So, what actually KILLS divers?

[Custer]

MikeFerrara once bubbled...


The DAN report doesn't say anything of the kind. I think all dovers should consider it required reading.

Correct on both points.

 

[Raven C]

You want to know what will kill a diver?

Too long of a surface interval. I don't know how many complaints I've read from divers who don't get to go dive regularly. I know it is murder on me. LOL Heck the winter season here on the board is brutal. People get silly, and mean, and even brutal with their posts when they haven't been diving enough. The proof is all there.

Yes, (among other things) lack of diving will kill you. R

 

[cornfed]

John C. Ratliff once bubbled...
The 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 rule works well in overhead/hazardous underwater environments.

It works quite nicely for plain vanilla recreational dive as well.

 

[cornfed]

 

[BigJetDriver]

Uncle Pug once bubbled...
What kills most divers is the end of a chain.

The chain of events that lead up to the diver's death starts with a little something going wrong... then something else going wrong... and another... none of which get corrected... and ultimately the end of the chain is reached.

Break the chain anywhere and you live. Good training will teach you how to break the chain.

I could not agree more, Uncle Pug! If we have learned anything from accident analysis in the aviation industry, it is EXACTLY that! Break that chain at any point, and there is no accident!

 

[Zagnut]

RavenC once bubbled...

You want to know what will kill a diver?

Too long of a surface interval. I don't know how many complaints I've read from divers who don't get to go dive regularly. I know it is murder on me. LOL Heck the winter season here on the board is brutal. People get silly, and mean, and even brutal with their posts when they haven't been diving enough. The proof is all there.

You hit on something here...
Seems like I read somewhere that divers that haven't dived in a long time and jump right back in (pardon the pun) without a refresher, are more likely to get hurt than a new diver that has just finished their OW training.

So, yeah in a sense, too long of a surface interval can be dangerous.

 

[BlueGirlGoes]

I know that statistically, diving is safer than driving. As I said earlier, I'm not freaked out, so I don't feel the need to "chill." The thing about being new (and poorly trained) is that you don't know what you don't know until you don't know it. And that's one reason this board is such a good resource.

I've ordered the Navy diving bible and am looking forward to that. Does anyone have suggestions for drills to practice on our next outing?

Oh, and here's a weird question. Is it possible for someone's BC power inflator to get stuck in the "on" position? I can see how that would send you zooming toward the surface before you figure out what's wrong.... What are the common equipment failures and best workarounds?

Thanks for the wisdom.

 

[jroy017]

Oh, and here's a weird question. Is it possible for someone's BC power inflator to get stuck in the "on" position? I can see how that would send you zooming toward the surface before you figure out what's wrong....

I've seen an inflator get stuck in the on position. In this case diver wanted to put more air in his bc, valve got stuck. Luckily, the diver had good reflex , he grabed his dump valve and stuck his hose up right away( air would go out instead of down to bc) then he unconnected his inflator hose. We then proceeded to surface (infalting bc orally) and fixed the bc on the boat. All in all very good reflex saved situation. As his budy i had dumped my air and was ready to slow his ascent as much as possible without injuring myself. All i could think about after that dive was boy was i happy that my instructor had taught us repeatidly and made us repeatedly practice unconnecting and connecting our bc inflator hose in pool (i hated when he made us do that). Training and stop, think, react saved the day.

We then found some sand had jammed inflator (which is pretty rare).

 

[Uncle Pug]

BlueGirlGoes once bubbled...
Does anyone have suggestions for drills to practice on our next outing?

.... What are the common equipment failures and best workarounds?

Thanks for the wisdom.

... a GUE DIR fundamentals class for teaching you how to break the chain. In it you will learn the drills to practice.

That said... in answer to your question about power inflators getting stuck in the "on" position... yes it happens... and disconnecting the LP hose ASAP is the SOP.

I had the inflator stick on my drysuit a couple of dives ago... I simply unplugged the inflator hose... but then I am practiced at doing that to inflate my lift bag. No big deal.

Awhile back a local instructor died after a his inflator stuck open sending him to the surface with a deco obligation unfulfilled. It is only speculation on my part but I can't help but think that disconnecting the inflator hose was not second nature to him.

 

[BlueGirlGoes]

I'd have NO IDEA now to attach or detach any of the stuff on my rig while I was underwater. Uh, that will be practice number one in Bonaire....

We're landlocked in Missouri, and there's nothing available locally except OW and AOW.