Incident at Dutch Springs 21 May

[Garth]

Do we know if the father was trained Ina drysuit or had sufficient experience in one or were they both trial diving the drysuits?

 

[lakeeriediver]

All,
I was onsite during the rescue I administered the O2 the and monitored the AED. Most of what I read here seems accurate but I will tell you what I do know for a fact.
I was in the DUI tent with a volunteer and he actually noticed the buoy near the plane moving erratically. He radioed it in and went on the dock. In that time i was half out of suit so I went to get the AED and O2. By the time I got to where the diver was to be removed from the water ( which could not have been more than 5 five mins from the time the radio call was made until I was set up with 3 other people). When he arrived on sore he was in mask and dry suit, I think gear was in tow but I am not sure since I didn't touch it. We removed his mask, cut the dry suit, and started compressions. The drysuit was demo since it was marked on the sleeve. In my opinion and I am not an medical doctor but have medical experience there were no tell tale signs of barotrauma. No frothing during compressions or while respiration were performed with the bag. He was moved on the back board to the ambulance. When the ambulance came back to return the gear I was notified by the Dutch Springs employee that the boy did not survive. In addition to the equipment information and the details of the rescue attempt these are the bits that came up over the weeked.

I was dressing next to the instructor that certified him, I remember him saying it was a few years ago. He was obviously upset so I don't know how accurate that is.
Both divers were not with a instructor/guide. The process at the event was that once fitted with a drysuit your name was taken and you were assigned to someone to take you out. Once the dive was complete you were to check in, return your suit and go back through the line for your second dive. What appears to have happened here is that they did not return the suits and went went out without an instructor.

I didn't see any of his gear until it was handed to the police and even then I did not take a good look at it so i cannot comment on anything in that regard.

I also find the 30 mins underwater strange unless that occured before we saw his buddy surface for help.

It was a true tragedy and my thoughts and prayers go out to the family.

 

[Garth]

This is so sad. To bad they didn't follow an instructor.

Did I miss something or did the victim not have constant contact with his buddy? It seems as though it has been suggested that their was a little while between when the victim had distress and the distress was noticed?

 

[lakeeriediver]

Garth,

When help was called I only saw one diver on the surface. I was a fair distance away so I don't want to say for sure.

 

[beasleym]

Thanks and sympathies to those that were there and reported this situation. It's unfortunate but I hope we all learn from this - I reread the thread a couple of times and it's made an impact on me.

For one never let yourself be pushed or get into a situation where you aren't trained without preparing and adequately trained people around you. Secondly, there are times when I'm marginal on weighting so I'm going to change out my wings so that they're redundant; I've worried about it before and this case wasn't the cause but it caused me to review my configuration. And from now on if I see something not quite right, whether it's cattle herding divers into the water or new divers doing something wrong the I will say something. I don't know if it would have helped in this situation, but it isn't going to happen because I didn't say something.

Lastly, this thread may have been a little hijacked by the pony discussion but I think an important point was missed. What's important on selecting a pony is what depth can you make it safely up from. I know I can make it up from well over 100 feet on a 6 cuft. including a safety stop. When traveling that's usually good enough. In home waters 13 cuft is good enough. If you diving to different situation then select what you need accordingly. So how do I know what works? I practice so I know what I can do and be ready for the situation - that's the second important point.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

All,
I was onsite during the rescue I administered the O2 the and monitored the AED. Most of what I read here seems accurate but I will tell you what I do know for a fact.
I was in the DUI tent with a volunteer and he actually noticed the buoy near the plane moving erratically. He radioed it in and went on the dock. In that time i was half out of suit so I went to get the AED and O2. By the time I got to where the diver was to be removed from the water ( which could not have been more than 5 five mins from the time the radio call was made until I was set up with 3 other people). When he arrived on sore he was in mask and dry suit, I think gear was in tow but I am not sure since I didn't touch it. We removed his mask, cut the dry suit, and started compressions. The drysuit was demo since it was marked on the sleeve. In my opinion and I am not an medical doctor but have medical experience there were no tell tale signs of barotrauma. No frothing during compressions or while respiration were performed with the bag. He was moved on the back board to the ambulance. When the ambulance came back to return the gear I was notified by the Dutch Springs employee that the boy did not survive. In addition to the equipment information and the details of the rescue attempt these are the bits that came up over the weeked.

I was dressing next to the instructor that certified him, I remember him saying it was a few years ago. He was obviously upset so I don't know how accurate that is.
Both divers were not with a instructor/guide. The process at the event was that once fitted with a drysuit your name was taken and you were assigned to someone to take you out. Once the dive was complete you were to check in, return your suit and go back through the line for your second dive. What appears to have happened here is that they did not return the suits and went went out without an instructor.

I didn't see any of his gear until it was handed to the police and even then I did not take a good look at it so i cannot comment on anything in that regard.

I also find the 30 mins underwater strange unless that occured before we saw his buddy surface for help.

It was a true tragedy and my thoughts and prayers go out to the family.

Wonder if they got fresh tanks or snuck back in for a short second dive with the same tanks?

 

[tddfleming]

Wonder if they got fresh tanks or snuck back in for a short second dive with the same tanks?

This was the same thought that has ran though my mind. I just hope that it is not true.

 

[WB2GLP]

I'm not sure if anyone posted this, but here is a link to the diver's obituary where you may leave a message for the family. His name was Kyle Timothy Kulp.

I left a note for the family and when completing the form, in the name field, I put "SB Member WB2GLP." Perhaps others will, too.

I dive with my 13 y/o and I could never come back from something so tragic.

 

[openmindOW]

. . . The drysuit was demo since it was marked on the sleeve. In my opinion and I am not an medical doctor but have medical experience there were no tell tale signs of barotrauma. No frothing during compressions or while respiration were performed with the bag. . . .
I was dressing next to the instructor that certified him, I remember him saying it was a few years ago. He was obviously upset so I don't know how accurate that is.
Both divers were not with a instructor/guide.

Lakeeriediver, thank you for your contributions to this thread. Because you are one of the eye-wtinesses, your contributions here are particularly important.


So, it sounds like the victim was definitely doing a DUI Demo day event. Does anyone know if the young man was Drysuit trained?

It sounds like the victim's former Instructor was on site. Does anyone know the agency which issued the young man's OW card? Does sanyone know anything about the victim's training record?


An earlier post indicated that the victim 16 years-old. Is that accurate? If so, would it be safe to say that the victim received his OW card in the last 3 years?

 

[tddfleming]

Lakeeriediver, thank you for your contributions to this thread. Because you are one of the eye-wtinesses, your contributions here are particularly important.


So, it sounds like the victim was definitely doing a DUI Demo day event. Does anyone know if the young man was Drysuit trained?

It sounds like the victim's former Instructor was on site. Does anyone know the agency which issued the young man's OW card? Does sanyone know anything about the victim's training record?


An earlier post indicated that the victim 16 years-old. Is that accurate? If so, would it be safe to say that the victim received his OW card in the last 3 years?

I would say 16 is correct, as to is obit. I think there was one post that mentioned that he was cert. within the last 3 months.