mderrick
Contributor
- Messages
- 111
- Reaction score
- 300
- Location
- Pompano Beach, Florida USA
- # of dives
- I just don't log dives
This could be a great example of how wild speculation and personal attacks fostered in various public discussion groups can lead to seriously destructive "no-win" situations for individuals and companies even peripherally involved in a dive accident.
A possible scenario now becomes a qualified underwater photographer hires a dive charter in support of some extended range diving and photography, which could reasonably expected to be a high risk activity. The photographer invites his former instructor and physician wife along on the charter, arguably a very prudent action the part of the recently CCR certified photographer. A difficulty requiring an unplanned dive does indeed arise, and the most qualified extended range diver on the boat generously volunteers his assistance for what will likely be a challenging and even higher risk unplanned dive. The photographer insists on going along on the unplanned dive with his former instructor, perhaps selflessly to assist and/or act as a buddy. Something does go wrong, possibly hypercapnia as a result of excessive work, and both divers return to the surface. One of the divers is severely incapacitated, and successfully rescued back in to the vessel. The other diver still in the water, from reports, signals he is OK and attention focuses on assisting the incapacitated diver. The diver safely drifting in the water a short distance from the vessel, perhaps as a consequence of the excitement and anxiety of the circumstances, makes a very simple error of removing his CCR mouthpiece without closing it first. This causes a near instantaneous loss of buoyancy (as cautioned in the manual for the CCR) and the diver sinks underwater. He subsequently is unable to recover from his error and drowns in a few seconds before any third party rescue from the vessel would be possible, even if attempted.
In the 90's, I was on a dive boat in the Lower Keys where a very similar situation occurred. The dives on a wreck in 250 feet of water that day were done, everything stowed and a deckhand was about to gear up to go in to release a shackle to a permanent buoy a few feet under the surface. A experienced breath-hold diver who happened to be on the boat volunteered to save time and effort so we could get underway more quickly and several of us on the boat agreed because we wanted to get underway. The diver had some difficulty pulling the pin due to a strong current, and made several repets in short order perhaps also as result of feeling some "peer pressure" to perform. In that case, a deckhand was looking right at the diver when the diver went unconscious near the surface at the line (shallow water blackout) and began to sink. The alarm was raised and in mere seconds the divemaster did a heroic and frankly spectacular "ditch and don" into the water chasing the unconscious diver. Alas, he was never able to reach the diver who was already too deep so we geared up, found the body and I recovered him to the back of the boat where CPR was unsuccessful. The point being, that even with near instant rescue response, a skilled diver made an incredibly simple mistake that cost his life. Nobody filed a lawsuit.
25 years later, perhaps as a result of all the internet "blamestorming" and uninformed speculation plus pointless personal attacks, a lot of individuals on all sides of this recent unfortunate fatality will experience months, probably years, of undeserved and unnecessary additional pain and suffering.induced by the American civil justice system and lottery.
A possible scenario now becomes a qualified underwater photographer hires a dive charter in support of some extended range diving and photography, which could reasonably expected to be a high risk activity. The photographer invites his former instructor and physician wife along on the charter, arguably a very prudent action the part of the recently CCR certified photographer. A difficulty requiring an unplanned dive does indeed arise, and the most qualified extended range diver on the boat generously volunteers his assistance for what will likely be a challenging and even higher risk unplanned dive. The photographer insists on going along on the unplanned dive with his former instructor, perhaps selflessly to assist and/or act as a buddy. Something does go wrong, possibly hypercapnia as a result of excessive work, and both divers return to the surface. One of the divers is severely incapacitated, and successfully rescued back in to the vessel. The other diver still in the water, from reports, signals he is OK and attention focuses on assisting the incapacitated diver. The diver safely drifting in the water a short distance from the vessel, perhaps as a consequence of the excitement and anxiety of the circumstances, makes a very simple error of removing his CCR mouthpiece without closing it first. This causes a near instantaneous loss of buoyancy (as cautioned in the manual for the CCR) and the diver sinks underwater. He subsequently is unable to recover from his error and drowns in a few seconds before any third party rescue from the vessel would be possible, even if attempted.
In the 90's, I was on a dive boat in the Lower Keys where a very similar situation occurred. The dives on a wreck in 250 feet of water that day were done, everything stowed and a deckhand was about to gear up to go in to release a shackle to a permanent buoy a few feet under the surface. A experienced breath-hold diver who happened to be on the boat volunteered to save time and effort so we could get underway more quickly and several of us on the boat agreed because we wanted to get underway. The diver had some difficulty pulling the pin due to a strong current, and made several repets in short order perhaps also as result of feeling some "peer pressure" to perform. In that case, a deckhand was looking right at the diver when the diver went unconscious near the surface at the line (shallow water blackout) and began to sink. The alarm was raised and in mere seconds the divemaster did a heroic and frankly spectacular "ditch and don" into the water chasing the unconscious diver. Alas, he was never able to reach the diver who was already too deep so we geared up, found the body and I recovered him to the back of the boat where CPR was unsuccessful. The point being, that even with near instant rescue response, a skilled diver made an incredibly simple mistake that cost his life. Nobody filed a lawsuit.
25 years later, perhaps as a result of all the internet "blamestorming" and uninformed speculation plus pointless personal attacks, a lot of individuals on all sides of this recent unfortunate fatality will experience months, probably years, of undeserved and unnecessary additional pain and suffering.induced by the American civil justice system and lottery.
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