Ontario diver dead - Bell Island, Canada

[DandyDon]

Ontario Diver Dead After Incident Off Bell Island

A 60-year-old Ontario man is dead after running into trouble while diving off Bell Island on Tuesday. RCMP wer...

vocm.com

A 60-year-old Ontario man is dead after running into trouble while diving off Bell Island on Tuesday.

RCMP were called around 11:30 a.m. when the diver was unaccounted for.

A Canadian Coast Guard Fast Rescue Team was deployed to the area and the man was found unresponsive in the area of Lance Cove, Bell Island.

He was transported to the shoreline in St. Philip’s where attempts were made by emergency medical personnel to revive him.

Unfortunately the efforts were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead.

The Medical Examiner and Occupational Health and Safety are involved in the ongoing investigation.

 

[MMorgan]

Very sad to hear this.

 

[Hoag]

I stopped in to one of my "Local Dive Shops" (about 45 minutes away from where I live) on another matter. The owner apologized basically as soon as I walked in for being preoccupied. This tragic accident happened on a trip run by his dive shop and he was trying to put the pieces together and come to grips with it.

He didn't offer any info other than "I just got back from a trip to Newfoundland a couple days ago and we lost a diver, so my plate is pretty full right now." I respected that and did not ask any questions.

 

[owyn1963]

I stopped in to one of my "Local Dive Shops" (about 45 minutes away from where I live) on another matter. The owner apologized basically as soon as I walked in for being preoccupied. This tragic accident happened on a trip run by his dive shop and he was trying to put the pieces together and come to grips with it.

He didn't offer any info other than "I just got back from a trip to Newfoundland a couple days ago and we lost a diver, so my plate is pretty full right now." I respected that and did not ask any questions.

There has been, I believe, three diving deaths since the begining of June.

 

[Stoo]

I had occasion to have a couple of beers with the operators of that dive operation a couple of weeks ago and they were of course saddened by these accidents. I have a fair bit of information on this one only, but it really does appear to be a combination of poor equipment maintenance and rigging (BC hosed pulled off wing, weight belt "dumped", but under crotch strap) and a likely medical issue. (Which came first is unknown.)

Bell Isle, from what I know of it, is reasonably challenging diving. For most people, the water is likely the coldest they'll ever experience. Sub 40°F is typical. It's reasonably deep. There can be strong currents. If someone thinks they're booking a colder version of Truk, they're likely woefully under-prepared. Hell, I dive year-round in Tobermory and I'd never go to Bell Isle without a heated vest.

Anyone pondering a trip here would be wise to do an honest self-assessment of their skills, their fitness and their gear.

 

[SlugLife]

I had occasion to have a couple of beers with the operators of that dive operation a couple of weeks ago and they were of course saddened by these accidents. I have a fair bit of information on this one only, but it really does appear to be a combination of poor equipment maintenance and rigging (BC hosed pulled off wing, weight belt "dumped", but under crotch strap) and a likely medical issue. (Which came first is unknown.)

Bell Isle, from what I know of it, is reasonably challenging diving. For most people, the water is likely the coldest they'll ever experience. Sub 40°F is typical. It's reasonably deep. There can be strong currents. If someone thinks they're booking a colder version of Truk, they're likely woefully under-prepared. Hell, I dive year-round in Tobermory and I'd never go to Bell Isle without a heated vest.

Anyone pondering a trip here would be wise to do an honest self-assessment of their skills, their fitness and their gear.

Obviously operating off of indirect info here, but a lot of fatal incidents seem to come with at least "3 strikes," meaning at least 3 things had to go badly at once before the incident becomes severe or fatal. Often one-or-more of those strikes happening before the dive.

A BCD failure is something I'm prepared for (using DSMB as redundant flotation), but the temperatures (40F = 4.5C) is certainly not something I'd be prepared for, and maybe the currents too depending on severity.

 

[Hoag]

...a lot of fatal incidents seem to come with at least "3 strikes," meaning at least 3 things had to go badly at once before the incident becomes severe or fatal. ...

That is what is euphemistically referred to in the world of Flight Safety as "the Swiss Cheese Effect". As with diving, aircraft accidents are seldom a single catastrophic failure. (Of course, sometimes that is exactly what they are, but that is not the norm.) Usually, they are a series of small failures that all line up like the holes in Swiss Cheese. If all the holes don't line up, the chain of events is interrupted and the accident doesn't happen.

In many ways, it seems that this is similar to diving accidents.

 

[Johnoly]

....but a lot of fatal incidents seem to come with at least "3 strikes," meaning at least 3 things had to go badly at once before the incident becomes severe or fatal.

That's why I read the accident threads because I learn alot from it. I start counting "strikes" as soon as I backroll on my dives. It rarely happens but at 2 strikes, I'm already saying to myself "1 more & I'm done". Yes the strikes are usually easy to solve. The problem is I'm not paying attention and my head is not in the right place to be on this dive. Re-Surface/Calm down/Review/Re-drop when comfortable > or not. It takes training to count your "Strikes" cause task loading clouds clear thinking.

 

[SlugLife]

That is what is euphemistically referred to in the world of Flight Safety as "the Swiss Cheese Effect". As with diving, aircraft accidents are seldom a single catastrophic failure. (Of course, sometimes that is exactly what they are, but that is not the norm.) Usually, they are a series of small failures that all line up like the holes in Swiss Cheese. If all the holes don't line up, the chain of events is interrupted and the accident doesn't happen.

In many ways, it seems that this is similar to diving accidents.

That's why I read the accident threads because I learn alot from it. I start counting "strikes" as soon as I backroll on my dives. It rarely happens but at 2 strikes, I'm already saying to myself "1 more & I'm done". Yes the strikes are usually easy to solve. The problem is I'm not paying attention and my head is not in the right place to be on this dive. Re-Surface/Calm down/Review/Re-drop when comfortable > or not. It takes training to count your "Strikes" cause task loading clouds clear thinking.

Another analogy I've used is "snake-eyes." The basic idea is you have to roll dice all-1's for an incident to become fatal or severe. The more quantity and quality redundancy you have (skills, equipment, buddy, proper weighting, training, practice, etc) the better off you are, as they're effectively more dice.

I typically solo-dive, which theoretically eliminates once of the dice (or 1-strike). However, I might "add dice" through equipment redundancy, skill practice, staying within limits, thinking through how I'd handle emergencies, and more. I'd like to think I'm safer than an average buddy-dive team.

I try to keep strikes at zero. I've been at 1-strike a number of times, but try ensure it doesn't happen again. I consider 2-strikes unacceptable, and only been there twice. For example, I had a regulator hose come unscrewed, couldn't find my octo in the bubbles, and by mere chance was at 30ft with a good amount of air. Perhaps no big deal, but that could have as easily happened at 75ft+ deep near the end of a dive. Very soon after, I got redundant air and take it on EVERY dive, and practice reg-switching. Repeat that scenario today at 130ft solo, and that would be between 0-or-1 strikes assuming I started calmly surfacing without much delay, and wasn't narced.

 

[rjack321]

I had occasion to have a couple of beers with the operators of that dive operation a couple of weeks ago and they were of course saddened by these accidents. I have a fair bit of information on this one only, but it really does appear to be a combination of poor equipment maintenance and rigging (BC hosed pulled off wing, weight belt "dumped", but under crotch strap) and a likely medical issue. (Which came first is unknown.)

Bell Isle, from what I know of it, is reasonably challenging diving. For most people, the water is likely the coldest they'll ever experience. Sub 40°F is typical. It's reasonably deep. There can be strong currents. If someone thinks they're booking a colder version of Truk, they're likely woefully under-prepared. Hell, I dive year-round in Tobermory and I'd never go to Bell Isle without a heated vest.

Anyone pondering a trip here would be wise to do an honest self-assessment of their skills, their fitness and their gear.

I spoke with the operator during my trip in July. My understanding was the actual cause of death was a heart attack. Did the gear issues contribute to stress and cause a heart attack? Possibly or as you say the heart attack may have come first.

I think recreational divers underestimate how stressful 2C water can be (summertime temps on the bottom). It's not as simple as throwing on another layer of long underwear under your California or New Jersey drysuit setup. 2C is exponentially colder and more challenging than 8C