NC: Scuba diver dies after rescue

[Jax]

You know, the little bit we know about the story reminds me of Denton Byers' death. That was also a situation where nothing should have been problematic, but a diver hanging onto the anchor line ended up dying, and the death was apparently due to embolization. I wonder if the boat in this case was riding up and down a great deal? Hanging onto the anchor line may be riskier than we realize.

Okay, now I'm uncomfortable.

Coming up from the Vandenberg, nearing the surface, the swells were putting us through a 10' swing at our 15' safety stop. Because of my (assumed) history with sub-clinical DCS symptoms, I made sure my ascent included a mid-stop and pause-and-slide stops (gasp!). At the 15' safety stop, however, my ascent alarm was complaining as we were being flung up and down a good + & - five feet.

Q: Would it be a successful mitigation to hook up my jon line, so I can maintain a more stable platform in the water column?

 

[Scott L]

Utilizing a jon line in that circumstance sounds like a dandy idea to me...

 

[lulubelle]

You know, the little bit we know about the story reminds me of Denton Byers' death. That was also a situation where nothing should have been problematic, but a diver hanging onto the anchor line ended up dying, and the death was apparently due to embolization. I wonder if the boat in this case was riding up and down a great deal? Hanging onto the anchor line may be riskier than we realize.

I'd guess that in our currents not hanging onto the anchor line would be far more dangerous.

Sunday was a pretty average day in terms of conditions on the water. Though that can certainly vary by location.

For those not familiar with the Carolina rig we use here, there is a hang line/bar at 15 feet running underneath the boat which is then connected to the anchor line which is attached to the wreck. We do negative entries and meet our buddies at the hang line before descent. That line can certainly bounce a bit which is why I don't do my safety stop on it unless conditions are favorable. I do it on the anchor line. But the anchor line is fixed to the wreck and generally doesn't bounce much at all even if the boat does. There is too much tension on it. We always wear gloves and sometimes carry jon lines and such, so it is pretty easy to control your position in the water if you are on the line.

 

[GregTheDiver]

Here's some new information on this case. The diver's name is Dan Volz, of Haverhill, MA (Daniel D. Volz, 43 » Obituaries » EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA). He was a friend of mine and a very good dive buddy. Now bear in mind this is not first hand information, but this knowledge I recieved from my father who was on the dive boat with him at the time of his demise, so it's pretty solid intel. Here is what happened from what I was told on Monday:

The dive started normally enough, with Dan and his buddy descending to the bottom at 100' on the USS Schurz Shortly after arriving at bottom and before leaving the vicinity of the anchor line, Dan's fin strap broke. It the struggle to fix it, the fin came off and started to drift away. I gather that there was a bit of a current, as Dan's buddy told him to stay put and went to retrieve the fin as any good buddy would do. When Dan's buddy had returned a reported 15 seconds later, he found Dan motionless with his regulator out of his mouth. His buddy made a controlled ascent to the surface where Dan was taken onto the boat and CPR was started. Dan never regained consciousness.

I'll know more soon, as the divers on the trip have not yet come back. Just to stress the point again, yes, he was on the anchor line, but he was on bottom and not at a safety stop. I highly doubt it was a decompression related issue, as it was the first dive of the day, and they had driven down to NC from the dive shop in NH two days before (so no air travel).

 

[Jax]

Greg, thank you for sharing this with us. I'm so sorry this was your first post.

I hope you'll stick around and get to know the rest of ScubaBoard.

 

[GregTheDiver]

Just trying to present the correct infomation. As is so often the case, we are unaware of our own mortality until it is too late.

 

[rlskill1]

Just trying to present the correct infomation. As is so often the case, we are unaware of our own mortality until it is too late.

To add detail to this tragedy: The Sea Quest II had 12 divers on a 3 tank charter the day of the accident. The crew for this trip consisted of the captain and 2 mates. The day was mostly sunny, winds out of the east, 2-3' seas with a 4' swell. Water temp was 70-ish, and a very slight current was present. The first dive site was the wreck of the Schurz. It's 30+ miles offshore. SQII arrived at 0845. The first mate went down to tie in the anchor and continue his first dive. The captain and 2nd mate helped the other divers gear up and enter the water. First divers hit the water around 0900. Dan and his buddy were in the middle of the pack. SQII was still in the process of placing divers in the water when Dan's buddy surfaced at 0915 with Dan's lifeless body in tow and screamed for help. The captain threw them a life ring and the 2nd mate jumped in the water. Dan was unconscious and unresponsive at the surface. The mate pulled Dan to the stern and he was pulled out of the water and CPR was started. The Coast Guard was contacted and initially a helicopter was to be sent. As the other 8 divers surfaced, the crew untied from the Schurz and started towards shore. A Navy warship had heard the distress call and said they could intercept SQII with a medical team before the helicopter would arrive. CPR was continued on Dan until the Navy team arrived. The Navy boarded the SQII at 1025 and unfortunately pronounced Dan dead. The Navy took charge of his body and flew it to the hospital in Norfolk, VA. The ride home was a quiet sad ride. A sad day for everyone aboard SQII last Sunday.

 

[DandyDon]

Thanks rlskill1. Sounds like the USS De Wart really pitched in there, especially flying the deceased to the hospital. A save would have been great but sometimes all you can do just won't be enough.

 

[rawls]

Any word on what site the SeaQuest II was at? was it th

I believe that the SeaQuest II often does 2-tank trips. Was this the case on Sunday? If so, was it the first or second dive?

We usually do 2-tank trips, but this may have been a 3-tank dive. I believe they were on the Schurz when the incident occurred. It was the first dive of the day. The dive profile on the victims computer was 8 minutes.

 

[Jax]

Sounds like everything that could have been done, was done. No lessons here, except to know you may receive your Call at any time.

God's Comfort to those of you involved.