Sorry for the confusion. Info is first hand experience. Helped load on ambulance. Helped collect gear. Looked at diving guage before handing off to officer collecting gear, spoke to, listened to and assisted in calming dive buddy etc. Hope this clears up citation.
Incident at Dutch Springs 21 May
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Sorry for the confusion. Info is first hand experience. Helped load on ambulance. Helped collect gear. Looked at diving guage before handing off to officer collecting gear, spoke to, listened to and assisted in calming dive buddy etc. Hope this clears up citation.
bleeb
Contributor
Thank you.
So, let me clarify if I may.
You personally looked at the gauge and it read zero. Correct?
What else do you remember about the gear? single tank? Aluminum? Standard recreational gear?
The victim was in a drysuit, correct?
The buddy was the victim's Step father, correct? You spoke with the buddy, correct?
The victim was recently certified, correct? Did the buddy provide ;you with this information?
Correct "O" psi on guage, Single tank 80cuf, attached to back inflation BC (looked brand new or not much wear. Didn't see rental tags on it), Titan Reg with octo. (again looked new, no rental tags noticed, minimal scuffing), Victim in demo dry suit (mauve stripe) with undergarments that were not wicked, Weights were dropped by rescuers, Dive buddy was step-father, victim certified about three months as per the dad, unknown cert on step-dad or i just cant remember what he said. He was in much distress and talking rapidly.
A dive accident impacts everyone around particularly when the diver is so young. Several young divers that were present at this weekends event have been following this thread and I would like them to learn what they can and emphasize safety. Several have dives planned this weekend and some are naturally thinking about maybe quiting diving. They have to each make their own choice, as in classes they are made aware of risks, but for most this is the first time they saw a person being loaded in an ambulance and then finding out the tragic result. Would like to continue to focus on accident analysis and possible future preventative approaches.
BettyRubble
Contributor
While this is a horrible way to learn the lesson, nevertheless, if it makes everyone who hears of it self-evaluate the extent of their current training, whether they dive beyond their training and experience, and whether they are continually working to improve their own skills (weighting, buoyancy, rescue training, OOA, buddy sharing etc) then at least something can be gained from this tragedy.
As is the case with many tragedies, it wasn't one error that caused the death....it appears to be a serious of poor decisions. So train to eliminate as many of these possibilities as possible and know how to handle what you couldn't eliminate.
And above all, remain calm in emergency situations. Panic is your enemy. If you remain calm, you are more likely to stay clear headed and think through how to solve the problem or get to the surface in a safer manner.
All of this has been said before, and will be said again. That is the heartbreaking part.
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TD, I in no way was pointing a finger at DUI if that is what you may possibly think that I meant or was implying. Not the case, as you see, I am more inquisitive than anything and only made assumptions. Thank you for your clarification. It appears as though my last sentence that you quoted unfortunately may have applied.
Although we appear to have a tremendous amount of information on this, the whole story has not been told and we are still awaiting it to be told so that we can learn from it. I think there is enough to have some relatively accurate speculation but of course it is still speculation. I know that the DAN representative was right there at the water's edge and hopefully they will have a full report on this unfortunate incident.
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The DUI drysuit demo days I've participated in were great but divers do need to expect a lot of do it yourself training. I don't know what they charge now but I doubt it comes close to covering costs. I am sure it could be a better experience if the fee was doubled but it's still a very worthy and safe experience. Ask your LDS what they would charge for a one day drysuit class with no intention of purchasing?
This sad loss sounds much more clearly to be a failure to follow training: close buddy protocols, monitoring air with prudent ascent, orally inflating BC, ditching weights - an all too common combination we see frequently on death threads. One of the reasons I would not carry a camera for the first hundred dives is that I wanted to carry my console in my hand rather than have it on a retractor so I could easily check my gas often and was reminded to do so.
I see that most of the people reading this thread are guests and I read that a number of new divers are following it. I do hope that they can accept the needs to emphasis those important actions, again: close buddy protocols, monitoring air with prudent ascent, orally inflating BC, ditching weights.
This sad loss sounds much more clearly to be a failure to follow training: close buddy protocols, monitoring air with prudent ascent, orally inflating BC, ditching weights - an all too common combination we see frequently on death threads. One of the reasons I would not carry a camera for the first hundred dives is that I wanted to carry my console in my hand rather than have it on a retractor so I could easily check my gas often and was reminded to do so.
I see that most of the people reading this thread are guests and I read that a number of new divers are following it. I do hope that they can accept the needs to emphasis those important actions, again: close buddy protocols, monitoring air with prudent ascent, orally inflating BC, ditching weights.
tddfleming
Contributor
Jar:
Not at all, I was just trying to tell you how these days go from my own experience. I also wanted to make it very clear that it was not DUI who made my day stressful. They saw the stress building in me from being rushed by the LDS and tried to talk me back from the ledge. They joked with me, they did what they could to try and make me see that I should not be rushed. My daughter and I were with them so long that "Pops" (don't know his real name), recognized us even months after that one day. Like you, I tend to ask a lot of questions, so I was never pointing a finger at you. Sorry if I came off that way. I had promised DUI I would try again this year, however, from my experience from last year, I will have a DUI rep. take me out. If this kids day went anything like mine for a demo day, I could see how things could get out of hand fast. Just a lot of stress and running around before diving. The 2 guys from DUI were great and funny themselves, Pops and Michael, I think their names were, could be wrong. Pops is not his name but he has white hair
Not at all, I was just trying to tell you how these days go from my own experience. I also wanted to make it very clear that it was not DUI who made my day stressful. They saw the stress building in me from being rushed by the LDS and tried to talk me back from the ledge. They joked with me, they did what they could to try and make me see that I should not be rushed. My daughter and I were with them so long that "Pops" (don't know his real name), recognized us even months after that one day. Like you, I tend to ask a lot of questions, so I was never pointing a finger at you. Sorry if I came off that way. I had promised DUI I would try again this year, however, from my experience from last year, I will have a DUI rep. take me out. If this kids day went anything like mine for a demo day, I could see how things could get out of hand fast. Just a lot of stress and running around before diving. The 2 guys from DUI were great and funny themselves, Pops and Michael, I think their names were, could be wrong. Pops is not his name but he has white hair
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