never an accurate (or unbiased) account of an incident, diving or otherwise. In this case, it is sorely inadequate :frown:

 

[Walter]

Excellent points. Also, while the article says the unit was checked out, it does not say by whom. Someone assumed it was checked out by the ME. I would hope the ME or other official had it checked out by an expert in rebreathers in general and specifically for that model, but the article doesn't say.

 

[caveseeker7]

where did this information come from? I see nowhere in this article or any other that says lack of O2 delivery was the cause of the diver's demise.

What would you suggest caused the hypoxia?
Asphyxiation due to strangling by the Kraken, Monster of the Sea?

A rebreather will let you breath as long as there is sufficient gas in the loop to inhale. If that gas can sustain the diver's life is an entirely different issue, since gas composition in the loop differs from the gas carried in the tank(s).

Human error? I can think of any number of people that consider submerging your head in water for more than a few seconds as human error. I can think of many more that consider doing it with a rebreather strapped to your back a human error.

If somewhere between those two broads there would be some useful information made available we wouldn't have to speculate.

 

[wedivebc]

Hypoxia is what kills a drowning victim. Those who want to jump in and say it's cardiac arrest ~ an eventual result of hypoxia ultimately causes heart muscle to die.

:

If the victim show signs of hypoxia but not water filled lungs it is a safe assumption that the lack of o2 was not caused by drowning,
My concern with the report was that the victim was seen struggling. That indicates something that the victim was aware of like water ingestion, hyperoxia or hypercapnia.I have never heard of a hypoxia victim that was aware they were hypoxic. Usually I thought you just went to sleep in the absence of CO2 to let you body know there is a problem.

 

[wedivebc]

there was a death of an experience diver that had a rebreather problem in the middle of last year on the Northern Light wreck in the Keys. Im not saying it was a rebreather problem this time but with such experience and lack of details, I seems like it. I just wish they would be more specific on the details so we can learn from this tragic mistakes "or" problems with rebreathers.

Even if a rebreather fails in some way you can usually attribute the accident to user error since all trained RB divers and Zak was certainly that. All RB diver are trained to deal with practicaly any challenge the unit can throw at you.

 

[Snowbear]

If the victim show signs of hypoxia but not water filled lungs it is a safe assumption that the lack of o2 was not caused by drowning...

Actually, many drowning victims have no water in their lungs... laryngospasm is a defense mechanism that prevents water entering the lungs. The victim has still drowned and the drowning was still caused by asphyxia caused by hypoxia.

Edit> Wikipedia actually has a pretty good writeup on the drowning process.

 

[Puffer Fish]

It would be nice, if every once in a while, a news report actually contained some or any information that was of value. This reports was somewhat less than worthless.

If accurate, the "struggling" part is a bit of a concern. But I would hesitate to even attempt to guess at what was meant by that.