Orlando area Firefighter dies during Mini-season

[pjohnson]

The real issue here is why do accidents happen and how can the rest of us avoid them. I read that he had a seizure at depth? Authorities were looking into his N2O2 mix and surface interval time. Was it oxtox? And why? This is the information we as divers need. As a father of 2 (all of us are divers) I feel for the family , but if others can learn from this accident then this sad event may at least prevent more tragedy. I for one want to know why this happened.

 

[BWDscott]

The real issue here is why do accidents happen and how can the rest of us avoid them. I read that he had a seizure at depth? Authorities were looking into his N2O2 mix and surface interval time. Was it oxtox? And why? This is the information we as divers need. As a father of 2 (all of us are divers) I feel for the family , but if others can learn from this accident then this sad event may at least prevent more tragedy. I for one want to know why this happened.

I have the same questions and fears you mention.

When the answers come out... I hope we DO learn something.

Meanwhile... I will dig out my dress blues to attend Shane's funeral tomorrow.

 

[Scared Silly]

Well that comparison to hunting on public land said it all.. Thanks Mike. I was curious cause when i am in the gulf I usually hunt for mud bugs. Just could not see the issue but now I do.

Interesting to read about a comparison to big game hunting. Having lived and hunted in a couple of states were the deer hunt is a big deal I have seen first hand the number of yahoos that go out. However, I have yet to see it come to the point where it is expected that people will die during the hunt like during the mini bug season.

Sure a few folks get lost or an early winter snow storm traps a few hunters. But rarely are there deaths especially over a two day period. At least with bug hunters they are not adapt to shoot you. Which having had bullets and buck shot come flying over and into me (just the buck shot) is why I quit hunting.

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

Thats a good point. Now I lived in Montana and Washington State and the hunting here is a lot more scary here then there in regards to public land. I only hunted public land once here and like you stated having bullets whiz by was enough for me not to do it again. I am surprised every year there are not a lot of people shot but like you said there is no expectation of people going to die. I just think its sad that a mini season can have that bad of a rep. Hopefully they can figure it out and learn from others mistakes.

Interesting to read about a comparison to big game hunting. Having lived and hunted in a couple of states were the deer hunt is a big deal I have seen first hand the number of yahoos that go out. However, I have yet to see it come to the point where it is expected that people will die during the hunt like during the mini bug season.

Sure a few folks get lost or an early winter snow storm traps a few hunters. But rarely are there deaths especially over a two day period. At least with bug hunters they are not adapt to shoot you. Which having had bullets and buck shot come flying over and into me (just the buck shot) is why I quit hunting.

 

[ScubaSteve]

....I just think its sad that a mini season can have that bad of a rep......

Agreed but it does because it continues to happen. I am sure if the start of every deer season started with 5 or 6 hunters getting killed, then it would have the same bad rep.....but I am not a hunter so I could be wrong here.

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

No I think your right..

 

[JJTNJ]

This story has me a bit scared. I'm stunned that * FIVE * scuba divers died in a two day period over this lobster event.

I want to know HOW they died.

Were they caught up in the hysteria of getting as many lobsters as possible that they lost track of time, lost track of depth, causing loss of air or nitrogen poisoning?

Were they people who somehow got scuba equipment without certification?

Were they drunk or high?

I have so many questions because I just started scuba diving and the idea of * FIVE * deaths during this two day diving event is terrifying to me.

How did this happen???

 

[Splash-X]

This story has me a bit scared. I'm stunned that * FIVE * scuba divers died in a two day period over this lobster event.

I want to know HOW they died.

Were they caught up in the hysteria of getting as many lobsters as possible that they lost track of time, lost track of depth, causing loss of air or nitrogen poisoning?

Were they people who somehow got scuba equipment without certification?

Were they drunk or high?

I have so many questions because I just started scuba diving and the idea of * FIVE * deaths during this two day diving event is terrifying to me.

How did this happen???

This post is NOT meant to to say that any of the events below are what happened to this victim. Each accident completely different and different events lead up to the tragic outcome.

Regarding your question, all of the above occure during Lobster Mini Season.

You get some people who go out and buy a hookah unit without certification and violate the NDL tables and dive from DI or DS. I've seen people who have been diving 5 to 6 hours a day at 70ft on these units who didn't know any better.

You get people with their own boats totally wasted and diving.

You have people who only dive during lobster season so both they and their gear hasn't seen any action since maybe February. Some people don't get their gear serviced, some people don't clean their gear properly before storing, some people forget basic skills and it can all lead to equipment failure.

There are a million things that can lead to an accident or a death. Each one of these deaths during lobster season will have its own cause so aside from them all occurring during a special "season", no two are the same.


Compare Lobster Mini Season to... travel during the holidays. While there is an increase in accidents during mini season.... there is also an increase in the number of divers out during mini season. If you had 1 death to 1000 divers in the water in a given day and that number increased to 5 deaths with 5,000 drivers, the percentage is still the same.

The problem itself is not the mini season. The problem is the number of people participating in mini season that are ill prepared.

Again, this post is not meant to imply any of the above to the victim. It was posted to keep everyones mind open to the fact that no two accidents are the same.

 

[Splash-X]

Slusarz was diving for lobsters with three friends in Pelican Flats, about 15 miles northeast of Sebastian Inlet, when something went wrong. Maj. Greg Purden of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office said. by the time their boat got back to shore about 4 p.m., Slusarz had died. A cause of death has not been released.

So, if the facts are correct, the diver was in the boat and died in route to the shore?

Does anyone have any additional facts from a source that can be verified? Other news stories?

Perhaps the coast guard was notified after the dive was on board and there is an incident report with them?

http://www.wflx.com/global/story.asp?s=10818554 reports more details, such as a seizure.



Don't you hate that the news tries to spice things up by adding "something went wrong". It must take a genius to figure that, after someone has passed, "something went wrong". Unless the plan was death then something didn't go according to plan.


Any death is a tragedy and it is a shame that all to often the events or circumstances that lead to the accident never come to light, at least to the board.

 

[JJTNJ]

Thanks Splash-X for that valuable info.