Lake Rawlings, Virginia incident 11-05

[VaPadiDiver]

Hope it all turns out well. According to the instuctor involved (which was also the rescuer) as of Monday afternoon the girl was still in the hospital.

Again, not to speculate or add to the rummor mill but I have known the the instructor involved since he started teaching many years ago. Infact, I was his first AOW student. If it had been any other instuctor or dive buddy out there with this girl when it happened she may not have made it. If ever I run into problems he would be my pick any day of the week for diver most qualified to help.

 

[adurso]

Alright people, listen up...

THE STAFF WAS PREPARED! One of the DAN kits was provided by Rawlings. It was one of the Rawlings employees (not the victim) that called for the backboard. And I'm pretty sure it was one of the Rawlings employees who made the initial determination to call an ambulance.

As for the ambulance taking so long... well frankly I think it was luck it only took 30 minutes! Lake Rawlings is in Brunswick (or Dinwiddie, can't remember) county and in case the cow pasture next to the Nottoway Hotel didn't tip you off, that means it's in a rural area. Furthermore, there is a sign at Rawlings with the number for the Sheriff and FD on it because there is no 911 service in that area. Once you leave northern VA or the tidewater VA is a very rural state.

Rawlings has become a much more professional op in the last year or so, Errol is putting a lot of work into the place...As an aside I wish I had known of other SB members there that day...I would have liked to meet you all, I was there with my daughter for the Chesapeake Bay Diving Pumpkin carving contest with my daughter, I was the grey haired guy with the 12 year old in tow....

 

[gangrel441]

Real emergencies happen often at popular training sites, too. Treat every call for help as it's real, until proven otherwise. Three of us once ascended from the 80 ft bottom of Santa Rosa NM's Blue Hole, became separated in a crowd in the shallows, and then - I could only find one of my buddies on the surface. I pleaded for help in finding the missing one ASAP, but no one reacted, and I returned to the bottom alone on my pony air. Even my other buddy who was low on air didn't try to send help or anything. Found the lost diver at the car later, as he'd simply surfaced quickly and left the hole. He was so embarrassed that he skipped the rest of the diving and drove 200 miles home, and I still haven't spoken with him. I still dive with the other, but we have new, stronger protocols.

Ok...so let me get this straight...you surfaced from an 80 ft dive. You couldn't find your buddy. You didn't get a response from anyone when you asked if he had been seen. So you decided to return to 80 ft on your pony and solo to try to find him???

So much for that rule about "avoid becomming the second victim".....

 

[jdh]

Ok...so let me get this straight...you surfaced from an 80 ft dive. You couldn't find your buddy. You didn't get a response from anyone when you asked if he had been seen. So you decided to return to 80 ft on your pony and solo to try to find him???

So much for that rule about "avoid becomming the second victim".....

http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=799668&postcount=1

 

[gangrel441]

http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=799668&postcount=1

Yep. Quite familiar with that one. The part that amuses me, however, is this...

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=115600&page=37&highlight=casemanager

Scroll down to post #364.

Some people never learn, even after they say they have learned.

 

[DandyDon]

I suppose that typing sarcastic remarks is easier and faster than offering good suggestions.

It was a decision I made on the spur of the moment - that I did not like or feel comfortable with at the time, and felt very bad about afterwards. I had 3,000# in the pony, and 700# in my back air, so I went to the pony as main dive air, back gas as bailout supply, but I still didn't like it.

But if ridicule is all you want to offer - perhaps I should stick to greeting Introductions and discuss scuba somewhere else.

Except, if I cannot discuss scuba - even mistakes, politely, why would I want to welcome people.

Jdh, your profile says your training is "PADI RESORT DIVER." Do you feel you are qualified to post here? Gngrel, I suppose you've learned so much in your first few dozen dives as to feel superior with your remarks?

Oh well...

 

[jdh]

Jdh, your profile says your training is "PADI RESORT DIVER." Do you feel you are qualified to post here?

What would you suggest is the minimum required training to post a link here?

John

 

[lord1234]

don....it just seems that you make mistake after mistake. You are a dangerous diver. You really should reevaluate your diving style. I don't care if I have less dives than you. If I had a choice between diving with you, or not diving...I think I would skip the dive. As a greeter/long time poster...maybe you should consider talking about good diving practices instead of your bad ones.

 

[gangrel441]

I suppose that typing sarcastic remarks is easier and faster than offering good suggestions.

It was a decision I made on the spur of the moment - that I did not like or feel comfortable with at the time, and felt very bad about afterwards. I had 3,000# in the pony, and 700# in my back air, so I went to the pony as main dive air, back gas as bailout supply, but I still didn't like it.

But if ridicule is all you want to offer - perhaps I should stick to greeting Introductions and discuss scuba somewhere else.

Except, if I cannot discuss scuba - even mistakes, politely, why would I want to welcome people.

Jdh, your profile says your training is "PADI RESORT DIVER." Do you feel you are qualified to post here? Gngrel, I suppose you've learned so much in your first few dozen dives as to feel superior with your remarks?

Oh well...

Don, you're missing the point. An immediate repetative to 80 ft without surface interval is actually a continuation of a previous 80 ft dive. 700 lbs in back gas is essentially dry, I wouldn't want to rely on that to make a safe asceht from 80 ft. A pony has no redundancy within itself, it is a redundant source. Therefore, you dove what likely could have been a deco dive, solo, under duress, with no redundancy. Check your rescue manual (if you've taken the class), but that scenereo is screaming for the opportunity to make you the second (or ultimately in this case, first) victim, thus dividing resources of remaining rescuers, if any are even aware of you being down there.

If you don't want to see the lesson in this, that's your call. I say you are lucky to have walked away alive. Again.

 

[DandyDon]

Thanks L1234 - I don't object to a somewhat less experienced trained diver offering constructive comments. I objected to the cheap shot sarcasm - some of it from a non-trained diver.

Don, you're missing the point. An immediate repetative to 80 ft without surface interval is actually a continuation of a previous 80 ft dive. 700 lbs in back gas is essentially dry, I wouldn't want to rely on that to make a safe asceht from 80 ft. A pony has no redundancy within itself, it is a redundant source. Therefore, you dove what likely could have been a deco dive, solo, under duress, with no redundancy. Check your rescue manual (if you've taken the class), but that scenereo is screaming for the opportunity to make you the second (or ultimately in this case, first) victim, thus dividing resources of remaining rescuers, if any are even aware of you being down there.

It wasn't a miss - I just don't put a lot of work into trying to decipher cheap shot sarcasm.

Yep, it was a continuation of the dive when I descended again - realized that at the time and did so only after checking my computer which was quite happy - well within the green. For the record, 700# in an 80 cf tank should be plenty for a diver to make a somewhat safe ascent from 80 ft, in addition to the 3000# 19 cf I used for the bounce - so yes, I did have backup gas to ascend if the other source failed. I did learn from last year's thread, tho - had the pony gauge in one hand for the entire time I used it. Not defending the action, but clarifying that I did have the equivalent of 1450# for the extension of the dive.

Again, it was a spur of the moment reaction to search for a missing buddy - with 1450#, a happy computer, dive light in one hand and spg in the other, ending with a safety stop. I did not feel good about it at the time, less so afterwards.

But thank you for taking the time and trouble to type an organized comment rather than simple insults. Should you like to take the time and trouble to offer constructive suggestions on how you would have handled the search, that would be appreciated.

Tell you what, I'll add some information and open a "What would you have done" thread on Near Misses later, and a link here.