Reg Braithwaite
Contributor
When a diver is run over by a freighter, you can safely assume that somewhere a fishing village is missing its idiot. When the same diver is run over by another boat on the same dive... One can assume it was a very big village and the diver in question had beaten some outstanding idiots for the distinction.
I have written this up as a fictional press release to remind myself of the gravity of the lesson learned. The diver in question has decided to re-evaluate his diving goals, training methods, and plans with experienced divers before re-entering the water on so much as a shore dive.
Brockville Police Service
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Press Release
Members of the Brockville Police Service Marine Unit have concluded their investigation of the death of a person conducting a recreational dive in the vicinity of the "Eye of the Needle" St. Lawrence River. On the afternoon of Monday, August 3, 2009 the vessel "Helen C" departed from the dock at St. Lawrence Park for a planned two recreational dives, carrying a captain, five divers including the deceased, and a person identified as a recreational swimmer.
The Lillie Parsons Dive
The swimmer was dropped in the vicinity of Sparrow Island and she swum to the island. During this time the captain overheard one of the divers, who identified himself as a dive master and instructor, loudly condemning divers who chose to dive in a dry suit, claiming that the water was plenty warm for wet suit diving. Shortly thereafter all five divers donned their diving gear and it transpired that the deceased was in fact wearing a dry suit. The captain also noted that while the other four divers were arranged in two groups of two, the deceased did not have a partner. The captain suggested that the deceased dive with the dive master as leader. The leader, his partner, and the deceased agreed to dive as a trio.
The three entered the water together to perform a "drift dive" onto and past the wreck of the Lillie Parsons off Sparrow Island. The captain noted that when surfacing, the deceased surfaced separately from the other two in his trio. Both the deceased and the leader deployed surface sausages, however the deceased appeared to remain under water for a much longer time than the leader and his partner after deploying the sausage. All divers re-entered the boat without incident and during the debriefing the captain recalls overhearing that the leader went to approximately 130', a depth beyond the recommended MOD of the deceased's enriched air mixture. The captain cannot say whether the maximum depth of the dive was discussed prior to the first dive, but did note that the hull of the wreck is at a depth of less than fifty feet and most teams do not venture significantly below this depth when diving it.
The Eye of the Needle Dive
After a long surface interval the boat was repositioned to perform a drift dive on the "Brockville Wall," including a drift through the shallow and swift-moving waters of the "Eye of the Needle." The captain briefed both teams on the navigation required to perform this dive, including the difficulty of entering the Eye of the Needle, the necessity of remaining very near the bottom to avoid being run over by surface vessels in this busy and shallow channel, and the importance of hugging the shoreline after exiting the channel to avoid drifting into the shipping lane. Several divers, including the leader attended this briefing. The captain does not recall whether the deceased attended this briefing or relied on following the leader to execute the dive safely.
The divers entered the water in the same teams as before, with the deceased diving as part of a trio with the leader. All three submerged together and the captain repositioned the boat downstream to collect them. During this time the swimmer remained on Sparrow Island. While waiting for them to emerge, the captain and the swimmer both report seeing the freighter "Algoma" travel through the shipping lane.
Photograph of a freighter on the St. Lawrence, recovered from the deceased's iPhone. Presumed taken during the surface interval between dives.
After the Algoma continued along its way, the captain observed a sausage close to the shore and out of the shipping lane. Shortly thereafter the independent pair emerged from the water and boarded the boat, having executed the dive safely. They were well out of the shipping lane when the Algoma passed, having hugged the shore and maintaining a safe depth until well clear.
After retrieving the pair, the captain observed two sausages, again separated from each other. Both were in the shipping lane. The captain attempted to position the boat to discourage surface vessels from running over the divers. As he approached one of the sausages, he and the two divers aboard witnessed a speedboat run directly over it.
The leader and his partner emerged from the water shortly after this, and then after a long interval, the deceased emerged from the water. All re-boarded without incident and the swimmer was retrieved from Sparrow Island.
The Divers's Stories
The captain reports that an excited debriefing took place, with all three divers from the trio agreeing that they conducted the dive as a trio in close contact through the Eye of the Needle. After exiting the Eye, the captain submerged to a depth of 125', and contact was lost with the deceased, who remained at approximately 90'.
Shortly after the trio split up, all three divers heard the approach of the Algoma. The deceased reports that he was at a depth of approximately 50' and was deploying his sausage in preparation to abort the dive and surface. He stowed the sausage and clung to a large rock on the Brockville Wall. The other two divers from the trio were at approximately 90' and remained at this depth. While the freighter passed without injuring any of the divers, all reported experiencing an intense fear emanating from its loud and extremely deep engine noise.
The deceased reports that when the freighter passed he was motivated to surface immediately, but disciplined himself to deploy the sausage and perform a drifting minimum decompression lasting approximately ten minutes in total. This decision to drift is what placed him in the shipping channel, as opposed to keeping the sausage stowed and maintaining very close contact with the contour of the shoreline as he performed his minimum decompression stops. The latter choice would have brought him into relatively calm water out of the shipping lane.
Instead, he was carried directly into the shipping lane where he had the distinction of being run over twice in the same dive, this time by a speedboat. He reported seeing the boat as he was watching for traffic. As reported he did re-enter the boat safely and appeared to be in a high state of excitement having been exposed to a traumatic series of incidents.
The Collapse
The captain overheard the leader tell the deceased to relax as he had just been led on one of the most advanced dives in the river. From his tone, the captain presumed the leader was telling the deceased that the dive was a great success and something to be proud of. The captain observed the deceased hyperventilating at this point, and his face appeared to turn a very dark shade of red, then become pale.
A moment later he collapsed to the deck, and efforts to revive him aboard were unsuccessful, including EFR and the provision of oxygen. The captain radioed the police marine unit, who advised him to proceed to the St. Lawrence park dock, where ambulance services would be waiting. The deceased was taken to Brokville General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. While decompression illness can never be entirely ruled out, the attending physician ruled that the cause of death was Cardiac Arrest brought on by Post-Traumatic Stress.
The marine unit analyzed the incident. Examination of the deceased' equipment reveals it was in good working order and contained a mixture of approximately 32% Oxygen. This mixture is normally not used below 110'. The leader was questioned and revealed that he was using a mixture of approximately 25% Oxygen, the result of "topping up" a tank with air. This mixture can be used on advanced recreational dives as deep as 135'.
Analysis and Recommendations
Although the deceased survived the dive itself, the deceased made a number of serious errors in conducting himself on this dive, all of which contributed to the stress of the dive and indirectly to the cardiac arrest, including:
Divers with fewer than 250 dives in total and especially with fewer than 100 dives in the St. Lawrence themselves should strongly consider diving under the guidance of a dive master who is committed to a dive appropriate for the least experienced diver in the group rather than executing a dive beyond the ability of their clients. All divers should refrain from attempting dives beyond their training and ability. While the leader of the trio was in fact a dive master and instructor, he was not acting as the deceased' leader on these dives and it is not obvious that the deceased had the training to conduct either dive with or without direct supervision.
Divers can also avoid separation from their teams by agreeing in advance on a firm dive plan. Some of the questions to settle before entering the water are:
I have written this up as a fictional press release to remind myself of the gravity of the lesson learned. The diver in question has decided to re-evaluate his diving goals, training methods, and plans with experienced divers before re-entering the water on so much as a shore dive.
Brockville Police Service
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Press Release
Members of the Brockville Police Service Marine Unit have concluded their investigation of the death of a person conducting a recreational dive in the vicinity of the "Eye of the Needle" St. Lawrence River. On the afternoon of Monday, August 3, 2009 the vessel "Helen C" departed from the dock at St. Lawrence Park for a planned two recreational dives, carrying a captain, five divers including the deceased, and a person identified as a recreational swimmer.
The Lillie Parsons Dive
The swimmer was dropped in the vicinity of Sparrow Island and she swum to the island. During this time the captain overheard one of the divers, who identified himself as a dive master and instructor, loudly condemning divers who chose to dive in a dry suit, claiming that the water was plenty warm for wet suit diving. Shortly thereafter all five divers donned their diving gear and it transpired that the deceased was in fact wearing a dry suit. The captain also noted that while the other four divers were arranged in two groups of two, the deceased did not have a partner. The captain suggested that the deceased dive with the dive master as leader. The leader, his partner, and the deceased agreed to dive as a trio.
The three entered the water together to perform a "drift dive" onto and past the wreck of the Lillie Parsons off Sparrow Island. The captain noted that when surfacing, the deceased surfaced separately from the other two in his trio. Both the deceased and the leader deployed surface sausages, however the deceased appeared to remain under water for a much longer time than the leader and his partner after deploying the sausage. All divers re-entered the boat without incident and during the debriefing the captain recalls overhearing that the leader went to approximately 130', a depth beyond the recommended MOD of the deceased's enriched air mixture. The captain cannot say whether the maximum depth of the dive was discussed prior to the first dive, but did note that the hull of the wreck is at a depth of less than fifty feet and most teams do not venture significantly below this depth when diving it.
The Eye of the Needle Dive
After a long surface interval the boat was repositioned to perform a drift dive on the "Brockville Wall," including a drift through the shallow and swift-moving waters of the "Eye of the Needle." The captain briefed both teams on the navigation required to perform this dive, including the difficulty of entering the Eye of the Needle, the necessity of remaining very near the bottom to avoid being run over by surface vessels in this busy and shallow channel, and the importance of hugging the shoreline after exiting the channel to avoid drifting into the shipping lane. Several divers, including the leader attended this briefing. The captain does not recall whether the deceased attended this briefing or relied on following the leader to execute the dive safely.
The divers entered the water in the same teams as before, with the deceased diving as part of a trio with the leader. All three submerged together and the captain repositioned the boat downstream to collect them. During this time the swimmer remained on Sparrow Island. While waiting for them to emerge, the captain and the swimmer both report seeing the freighter "Algoma" travel through the shipping lane.
Photograph of a freighter on the St. Lawrence, recovered from the deceased's iPhone. Presumed taken during the surface interval between dives.
After the Algoma continued along its way, the captain observed a sausage close to the shore and out of the shipping lane. Shortly thereafter the independent pair emerged from the water and boarded the boat, having executed the dive safely. They were well out of the shipping lane when the Algoma passed, having hugged the shore and maintaining a safe depth until well clear.
After retrieving the pair, the captain observed two sausages, again separated from each other. Both were in the shipping lane. The captain attempted to position the boat to discourage surface vessels from running over the divers. As he approached one of the sausages, he and the two divers aboard witnessed a speedboat run directly over it.
The leader and his partner emerged from the water shortly after this, and then after a long interval, the deceased emerged from the water. All re-boarded without incident and the swimmer was retrieved from Sparrow Island.
The Divers's Stories
The captain reports that an excited debriefing took place, with all three divers from the trio agreeing that they conducted the dive as a trio in close contact through the Eye of the Needle. After exiting the Eye, the captain submerged to a depth of 125', and contact was lost with the deceased, who remained at approximately 90'.
Shortly after the trio split up, all three divers heard the approach of the Algoma. The deceased reports that he was at a depth of approximately 50' and was deploying his sausage in preparation to abort the dive and surface. He stowed the sausage and clung to a large rock on the Brockville Wall. The other two divers from the trio were at approximately 90' and remained at this depth. While the freighter passed without injuring any of the divers, all reported experiencing an intense fear emanating from its loud and extremely deep engine noise.
The deceased reports that when the freighter passed he was motivated to surface immediately, but disciplined himself to deploy the sausage and perform a drifting minimum decompression lasting approximately ten minutes in total. This decision to drift is what placed him in the shipping channel, as opposed to keeping the sausage stowed and maintaining very close contact with the contour of the shoreline as he performed his minimum decompression stops. The latter choice would have brought him into relatively calm water out of the shipping lane.
Instead, he was carried directly into the shipping lane where he had the distinction of being run over twice in the same dive, this time by a speedboat. He reported seeing the boat as he was watching for traffic. As reported he did re-enter the boat safely and appeared to be in a high state of excitement having been exposed to a traumatic series of incidents.
The Collapse
The captain overheard the leader tell the deceased to relax as he had just been led on one of the most advanced dives in the river. From his tone, the captain presumed the leader was telling the deceased that the dive was a great success and something to be proud of. The captain observed the deceased hyperventilating at this point, and his face appeared to turn a very dark shade of red, then become pale.
A moment later he collapsed to the deck, and efforts to revive him aboard were unsuccessful, including EFR and the provision of oxygen. The captain radioed the police marine unit, who advised him to proceed to the St. Lawrence park dock, where ambulance services would be waiting. The deceased was taken to Brokville General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. While decompression illness can never be entirely ruled out, the attending physician ruled that the cause of death was Cardiac Arrest brought on by Post-Traumatic Stress.
The marine unit analyzed the incident. Examination of the deceased' equipment reveals it was in good working order and contained a mixture of approximately 32% Oxygen. This mixture is normally not used below 110'. The leader was questioned and revealed that he was using a mixture of approximately 25% Oxygen, the result of "topping up" a tank with air. This mixture can be used on advanced recreational dives as deep as 135'.
Analysis and Recommendations
Although the deceased survived the dive itself, the deceased made a number of serious errors in conducting himself on this dive, all of which contributed to the stress of the dive and indirectly to the cardiac arrest, including:
- After the first dive where the leader went below the recommended maximum operating depth of the deceased mixture, the deceased should have either come to a firm agreement about depth with the leader or sat out the second dive.
- The deceased should have hugged the shoreline and navigated to the calm waters outside of the shipping lane rather than performing a drifting decompression.
Divers with fewer than 250 dives in total and especially with fewer than 100 dives in the St. Lawrence themselves should strongly consider diving under the guidance of a dive master who is committed to a dive appropriate for the least experienced diver in the group rather than executing a dive beyond the ability of their clients. All divers should refrain from attempting dives beyond their training and ability. While the leader of the trio was in fact a dive master and instructor, he was not acting as the deceased' leader on these dives and it is not obvious that the deceased had the training to conduct either dive with or without direct supervision.
Divers can also avoid separation from their teams by agreeing in advance on a firm dive plan. Some of the questions to settle before entering the water are:
- Approximate time under water?
- Maximum planned depth?
- Estimated average depth?
- Deco strategy?
- Mixes and MODs for everyone?
- Rock bottom for everyone?
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