Lessons to be learned-Death in Palau

[landlocked]

detroit diver once bubbled...
My take on this, and it is only my speculation, is that she hooked into the reef with all of her equipment in place. My guess is that she next lost her fin and turned to look for it. Doing so ripped off her mask in the flow. Then the panic set in. And she couldn't release herself.

The chain of events led to her death. One single part of that chain is pretty meaningless and for most people relatively benign.
But put together, these seemingly small problems turn out to be insurmountable.

The devil is in the details.

I second this speculation. A chain of small rather insignificant events in themseves, adding to stress beyond that which the diver was capable of dealing with? Unless, of course, it was the bump on the head? Maybe it was the bump that knocked of the mask and she dropped her weights as she was losing consciousness? I mean, how would a conscious diver drown with a working reg in their mouth? Or, maybe.... I'm so confussed!

 

[DeepSeaDan]

Dear Sea Angel,

I have joined this thread late but not too late I hope to commend you on your efforts in leading the resuscitation of this unfortuneate diver. As a Firefighter/paramedic I could follow your story with understanding, empathy & the surety you did all that was humanly possible.

This woeful tale underscores the sad reality that incidents occurring u/w can be very unforgiving. There is precious little time to respond & intervene before anoxia erodes vital capacities to the point of no return.

Indeed, in diving, the age old axiom "prevention is worth a pound of cure" should be forged in the minds of every newly minted diver heading out to sea. This tale & others like it should be compulsory study for basic students; not to create fear, but to reinforce the sober reality that diving is inherently a risk- taking proposition, and cannot be approached with casualty, bravado, disrespect or underestimation.

Again, my sincerest appreciation for your heroic efforts.

Regards,
D.S.D.

 

[detroit diver]

DSD-

FYI, Sea Angel was not the nurse in this incident. That person (the nurse) is not a member of this board.

On her behalf, thanks for the kind words. I have cut and pasted your post and emailed it to her.

Jack

DeepSeaDan once bubbled...
Dear Sea Angel,

I have joined this thread late but not too late I hope to commend you on your efforts in leading the resuscitation of this unfortuneate diver. As a Firefighter/paramedic I could follow your story with understanding, empathy & the surety you did all that was humanly possible.

This woeful tale underscores the sad reality that incidents occurring u/w can be very unforgiving. There is precious little time to respond & intervene before anoxia erodes vital capacities to the point of no return.

Indeed, in diving, the age old axiom "prevention is worth a pound of cure" should be forged in the minds of every newly minted diver heading out to sea. This tale & others like it should be compulsory study for basic students; not to create fear, but to reinforce the sober reality that diving is inherently a risk- taking proposition, and cannot be approached with casualty, bravado, disrespect or underestimation.

Again, my sincerest appreciation for your heroic efforts.

Regards,
D.S.D.

 

[jimini]

Hello everyone,

This is my first posting so please forgive my newbie blunders. I was steered to this website from a posting I made on rec.scube.locations inquiring about a conversation I had overheard while I was at the Palau Pacific Resort. I dived Peleliu Corner (aka Peleliu Cut) on April 3 with the Palau Aggressor II. On that day, of the 10 guests and 2 DMs that went into the water, only 1 DM and 5 guests were able to hook onto the reef. The current was guestimated between 4-5 knots (I have no idea how anyone is able to accurately determine how fast underwater current is without having a measuring device). After reading this thread's original post, I suppose I should count myself as lucky. At the time I thought it was the most thrilling dive of my life and I wanted to do it again as soon as I had surfaced. It was totally different from any dive I had ever done (Caribbean, Fiji, Hawaii, Mexico). The closest in feeling would be the Kamikaze Cut in NE Tobago.

The dive briefing said we were to drop into the water and go down to the bottom of the mooring line as soon as possible because the surface current would have taken a diver away too quickly. Once we gathered beneath we would travel against the current, with the reef on our left, until we passed the cut in the reef and then allow the current to take us over the wall where we were to hook on. The briefing also mentioned that if the DM felt the group was having problems kicking against the current he would lead us deeper and/or farther out into the blue before we reached the cut. We were also to watch the DM for an indication of when to get our reef hooks ready. As it turns out, not everyone is was able to kick against the current and many were taken by the current up over the wall before we reached the cut. The current tends to push you into and up over the wall. I got to 108' before I decided to go up to the plateau. The plateau is at about 50' and once hooked and inflated, I was at 55-56' (according to my computer). This was also the shorted dive of the entire trip at 32 min.

I only wear a bathing suit and a t-shirt to dive and didn't even get a scratch during the dive. Also, I only hooked to dead coral (at least it looked dead). I can't say everyone in our group were so lucky. Upon reflecting on what happened that morning and listening to the experiences of the other divers in the group, the two pieces of advice I have for anyone wanting to do this dive is 1) listen to the dive briefing and commit it to memory then always keep the DM in sight while underwater
2) learn to drift backwards with your fins above your head and watch what is coming by looking downward and backward toward the reef.

Having read all the replies to the original posting, it occurs to me that many divers consider diving a recreational "hobby". If this is true, why is it that some life insurance companies won't insure you if you scuba dive? All divers should keep in mind that diving can kill you and if you aren't ready to die, you shouldn't be scuba diving. This applies to any diving situation.

The Aggressor staff took us to 2 other sites (including Blue Corner) on previous days for us to practise hooking before we did the Peleliu dive. At no time did I feel I could have been in trouble. I do not consider myself an expert diver by any means (190 dives over 10 years) but I am distressed to see so many divers who are overweighted and doing the dog paddle under water. Also, I think divers with camers (still or video) probably do more damage to live reef (by hanging on to get that perfect shot) than do people hooking onto rocky plateaus. The reef hook was invented by an underwater photographer.

I feel sorry for the woman who didn't make it that day but those are the risks of scuba and no one should forget that. Cudos to Sea Angel, there should be more people like her.

Jo

 

[diveski01]

Genesis once bubbled...
FOUR KNOTS?!

Did I read that right?

How many of you have been anywhere near four knots of current? Ever tried to hang onto a line against 4 knots of current?

We did a 4 knot drift dive in Cozumel - Cedar Pass. DM thought it was possibly 3 knots but boat captain confirmed 4. Granted we drifted WITH that current in 25ft or so in excellent viz and it was a really fun dive. Definitely gave up on u/w photos that dive! My dive buddy tried to turn to look at something and was flipped end over end. Luckily she thought it was a riot - I would have likely reacted differently.

 

[WJL]

jimini once bubbled...


All divers should keep in mind that diving can kill you and if you aren't ready to die, you shouldn't be scuba diving. This applies to any diving situation.

I feel sorry for the woman who didn't make it that day but those are the risks of scuba and no one should forget that.

Jo

I can't accept this attitude. Yes, you can die diving. Isn't it better to minimize the risk instead of increasing it with this "reef hooking" business?

From your description, the dive sounds like a horror story - people getting swept away in the current, everyone apparently diving on their own, bouncing up and down 50 feet at a time, trying to hook onto a (maybe) dead coral formation. I bet it was a thrill. I suspect it is thrilling to go skydiving with a torn parachute, or to go rock climbing with 50 lb test lines, but I wouldn't do it.

 

[detroit diver]

jimini once bubbled...
......

Having read all the replies to the original posting, it occurs to me that many divers consider diving a recreational "hobby". If this is true, why is it that some life insurance companies won't insure you if you scuba dive? All divers should keep in mind that diving can kill you and if you aren't ready to die, you shouldn't be scuba diving. This applies to any diving situation.
.......Jo

Diving is indeed a risky hobby, but I certainly am not prepared to die for it. I manage my risks thru skills and training. Is it foolproof? Of course not. But I've changed the odds greatly.

And there are life insurance companies that do insure divers. Frankly, I don't blame many of them for not offering insurance to divers. They probably have looked at the quality of instruction and decided that the risk is not worth it.

 

[MikeFerrara]

jimini once bubbled...
Hello everyone,

This is my first posting so please forgive my newbie blunders. I was steered to this website from a posting I made on rec.scube.locations inquiring about a conversation I had overheard while I was at the Palau Pacific Resort. I dived Peleliu Corner (aka Peleliu Cut) on April 3 with the Palau Aggressor II. On that day, of the 10 guests and 2 DMs that went into the water, only 1 DM and 5 guests were able to hook onto the reef. The current was guestimated between 4-5 knots (I have no idea how anyone is able to accurately determine how fast underwater current is without having a measuring device). After reading this thread's original post, I suppose I should count myself as lucky. At the time I thought it was the most thrilling dive of my life and I wanted to do it again as soon as I had surfaced. It was totally different from any dive I had ever done (Caribbean, Fiji, Hawaii, Mexico). The closest in feeling would be the Kamikaze Cut in NE Tobago.

The dive briefing said we were to drop into the water and go down to the bottom of the mooring line as soon as possible because the surface current would have taken a diver away too quickly. Once we gathered beneath we would travel against the current, with the reef on our left, until we passed the cut in the reef and then allow the current to take us over the wall where we were to hook on. The briefing also mentioned that if the DM felt the group was having problems kicking against the current he would lead us deeper and/or farther out into the blue before we reached the cut. We were also to watch the DM for an indication of when to get our reef hooks ready. As it turns out, not everyone is was able to kick against the current and many were taken by the current up over the wall before we reached the cut. The current tends to push you into and up over the wall. I got to 108' before I decided to go up to the plateau. The plateau is at about 50' and once hooked and inflated, I was at 55-56' (according to my computer). This was also the shorted dive of the entire trip at 32 min.

I only wear a bathing suit and a t-shirt to dive and didn't even get a scratch during the dive. Also, I only hooked to dead coral (at least it looked dead). I can't say everyone in our group were so lucky. Upon reflecting on what happened that morning and listening to the experiences of the other divers in the group, the two pieces of advice I have for anyone wanting to do this dive is 1) listen to the dive briefing and commit it to memory then always keep the DM in sight while underwater
2) learn to drift backwards with your fins above your head and watch what is coming by looking downward and backward toward the reef.

Having read all the replies to the original posting, it occurs to me that many divers consider diving a recreational "hobby". If this is true, why is it that some life insurance companies won't insure you if you scuba dive? All divers should keep in mind that diving can kill you and if you aren't ready to die, you shouldn't be scuba diving. This applies to any diving situation.

.

Jo

Hi Jo,

Though one never know how they will meet their end I have no intention of failing to return from a dive. Diving cannot kill you but your own mistakes can.

The dive you describe sounds like a dangerous mess. I base my statement on the fact that only half of the divers were able to do the dive as planned. To me that indicates that the plan was way inappropriate for the divers. Apparantly it was too much for the DM's also. When you have that little control it is indeed a crap shoot. I guess that's why I stay away from those rec resorts and boats. I guess they will do anything for money. The dirty shame of it is that divers who don't know anybetter trust them. Of course it's also a shame that the divers don't know better.

How many of the divers managed to stay with the buddy they started the dive with?

 

[detroit diver]

Buddy? Buddy?

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!

That's a good one, Mike!

 

[diveski01]

O-ring once bubbled...

... but if we can make enough noise that even one person remembers this and calls a questionable dive in the future we have done a good thing, IMHO.

Finally, someone has gotten what is most likely the main reason for the initial post for this thread!

I can state with reasonable certainity that the person who authored the account of the tragedy was NOT wanting the general diving public's opinions or debates on the event. I can state from my own experience that a witness to such a tragedy doesn't give a rats A@# about anyone else's take on the event. You weren't there.

It's about sharing the details of a tragic event in the hopes that lessons can be learned such that diver's start using their BRAINS when they dive and hopefully prevent a similar tragedy from happening again.

People need to learn when to call a dive they are not ready to do (preferrably at the dock) or when to abort a dive they can no longer handle for any reason. If any dive buddy gives negative feedback for someone calling a dive then you need to leave them at the dock!