Diver's death ruled 'human error' accident

[bdblkta]

Just posting this for those who would like to know.



Diver's death ruled 'human error' accident
A Miami-Dade medical examiner determined that the death of a professional diver was accidental.
BY SUSAN COCKING
scocking@MiamiHerald.com
The diving death of a professional scuba instructor off Hallandale Beach last Thanksgiving has been ruled an accident by Miami-Dade's deputy chief medical examiner.

Zak Jones, 30, drowned due to ''hypoxia/anoxia while ocean diving with a closed-circuit rebreather,'' according to the autopsy report by Dr. Emma Lew dated March 27.

A rebreather provides breathing gas containing oxygen to a diver and recycles exhaled gas. It is used mainly for long, deep dives. Hypoxia/anoxia refers to a lack of oxygen in body tissues.

''After having the equipment checked out and talking to his dive buddy, it was human error,'' Lew said of Jones' death.

Jones was diving with six colleagues from Fort Lauderdale's Pro Dive International on the Pro Diver II last November on what company CEO Frank Gernert described as a ''staff technical dive.'' Jones was using a Megalodon closed-circuit rebreather.

According to a U.S. Coast Guard incident report, Jones and his buddy dived to 150 feet deep and separated to explore a reef. A few minutes later, Jones' buddy turned and saw Jones struggling. When he reached him, Jones was unconscious with the rebreather out of his mouth.

Jones' friend sent him quickly to the surface, then followed at a slower rate. At the surface, the friend administered CPR and flagged down the dive boat.

The crew continued CPR on Jones and radioed the Coast Guard. A Coast Guard vessel took the unconscious diver to Haulover Marina, where Miami-Dade paramedics picked him up. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Aventura Hospital.

Jones began his diving career in 1992. He held more than 25 certifications, including course director at Pro Dive International.

 

[augustg]

Man, it is always sad to hear of the loss of a diver. I will keep his family in my prayers and thoughts.

 

[Walter]

Keep those kind thoughts and prayers for his family, but this young man died around Thanksgiving of '05. There were a couple threads about the accident at the time. This thread is more about the medical examiner's conclusions than the accident.

 

[Miami_Diver]

wonder what went wrong with his rebreather.

 

[Walter]

wonder what went wrong with his rebreather.

Well, based on this:

''After having the equipment checked out and talking to his dive buddy, it was human error,'' Lew said of Jones' death.

my guess would be nothing was wrong with his rebreather.

 

[jagfish]

Threads like this (after official reports are issued) are generally open to discuss the details of the accident, prevention etc. This report of the vague term "human error" with no elaboration gives little factual basis for meaningful discussion. Would be nice to have the info from the buddy and breather. What a shame...Maybe another source ...

 

[caveseeker7]

my guess would be nothing was wrong with his rebreather.

The Megalodon is an electronically controlled rebreather that holds a chosen setpoint (partial pressure of O2) with reasonable accuracy when operating properly, and maintains it at a life sustaining level even if the diver choses not to as long as the electronics are on and O2 is there in the first place.

So for some reason or other the rebreather didn't add enough O2.
And for some more the diver didn't correct the situation.
There must have been several errors piling up.

A simple but grave user error like an empty tank or closed valve usually catches someone's attention, and even a clueless scribe can understand the significance of that situation.

 

[Jedderkoppen]

Too true, jagfish. but i can't imagine that a medical examiner could really provide any information on the workings / misworkings of the rebreather. they just wouldn't have the knowledge of rebreathers. i think the best they could do would be 'human error'. though for those of us who have the knowledge, that explanation is indeed inadequate.

JE

 

[Miami_Diver]

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.

 

[Snowbear]

So for some reason or other the rebreather didn't add enough O2.
And for some more the diver didn't correct the situation.
There must have been several errors piling up.

A simple but grave user error like an empty tank or closed valve usually catches someone's attention, and even a clueless scribe can understand the significance of that situation.

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.