June 29 Diver Death at Casino Point in Catalina

[Scot M]

Frankly it was a bit surreal how people just started diving again after they took him away, no one said anything . I personally could not continue for so many reasons.

Hi Reggie. I certainly understand how surreal it would seem if you looked at the several hundred people as a whole. It looked a little different if you looked at individuals and small groups, especially those involved. People took time alone, or with a few friends, to work through what happened. In some cases, that process continued throughout the day, and probably longer. My class spent about an hour talking about what had happened and and its impact on us before deciding to prepare for our next dive.

Also, remember that people on the 8:30 ferry would have arrived shortly after the official vehicles left. Those people were probably unaware that anything was out of the ordinary, and would have acted accordingly.

If you are still feeling freaked out, you might consider talking to someone about it - maybe a family member or friend, or maybe a spiritual advisor or counselor. Death isn't something that we commonly confront first-hand in this day and age so, when it happens, we can find it emotionally difficult. If you want to talk to someone who was there on Sunday, several of us have posted and I'm sure most would be open to a private message.

 

[radiocraig]

so sad...what is going on with so-cal diving that it seems that there are more deaths than normal?

 

[MalibuDiverBrett]

Our Dive Team were there on Sunday and were involved in a very small way. As for our group, we discussed the situation as a group and then talked to each diver individually and found all were still prepared to dive. I was happy that they were although one of our students did choose to opt out of a Rescue trsining scenario we had planned for earlier for later in the day. I do want to commend the fantastic work done by the Hollywood Divers crew that were so diligent in their response to the diver in need as well as acting as a counselor to one of the people associated to the diver. They were tremendously professional and were an inspiration.

 

[Ken Kurtis]

what is going on with so-cal diving that it seems that there are more deaths than normal?

Not true actually. There are so few that when there IS one, it grabs your attention. And there's certainly no denying that with a fatality occuring at the same place almost exactly one month ago, it makes it seem like there's a rash of accidents.

The statistics presented by L.A. County Coroner John Kades during our "Why Divers Die" panel at the Scuba Show showed 53 scuba fatalities over the last ten years. (At least I think that was the time frame.) That's an average of 5 per year.

And don't lose sight of the fact that with numbers this small, a few more or a few less skews the numbers tremendously. If we have 3 one year and 7 the next year, does that mean divers are being twice as careful one year and half as careful the next? No. It simply shows the problems of drawing statistical conclusions based on small sample sizes.

What we do see from the longer-term trends is that about 40% of the fatalties are medically-related, freuqently with some undiagnosed underlying problem, which is often cardiac-related. And there are numerous instances of smart divers making bad choices that cost them their lives.

What is a bit distressing is that we are this year seeing a radical increase in the number of people being taken to our Chamber for treatments (bends, embolism). It's about double what it normally is. In fact on Sunday they dealt not only with the morning fatality but did another treatment (the second diver is fine and was released) in the afternoon. And that's on top of a treatment they had done earlier in the week on a diver who was in full arrest (brought back by the boat crew and sucessfully treated in the Chamber).

Is this all due to more divers, shorter courses, lack of training, infrequent diving, lackadaisical attitude . . . ????? There's no definitive answer and there certainly are a multitude of opinions.

What we can tell you is that YOU are ultimately responsnbile for your safety in the water. There's no sin in bailing on a dive is you're not feeling up to snuff. I have taught my students for years: You never get hurt on a dive you don't make.

Dive smart. Make good choices. Evaluate the risk/reward. Be aware of your mental AND physical condition. Go get a medical checkup every year or so. Dive within your limits. Train continuously, even if it's just informal practice you do on your own. And be prepared for things to go wrong. ("Ready-to-respond" is the instructor's mantra). Do all of that and you probably significantly decrease your chances of becoming a diving statistic.

 

[MalibuDiverBrett]

Ken

That was perfect.

Sometimes, we have to help our friends, family, and students to make a good decision not to dive. The fact is, staying within our physical and training limits should be a mantra for all of us. Our physical condition can often be a limiting factor when we dive. That is the one thing I see often on boats or at Casino Point is people in questionable cardiovascular shape or dealing with issues of morbid obesity and not realizing these factors are now limiting what was once a more vibrant dive life.

BB

 

[drbill]

Ken, I assume that was 53 fatalities in the dive park over the 10 year period? Just wanted to make sure I was clear on the stat.

Like many, I prefer not to view deaths due to underlying cardiac or other problems to be "SCUBA deaths" unless there is a clear link between the SCUBA diving itself and the cause of death. I'm not sure that is clear. If someone died of a heart attack while walking around the block, I wouldn't consider that a "walking death." Keep in mind I'm not a medical doctor. I'm only trained to operate on kelp, invertebrates and fish.

Hmmm... MalibuDiverBrett? Strange to see you here! Just teasing ya.

 

[MalibuDiverBrett]

Hi Bill,

Maybe I should change my NIC now huh?

 

[Ken Kurtis]

Ken, I assume that was 53 fatalities in the dive park over the 10 year period? Just wanted to make sure I was clear on the stat.

No, that's not correct.

That's 53 scuba fatalities in all of Los Angeles COUNTY over the last 10 years. I don't remember the exact number from the Park in that time but I think it was less than 10.

I will see Lt. John Kades tonight at the Coroner's Office and I'll see if I can get the numbers from him and share with you tomorrow. (I'll likely make it a separate thread.)

 

[Teamcasa]

I think the other issue that causes us as divers to focus on accidents or deaths is that the Scuba community is rather small. The active local divers visit the Casino Dive park with some measure of regularity. The Casino Dive Park is also a terrific site for instructors with their students and the vacation divers doing their first cold water/kelp dives. Add to that the infrequent diver doing their own tune-up dives early in the season knowing they are going on the extended dive vacation soon. This all adds up to be a magnet for dive related issues in one small site.

Given all that fatalities are still rare and the Island Paramedics, Rescue and Chamber crews do an amazing service to our community of divers.

 

[drbill]

Thanks, Ken, for the clarification. I'll look for your Casino Point stats when you post them. 10 seems awfully low over a 10 year period. Of course it is a much nicer figure for us to use in assuring people about the relative safety of the park.