Examples of a dive death that could not have been prevented?

[nereas]

Divers dying in a down current on a wall like in Cozumel.

TwoBit

That's preventable with training. Has it ever actually happened?

Terry

There is a place near Athens Greece in the Saronic Gulf where it happens all the time. The local dive shop and boat ownders have tried to cover the cave with a grate, but divers keep pulling off the grate, and then getting trapped by the down-current and dying.

 

[Geoff_H]

Being hit on the surface by a fast moving boat/jetski you couldn't see coming - that's not an uncommon cause of injury or death. Surface waves can impede your view even if you are looking in all directions at once.

Even SMB's don't prevent this, they merely improve your chances.... lots of reports of idiot jetskiers using them to slalom.

To those that say this is not a diving injury - it's pretty unlikely I'll be hit by a boat if I'm not divng.

 

[RS]

So be really conservative and build in contingencies. Everyone does that. But, you can't create a contingency for every thing under the sun or you'll end up wearing a complete dive store.

How conservative is absolutely safe?

 

[RS]

There is a place near Athens Greece in the Saronic Gulf where it happens all the time. The local dive shop and boat ownders have tried to cover the cave with a grate, but divers keep pulling off the grate, and then getting trapped by the down-current and dying.

That would suck, no pun intended.

 

[RS]

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/3256614-post23.html

poor guys.

 

[Web Monkey]

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/3256614-post23.html

poor guys.

Too bad. That's one of the "avoidable" (at least escape-able) accident causes and should have been covered in class along with rip currents.

Terry

 

[z3r0c00l]

Being hit on the surface by a fast moving boat/jetski you couldn't see coming - that's not an uncommon cause of injury or death. Surface waves can impede your view even if you are looking in all directions at once.

Even SMB's don't prevent this, they merely improve your chances.... lots of reports of idiot jetskiers using them to slalom.

My solution to this is limit motor boats and jet skis to 10 kts in coastal waters, to make all captns and pilots take tests and carry a license just like in a car, and to make it a serious crime (not just a ticket) if you are in violation of these laws. I have seen many boats, often piloted by teens or men with the mental capacity of teens, zip across a public swimming area filled with kids. Our temporary solution is that if you are close enough to get hit by the rocks we throw, you are too close... but then again I snorkel and kayak so maybe I am biased - I actually never worry about waves, tides, the wind, any other natural concern - my only fear is motor boats. In the winter I take the kayak out and have the bay all to my self, I could sleep out there if I wanted to.

 

[nereas]

So be really conservative and build in contingencies. Everyone does that. But, you can't create a contingency for every thing under the sun or you'll end up wearing a complete dive store.

How conservative is absolutely safe?

The answer, of course, involves classical technical dive planning.

1) Properly evaluate the site (cave, wreck, surface conditions) for feasibility.

2) Plan with software, and execute with an HE dive computer, on conservative settings.

3) Minimize all risks, and eliminate any unnecessary risks.

4) Ensure you have an equally competent buddy for the dive.

5) Ensure you and your buddy are each independently self-sufficient.

6) Redundancy for all critical items of gear.

7) Overlapping capabilities for deco gasses (I like 20/40, 30/30, EAN 50, and O2).

8) Rule of thirds for bottom mix.

9) Always use DPVs.

10) Avoid CCRs and SCRs.

11) Abort the dive the moment conditions become dice-y.

This has kept me alive. It should work for everybody. Certain people, like GI3, I would not dive with, under the category of "competent buddy." Certain pieces of gear, like CCRs and SCRs, I would not touch.

There are a lot of technical divers who regularly violate several of the above. That is why there will always be diving deaths, and not due to anything "unavoidable."

There is no "accident" that is "unavoidable" in scuba.

There is foolishness, lots of that, however.

 

[Ice Mike]

Perhaps because I didn't read the prior thread, I missed your point. Do you mean, excluding wildlife, unpredictable tides, currents, and storms, prior health conditions, drifting gill nets, reckless boaters, etc., are all scuba diving deaths preventable? Yes. But it doesn't seem like a conclusion worth spending a lot of time to arrive at. If you are well trained and in good physical condition, I think you have a 99.99% chance of surviving your dives at the local YMCA swimming pool. Watch out for the suction around the filter intake though!

No I meant what I said.
The thread is named: "Examples of a dive death that could not have been prevented?"

Therefore it seems logical to define what you consider a dive related death.

I think the example exclusions still leave plenty of diving.

- Natural disaster (e.g tsunami)
- Health problem (e.g. major cardiac arrest)
- War (e.g. being killed due to acts of war)
- Unprovoked animal attack (e.g. trying your luck at great white whispering.)
- Murder (e.g. you should have been nicer to your buddy)

You could argue that deaths due to the above lists where mainly due to something else than diving.

By the way nowhere did I advocate that it means you have to stick to the YMCA Pool.

If you have a serious heart condition, go diving with a buddy whose wife you recently slept with, in an active earthquake area, whilst there is a war on and you decide to go give that nice big white shark a hug.....and miraculously you don't survive...maybe it shouldn't be classed as a dive related death.

But if that is what rocks your boat, go have a blast.

On another note, now that I am far from a decent pool, I believe the YMCA pools are heavily underrated.

 

[dschonbrun]

Tons of medical cases where the pre-condition is not detectable unless you have highly intricate tests, usually only discovered during autopsy... cardiac s-a malfunctions, brain venus wall weakness.. etc.