OP
Firediver
Contributor
http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=1236&sc=1 Another article pertaining the the dive accident.
Passing of Technical Diver Joe Steffen during NL Mine Quest Dive
- Thread starter Firediver
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wb416
Contributor
1_T_Submariner
Contributor
Sad Story...My condolences to Family, Friends and all involved.
OP
Firediver
Contributor
HEre is the final remarks from Ocean Quest.
NEWS ABOUT MINE QUEST 2007.
Ocean Quest Inc. regretfully announce that on Sunday 4th February, Mr Joseph Steffen, 51, an experienced cave and technical diver from Ohio, USA died whilst diving as part of the Mine Quest Exploration Team in the No.2 Iron Ore Mine on Bell Island, Newfoundland & Labrador. Fellow team members brought Joe to the surface and attempts to revive him were unfortunately unsuccessful. The incident is under investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as part of their standard procedures and we have no information regarding the investigation at this time. Our thoughts are with Joe’s family & friends and he will be sadly missed by all who knew him. The Mine Quest Team continued their exploration and the project is now complete. Any relevant information will be distributed as soon as it becomes available. Please check the project blog site at http://bellislandexpedition.blogspot.com/ for more details.
Following is a medical description of Joe's death by Dr David Sawatzki MD, a Diving Medicine Consultant and Mine Quest Team Member who was also present at the dive site when the incident occured:
Joe headed out on the mainline from a depth of 50 ft, about 300 feet from the surface. His body was found on the ceiling of the passage at a depth of approximately 30 feet about 250 feet into the mine, an hour or so later. His mask was full of water and the second stage of his primary regulator was missing (it had come off the LP hose and was found later on the floor).
The autopsy showed that Joe had died from arterial gas embolism. It also showed that he had a mass in the periphery of his lung and another mass in his liver, most likely cancer. It was the opinion of the pathologist that these masses would not have caused any symptoms and would not have shown on chest x-ray. Joe almost certainly did not know of them.
Arterial gas embolism is virtually impossible in this section of the mine in a diver with normal lungs. The passages are 10 feet high and at a 10 degree slope. The average cave diver swims at 50 ft per minute and swimming 50 ft up slope results in an ascent of 8 feet. Joe had done three dives the week before his death in the same passage without problem.
The mass in Joe’s lung must have been mostly obstructing one of the airways in his lung. As he descended the part of his lung supplied by the obstructed airway would have collapsed and then slowly inflated at depth. As he swam back up the passage, the gas would have expanded. The obstructed airway was obviously large enough to allow the gas to escape at the normal ascent rate of 8 feet per minute on the first three dives.
On the day of his death, when Joe left the 50 foot depth and started swimming up the slope to surface, the obstructed part of his lung would have fully inflated. The second stage of the regulator he was breathing most likely separated from the LP hose at that point, causing Joe to hold his breath as he attempted to insert his secondary regulator. The rest of his lungs would almost certainly NOT be fully inflated at this time. While he was holding his breath he must have floated to the roof of the passage, ruptured the section of the lung beyond the obstruction and suffered arterial gas embolism. In this situation, the embolism would have happened if Joe simply lost control of his buoyancy and floated to the ceiling, even if he had been breathing normally. In a diver with normal lungs, embolism is virtually impossible at this depth in this passage.
Joe’s death was from arterial gas embolism, primarily as a result of the lesion in his lung, most likely cancer. If it was cancer and it had already spread to his liver, he could have expected a miserable death in a relatively short time. Dying a peaceful death, doing an activity he loved, in the company of friends would be considered by most people to be a far better way to die than to die from lung cancer. --- Copied from www.oceanquestcharters.com
NEWS ABOUT MINE QUEST 2007.
Ocean Quest Inc. regretfully announce that on Sunday 4th February, Mr Joseph Steffen, 51, an experienced cave and technical diver from Ohio, USA died whilst diving as part of the Mine Quest Exploration Team in the No.2 Iron Ore Mine on Bell Island, Newfoundland & Labrador. Fellow team members brought Joe to the surface and attempts to revive him were unfortunately unsuccessful. The incident is under investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as part of their standard procedures and we have no information regarding the investigation at this time. Our thoughts are with Joe’s family & friends and he will be sadly missed by all who knew him. The Mine Quest Team continued their exploration and the project is now complete. Any relevant information will be distributed as soon as it becomes available. Please check the project blog site at http://bellislandexpedition.blogspot.com/ for more details.
Following is a medical description of Joe's death by Dr David Sawatzki MD, a Diving Medicine Consultant and Mine Quest Team Member who was also present at the dive site when the incident occured:
Joe headed out on the mainline from a depth of 50 ft, about 300 feet from the surface. His body was found on the ceiling of the passage at a depth of approximately 30 feet about 250 feet into the mine, an hour or so later. His mask was full of water and the second stage of his primary regulator was missing (it had come off the LP hose and was found later on the floor).
The autopsy showed that Joe had died from arterial gas embolism. It also showed that he had a mass in the periphery of his lung and another mass in his liver, most likely cancer. It was the opinion of the pathologist that these masses would not have caused any symptoms and would not have shown on chest x-ray. Joe almost certainly did not know of them.
Arterial gas embolism is virtually impossible in this section of the mine in a diver with normal lungs. The passages are 10 feet high and at a 10 degree slope. The average cave diver swims at 50 ft per minute and swimming 50 ft up slope results in an ascent of 8 feet. Joe had done three dives the week before his death in the same passage without problem.
The mass in Joe’s lung must have been mostly obstructing one of the airways in his lung. As he descended the part of his lung supplied by the obstructed airway would have collapsed and then slowly inflated at depth. As he swam back up the passage, the gas would have expanded. The obstructed airway was obviously large enough to allow the gas to escape at the normal ascent rate of 8 feet per minute on the first three dives.
On the day of his death, when Joe left the 50 foot depth and started swimming up the slope to surface, the obstructed part of his lung would have fully inflated. The second stage of the regulator he was breathing most likely separated from the LP hose at that point, causing Joe to hold his breath as he attempted to insert his secondary regulator. The rest of his lungs would almost certainly NOT be fully inflated at this time. While he was holding his breath he must have floated to the roof of the passage, ruptured the section of the lung beyond the obstruction and suffered arterial gas embolism. In this situation, the embolism would have happened if Joe simply lost control of his buoyancy and floated to the ceiling, even if he had been breathing normally. In a diver with normal lungs, embolism is virtually impossible at this depth in this passage.
Joe’s death was from arterial gas embolism, primarily as a result of the lesion in his lung, most likely cancer. If it was cancer and it had already spread to his liver, he could have expected a miserable death in a relatively short time. Dying a peaceful death, doing an activity he loved, in the company of friends would be considered by most people to be a far better way to die than to die from lung cancer. --- Copied from www.oceanquestcharters.com
Wow . . . What a strange story. If that WAS metastatic cancer in his liver, this passing was truly a grace.
james croft
Contributor
Pretty bizarre. Strange about the second stage coming off. I can see that becoming loose without someone noticing. I am now going to inspect all my hose connections.
Debraw
Contributor
Thanks for sharing that article. Condolences to the family and friends he left behind.
Fish_Whisperer
Contributor
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TSandM:
Amen. My condolences to his friends and family. Blessings, peace, and strength.
