Helper in trouble-involuntary manslaughter

[Bob DBF]

I call my student in order to perform a flood mask drill, he took his mask off and start kikingto surface very rapidly.

I got a hold of him and the mask almost at the very frist moment this happen, I grabbed my student by the BC and he push me away at the moment he lost regulator out of his mouth, I grabbed his reg and start going up to surface with him HOLDING MY self and MY STUDENT by the LINE, I rapidly replace his reg on his mouth purging so he can get fresh air as he get the second stage on his mouth. He still refuse the reg but I stik the 2nd stage and purge on his mout so at the time we surface he was figthing against me with his eyes closed...

The court gave two main reasons for their decision. First he should have just slowed the ascend and not stopped it. The diver wanted to go up, so he should have just slowed the rapid ascend.
But more important for the court was that the helper didn't push the purge button when pushing the octopus in the divers mouth. Spitting the octopus out must be seen as a sign that it is not working and he was inhaling water.

In your case you observed the procedures that the court found lacking in the incedent.

Considering the punishment, the court must have thought that the outcome of the diver bolting to the surface would probably have had the same ultimate result. It was a bad situation all around but they expected more out of the instructor.

Bob

 

[DivingFirefighter]

As said before, it is easy to "Monday Morning Quaterback" this incident. The charge seams extreme. As far as I can tell from the description of the incident, this wasn't an OOG issue but simply an issue of the less experienced buddy freaking out cause he had water in his mask. I can't say I would have done any different in that case. Its very possible, and maybe even likely, that even if the regulator had been purged the panicked diver still would have rejected it with the same results. As it was already seen that he rejected an operating regulator already. So in reality this experienced diver isn't being convicted of doing the wrong thing, he's being convicted of doing the right thing the wrong way?

 

[meisdadoo]

I had a similar experience except I was being held back by the instructor. While doing a slow ascent from depth on one breath I ran out of air (exhaled too rapidly, my first ocean dive) and tried to increase speed. When I realized that wasn't going to work I grabbed the instructors reg from his mouth, pushed the purge and took a breath and gave it back. It all worked out in the end. If I had panicked, it might have been very different. I know first hand that if you are out of air, you are out and panic can't be far behind. Key lesson here, if you are giving / putting a reg in someones mouth, push the purge button. They might not have enough left to exhale.

 

[smitz]

I was browsing the german forum linked in the OP and found this newer report: http://www.20min.ch/news/ostschweiz/story/Rchter-urteilen-ueber-fatalen-Tauchgang-28941859

• 1 Instructor with 450 dives, 2 newly certified OW divers
• 1st Diver had a few flooding problems, but was able to clear
• At a depth of 7-10 meters, same diver once again had flooding problems, he then gesticulated wildly and wanted to return to surface.
• The instructor held him back to prevent barotrauma
• At this point instructor noticed the diver was no longer moving and had spat out his reg
• He then began a controlled ascent with the unconscious diver, repeatedly inserting the second stage into his mouth without purging it.

It goes on to say that there are some legal issues (defendant's lawyer attempted to call it a mistrial but failed), verdict was "instructor should have started a controlled ascent immediately when OW diver indicated he wished to ascend", sentence is what my no longer excellent german translates as a fine.

 

[2 Big 2 Fail]

I will be taking OW in December, so I'm not a diver yet. But I'm reading everything I can get hold of, especially equipment and emergency procedures and accident causes, and trying to apply my perspective from a lifetime of emergency services work. Panic is a killer in other fields than diving. And it strikes me that, aside from other considerations, tripping the purge button while trying to give air to a diver in panic also presents a powerful visual signal that "Here Is Air." People in panic go for the most obvious perceived relief, like the swimmer having trouble staying up climbing on top of the potential rescuer. It's a pretty powerful thing, but it's also a very primitive impulse. What you can see directly, without having to think, becomes the relief target. Out of air, the simple, unthinking visible source of air is the light at the surface. At that point, a regulator on a hose is more abstract, and under high stress, IQ drops to the ape level. But a regulator spewing air is understood without thinking.

 

[madfishdiving]

The instructor forced the reserve regulator in his mouth but he spit it out again. Finally the diver lost his life..

I think we may be missing some crucial information in between these two sentences...

All I am suggesting is perhaps we don't know the full story here and the instructors negligence may have been in resuscitation methods or lack of..

 

[Aussiemike]

I'm not an instructor and never wanted to be. In my open water training we had rescue instruction and I offered to be the victim for the instructor to demonstrate rescuing. We had on wetsuits and fins, no weights etc. I was able to grab him from behind, pin his arms with my legs and climb up him until I had my head out of the water with him held vertically three feet down. He tried taking me under but couldn't really go down without the use of his arms.

We reversed roles several times and concluded that if you were rescuing someone your size you couldn't get too close to them. If you are a scuba instructor you don't have a choice.

mike

 

[the Hermit]

... my "only" panic response in scuba was during my first 5 minutes, of my first scuba experience, in the deep end of the facility training pool. It was very funny afterwards, but totally uncontrollable in the moment. My racing heart and body said I could not possibly be breathing underwater, while my mind argued otherwise - my instinct totally won... My instructor said he had seen it many times in beginner divers and that most got over it quickly. Once I was able to process what happened, I easily handled the anxiety, and never had an issue.

I took many courses including Stress and Rescue, before my ocean diving, and I have always been comfortable. But I have twice seen this same response in other divers, during OW dives, and my experience has served me well. In one case, I was able to get the diver's attention and stop their scramble for the surface. In another case, I buddied up with the newbie, and spent three days gradually acclimating her to progressively deeper water - day one 10 feet MOD, day two 25 ft, and day three to her comfort level of 75 feet. Using visualization, a knowlege of hypnosis, and meditation techniques we gradually learned how she could "fly" under the water and enjoy it.

My point is that this anxiety response (fight-or-flight, panic, whatever you call it), is out side of the experience of most people, and is IMHO very difficult, or impossible, to manage, during the emergency. It can come on instantly and be very difficult to handle. It can be overcome, but it could take considerable effort. It is also unique to each person.

Which makes it very difficult to communicate in court, so that the jury or court can fairly judge the Instructor, or dive buddy. It is practically impossible to communicate to non-divers. And in a legal system that focuses on accessing blame, instead of bringing out the truth, it can be devastating, even to good person, making their best effort, in a "non"-negligent manner.

This fellow was lucky to be in Germany, and not the USA. Here, there is a good chance the focus would have been on giving compensation to the family and lawyers, even if the Instructor made every reasonable effort. Which would have been far more than a few thousand dollars.

 

[athelas]

In this light the sentence sounds more reasonable - slowing student on the way up is OK (considering your OWN safety is not compromised), holding him down against his will is not. However, recent comments tend to discuss the fact instructor did not purge regulator in the mouth of the diver and highlight this fact from the sentence.

I am a relatively fresh instructor, one thing I remember from my IDC most vividly is to never push purge button on the regulator in somebody else's mouth. I did this during the pool training on my student fellow (simulated exercise) and the course director evaluated the situation with words "you just killed your student".

The reasoning is that pressing purge button forces the water inside the regulator to the mouth and possibly lungs of the student leading to coughing / drowning. The very same goes for the non responsive diver. With the airways open as you begin your ascent air wented from the lungs clears regulator placed in the mouth automatically.

So if the instructor in question did something wrong, replacing the regulator and not purging it was in my opinion the very right thing to do.

Thanks for your comments / clarifications on this.

• He then began a controlled ascent with the unconscious diver, repeatedly inserting the second stage into his mouth without purging it.

It goes on to say that there are some legal issues (defendant's lawyer attempted to call it a mistrial but failed), verdict was "instructor should have started a controlled ascent immediately when OW diver indicated he wished to ascend", sentence is what my no longer excellent german translates as a fine.

 

[caribean-ted]

I have to say that when you try to hold someone under water whether for their own good or not, they will panic even more. First off its hard to calm a person who is panicking, you need to address this as he apears to be struggling. calm him, first. They can possibly drown you if it gets bad enough. Other than that, its hard to know what they will do. For me the most important aspect is having fresh air to breath. Possibly when teaching they should know how to keep their eyes open under water without a mask and making sure they can.
I know when you panic, you forget everything you learned and go by instinct. Instinct should be taught as to purge and place. Let your buddy take over to get you to the surface.

Easier said than done but this should be taught repeatedly before diving in uncontrolled atmospheres.