Galapagos Scuba Diving Fatality - February 12, 2010 - Eloise Gale

[HBO MD]

With discussions focusing upon safety, diver preparedness etc, there may be another issue worth bringing up, and that is live aboard preparedness.
While we all salivate over pictures of azure waters with large beasts, it is very rare to include any remarks regarding on board or available safety equipment, plans etc. This has been evident for years throughout the critiques of dive travel. Perhaps it is considered a negative to remark upon this in terms of drawing clients. And while we spend thousands of dollars to reach far flung places, we rarely question access to medical facilities, dive operator safety facilities or planning.

 

[H2O 70]

With discussions focusing upon safety, diver preparedness etc, there may be another issue worth bringing up, and that is live aboard preparedness.
While we all salivate over pictures of azure waters with large beasts, it is very rare to include any remarks regarding on board or available safety equipment, plans etc. This has been evident for years throughout the critiques of dive travel. Perhaps it is considered a negative to remark upon this in terms of drawing clients. And while we spend thousands of dollars to reach far flung places, we rarely question access to medical facilities, dive operator safety facilities or planning.

I'd call it part of the accepted risk. When climbers are on K2 they know going up that there is a 1 in 4 chance they aren't coming down alive. They climb anyway. But yes, hopefully the boat has the basics like an AED and O2.

 

[mocrumbo]

Interesting that Mossman has not commented, considering the way he has so vehemently and passionately defended the Aggressor in the other thread. Only confirms my suspicion that he is employed by them (and there is probably a lawsuit involved with this terrible tragedy).

 

[DandyDon]

I'd call it part of the accepted risk. When climbers are on K2 they know going up that there is a 1 in 4 chance they aren't coming down alive. They climb anyway. But yes, hopefully the boat has the basics like an AED and O2.

I asked a liveaboard to see their recent air quality sample test record, but like many other cases - they had poor excuses on why they did not do those. The real reason probly being is so very few divers ask to see them, Padi does not enforce their rules, and most governments don't enforce such. The next day, they had O2 for a heart attack victim, but being so far from port they had to ask for available help in the area to transport him back to port. A speed boat came from a nearby yacht and took him in but we ran out of O2 for a while as there was a delay in refilling bottles from onboard supplies - yet I have been on boats that did not have onboard supplies.

The diver was transported back to port, with the group leader, but a communications or other breakdown sent him by plane from Exuma to Nassau instead of Florida, where he was delayed in seeing a doctor, but finally flown to Florida. He did survived the 24 hour wait on his bypass and made it.

As so often is the case, in a real emergency we quickly learn of what we can do then & there, do our best, things go wrong, but we try.

 

[divengolf]

The diver was transported back to port, with the group leader, but a communications or other breakdown sent him by plane from Exuma to Nassau instead of Florida, where he was delayed in seeing a doctor, but finally flown to Florida. He did survived the 24 hour wait on his bypass and made it.

As so often is the case, in a real emergency we quickly learn of what we can do then & there, do our best, things go wrong, but we try.

Was DAN involved in coordinating the evac?? They are generally pretty good on the details.

 

[DandyDon]

Was DAN involved in coordinating the evac?? They are generally pretty good on the details.

I am not sure. He was sent to port alone at first, seen by a doc on Exuma, then the group leader was notified that he needed someone to travel beyond with him so the speedboat had to come back for her. Really fortunate that the yachties were so good about helping. The story I got later was that the flight was already set up when the leader got there so she went with the plan. I never could get more info about that, and I quit traveling with that group.

 

[HBO MD]

DAN or not, the truth is that in these far off areas, if medical people are on board they often have to improvise, just as we may have to do aboard an airliner.
It is the readiness and preparedness of the vessel and crew that can transform a chaotic situation into one where the person has a chance.

 

[svs]

It is not the first time I read about diver lost on a group dive and then blame goes around forever between lost diver him/herself, diver’s buddy and dive master. I suppose dive master should remind divers about watching buddies and inform him immediately if such contact is lost. In reality on many group dives I participated divers were not even organized as buddy teams and it is not realistic to expect dive master watching all divers in a group of 4-5 or more.

 

[H2O 70]

I just read somewhere, probably Diver Down, that it isn't a single issue that results in a fatality, but a series of single issues that result in a fatality.

 

[Thalassamania]

I just read somewhere, probably Diver Down, that it isn't a single issue that results in a fatality, but a series of single issues that result in a fatality.

Usually that is the case, but there are rare instances where there is one and only one cause.