Diving Incident, Feb. 27, 2016, Chevron Oil Rig, Pensacola, Fl M/v Viking

[Ayisha]

notadiver75, you or his next of kin should be able to get his computer and other equipment back. Perhaps the coast guard will give you a printout of his computer from that day and their notes and results of their examination of his equipment. These might be useful in piecing together his final moments, may he rest in peace.

What did they refer to as the "leading cause of diving death?" The most prevalent official cause of death listed in diving accidents is "drowning", which isn't that informative in and of itself, and it is often triggered by running out of air.

 

[KevinNM]

From what I've read of embolisms, isn't there some sort of warning?

It depends on what causes it. One guy I knew who worked (literally) across the street from our level 1 trauma center was walking through the cubicle farm one morning and just collapsed and died from a PE (blood clot) that blocked a critical artery. The paramedics called it right there, as nothing they did got any response. He looked pretty healthy the last time I saw him alive and was in his early 40s IIRC. Sometimes it's just not going to end well.

Diving PEs are often caused by bubbles from lung over expansion injuries or sometimes by missed decompression, but sometimes it's a blood clot that gets jammed somewhere.

 

[notadiver75]

notadiver75, you or his next of kin should be able to get his computer and other equipment back. Perhaps the coast guard will give you a printout of his computer from that day and their notes and results of their examination of his equipment. These might be useful in piecing together his final moments, may he rest in peace.

What did they refer to as the "leading cause of diving death?" The most prevalent official cause of death listed in diving accidents is "drowning", which isn't that informative in and of itself, and it is often triggered by running out of air.

Thank you for the info. Yes, his wife got everything back but I just can't ask her right now. She's deep in grief and I don't want to make it worse... which is why I'm on the internet looking instead. They said air embolism and drowning and I took the embolism part as the leading cause of death. Drowning makes much more sense. Thank you for the clarification!

 

[notadiver75]

It depends on what causes it. One guy I knew who worked (literally) across the street from our level 1 trauma center was walking through the cubicle farm one morning and just collapsed and died from a PE (blood clot) that blocked a critical artery. The paramedics called it right there, as nothing they did got any response. He looked pretty healthy the last time I saw him alive and was in his early 40s IIRC. Sometimes it's just not going to end well.

Diving PEs are often caused by bubbles from lung over expansion injuries or sometimes by missed decompression, but sometimes it's a blood clot that gets jammed somewhere.

Thank you for the info. Missed decompression--could that have potentially happened on the 1st dive of the day? Or even on an earlier dive the day before? Like you mentioned with the clot...could an air embolism be something that is sort of lurking and then it only takes a one factor to make it deadly?

 

[KevinNM]

Thank you for the info. Missed decompression--could that have potentially happened on the 1st dive of the day? Or even on an earlier dive the day before? Like you mentioned with the clot...could an air embolism be something that is sort of lurking and then it only takes a one factor to make it deadly?

I don't know enough to answer that. This document might give you a start at understanding it, but I haven't read it in detail:
https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/...UHMSProceedings/2014_UHMS_Proceedings_WEB.pdf

 

[guruboy]

The task is harder than you think, and likely to result in embolism in all but the most perfect executions. Time is needed to get an unresponsive diver to the surface without embolizing them. Time you don't have because their brain and heart cells are expiring by the second. You also have to ascend in a manner that's safe for yourself.

If you are just referring to the particular case of surfacing someone from 175ft, you can ignore this question.

Regarding surfacing an unresponsive diver-
1) why do you think it so hard to do without causing an embolism?
2) which kind of embolism are you referring to?

 

[guruboy]

would the autopsy be able to tell if oxygen toxicity had occurred?

 

[dmaziuk]

Thank you for the info. Missed decompression--could that have potentially happened on the 1st dive of the day? Or even on an earlier dive the day before? Like you mentioned with the clot...could an air embolism be something that is sort of lurking and then it only takes a one factor to make it deadly?

"Drowning" tends to be prevalent and uninformative because once something goes wrong and one's jaw goes slack, the regulator falls out and they're breathing water. They drown, but the actual reason is what made their jaw go slack.

Venous gas embolism is where gas dissolved in the tissues is "bubbling out" into the veins. That's "missed decompression". Arterial gas embolism is where breathing gas expands inside the lungs and tears its way into the arteries. That's holding one's breath while coming up. (The latter is believed to commonly happen in panicked ascent after running out of gas, so "plenty of air" sounds contradictory.) I would not describe either as "lurking", not like a clot or a stroke, but I am not a doctor.

 

[KevinNM]

would the autopsy be able to tell if oxygen toxicity had occurred?

I don't think so. The few I have heard described as O2 tox from a doctor included teammates describing the events and/or the cylinder in use had something totally inappropriate. But I'm not sure.

 

[Hetland]

If you are just referring to the particular case of surfacing someone from 175ft, you can ignore this question.

Regarding surfacing an unresponsive diver-
1) why do you think it so hard to do without causing an embolism?
2) which kind of embolism are you referring to?

If they're not breathing, you have to keep their airway open somehow, usually tilting their head back. There's no resistance because gravity is reduced, and it may take both hands to keep a patent airway. Now you have to safely ascend from 175ft controlling your buoyancy, his buoyancy, and his airway, all at the same time.

Additionally, since he's not exchanging gas, you're really just helping the lungs (now probably containing seawater) vent. The gasses exiting his other tissues aren't being moved to the lungs efficiently (or at all), and they're going to come out one way or the other.