Nanaimo Snake Island fatality

[DaleC]

Probably this:

"Sorry Mr buckingham. Sports divers should limit their dives to 90 ft. At that depth your air will last only a few minutes. The biting and spitting out your air is totally incorrect . The first stage of your regulator breaks the air to 90 psi. and the second stage reduces it to ambient pressure. There is a real danger of holding your breath on ascending.
The same number of molecules are in your tank at surface as at 90 feet. Because of pressure, those bubbles are crammed together. You should never ascend faster than your smallest bubbles. As you arise, the bubbles increase in size and this is what is the killer.
An example : a balloon full at surface, will still have the same number of molecules at 30 feet, but will only take up half the volume, at 60 ft, 1/3 the volume. A lung filled with air at 90 ft and breath held will be 3/1 volume, there is the danger."

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Probably this:

"Sorry Mr buckingham. Sports divers should limit their dives to 90 ft. At that depth your air will last only a few minutes. The biting and spitting out your air is totally incorrect . The first stage of your regulator breaks the air to 90 psi. and the second stage reduces it to ambient pressure. There is a real danger of holding your breath on ascending.
The same number of molecules are in your tank at surface as at 90 feet. Because of pressure, those bubbles are crammed together. You should never ascend faster than your smallest bubbles. As you arise, the bubbles increase in size and this is what is the killer.
An example : a balloon full at surface, will still have the same number of molecules at 30 feet, but will only take up half the volume, at 60 ft, 1/3 the volume. A lung filled with air at 90 ft and breath held will be 3/1 volume, there is the danger."

,, sounds like someone who went through his OW class without understanding a single thing he was told ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[wedivebc]

,, sounds like someone who went through his OW class without understanding a single thing he was told ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Sadly that may have been exactly what he was told

 

[nwbrewer]

Probably this:

"Sorry Mr buckingham. Sports divers should limit their dives to 90 ft. At that depth your air will last only a few minutes. The biting and spitting out your air is totally incorrect . The first stage of your regulator breaks the air to 90 psi. and the second stage reduces it to ambient pressure. There is a real danger of holding your breath on ascending.
The same number of molecules are in your tank at surface as at 90 feet. Because of pressure, those bubbles are crammed together. You should never ascend faster than your smallest bubbles. As you arise, the bubbles increase in size and this is what is the killer.
An example : a balloon full at surface, will still have the same number of molecules at 30 feet, but will only take up half the volume, at 60 ft, 1/3 the volume. A lung filled with air at 90 ft and breath held will be 3/1 volume, there is the danger."

Yeah, that. It's scary what some people come away from their OW classes with.

 

[DCBC]

Yeah, that. It's scary what some people come away from their OW classes with.

Yes, perhaps the "Standards" should be revisited...

 

[infieldg]

Old thread I know sorry, but I'm probably not the only one learning from past accidents so I'll pop the the Coroner's findings onto the end - passing out at 60m with PPO2 under 1.5 is a bit of a wakeup for me ;

Diving deaths ruled accidental by coroner - Nanaimo News Bulletin
The B.C. Coroners Office released the finding of its investigation into a diving accident near Snake Island that claimed the lives of two men from Washington State.

The incident happened Oct. 11, 2013, when three men made a deep dive next to the island.

Twelve minutes into the dive, Harold John Burkholder, 38, of Kent, Wash., lost consciousness at a depth of 60 metres and continued to descend.

His diving partner Robert Scott Young, 60, of Olympia, Wash., descended to a depth of about 78 metres to try and help Burkholder, but was unable to revive him and made a rapid, uncontrolled ascent.

Young suffered acute congestive heart failure due to “extensive gas embolism to heart, brain and arteriovenous system,” B.C. Coroner Larry Crawford wrote in his report, which was released Friday.

Burkholder, whose body was recovered two days after the accident, became unconscious due to oxygen toxicity and nitrogen narcosis, which caused “vomiting and tracheobronchial aspiration of gastric contents.”

 

[diverkim]

Tough call putting oneself in danger to rescue a buddy. Sadly both perished.

 

[wedivebc]

Old thread I know sorry, but I'm probably not the only one learning from past accidents so I'll pop the the Coroner's findings onto the end - passing out at 60m with PPO2 under 1.5 is a bit of a wakeup for me ;

Diving deaths ruled accidental by coroner - Nanaimo News Bulletin
The B.C. Coroners Office released the finding of its investigation into a diving accident near Snake Island that claimed the lives of two men from Washington State.

The incident happened Oct. 11, 2013, when three men made a deep dive next to the island.

Twelve minutes into the dive, Harold John Burkholder, 38, of Kent, Wash., lost consciousness at a depth of 60 metres and continued to descend.

His diving partner Robert Scott Young, 60, of Olympia, Wash., descended to a depth of about 78 metres to try and help Burkholder, but was unable to revive him and made a rapid, uncontrolled ascent.

Young suffered acute congestive heart failure due to “extensive gas embolism to heart, brain and arteriovenous system,” B.C. Coroner Larry Crawford wrote in his report, which was released Friday.

Burkholder, whose body was recovered two days after the accident, became unconscious due to oxygen toxicity and nitrogen narcosis, which caused “vomiting and tracheobronchial aspiration of gastric contents.”

I am not sure how the coroner came up with that conclusion about narcosis or oxygen toxicity. Both those are near impossible to determine in a dead body. A witness may offer some observations that would lead to that belief but coroners don't say things they can't prove. So heart failure and drowning are usually the result but the triggering event usually goes unreported. (other than on here)

 

[FinnMom]

I have seen almost the exact same words "vomiting and tracheobronchial aspiration of gastric contents" cited as the proof of death by drowning. Why the victim drown and whether he was concious would have to be conjecture.

I noticed that the bit about oxygen toxicity and nitrogen narcosis was not in quotes. It seems to be the reporter's word's not the coroner's. The coronor's actual wording may have been much more clear about what is fact and what is supposition. It is even possible that the part stating "became unconscious due to oxygen toxicity and nitrogen narcosis" is background information the reporter is supplying the reader and the writer never intended to imply that such words were written in the coronor's report.