Training fatality after Instructor held student down - Stoney Cove, UK

[wetb4igetinthewater]

As I don't teach tec, only rec courses, my general rule is if a student wants to go to the surface, we ascend slowly and talk about it comfortably on the surface. I had once case of a passive and then active panic in a student. I honestly thought he was going to die as I was getting a good beating trying to slow him down going to the surface and get his reg back in his mouth. Fortunately he was yelling (lost his reg) which prevented a lung overexpansion injury. I had another student panic in a 1:1 makeup session due to not pressing her tongue against the roof of her mouth when clearing with the purge method. She headed to the surface, and I just grabbed a D-ring to slow her down. Discussed the skill at the surface, resumed training, without further issue.

As safety stops are recommended, not a requirement, to the surface we will go every time if a student is stressed enough to want to go to the surface. That's what my close call taught me. And I consider myself lucky.

 

[lukeb]

This article gives a very good description of the incident and subsequent trial.


Divernet: Diving instructor cleared in 'safety-stop' death case.

Diving instructor cleared in ‘safety-stop’ death case

PADI Master Instructor Nigel Craig has been acquitted of gross negligent manslaughter, following the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) not to

divernet.com

 

[lukeb]

I actually did my Deep diver class at Stoney Cove in 2008 in the same spot this incident happened at.

 

[Miyaru]

This article gives a very good description of the incident and subsequent trial.


Divernet: Diving instructor cleared in 'safety-stop' death case.

Diving instructor cleared in ‘safety-stop’ death case

PADI Master Instructor Nigel Craig has been acquitted of gross negligent manslaughter, following the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) not to

divernet.com

Very interesting.
The two things that set off my alarm bells: hypertension and cocaine plus hiding this on the medical.

 

[Subcooled]

Since he drowned, then I think he lacked one of those.

Not necessarily. Panic could cause an accident too.

It is really hard to judge the actions of the DM.
What seems rational at one point in time, may seem irrational afterwards, with all the extra knowledge that has been gained.

 

[boulderjohn]

This article gives a very good description of the incident and subsequent trial.


Divernet: Diving instructor cleared in 'safety-stop' death case.

Diving instructor cleared in ‘safety-stop’ death case

PADI Master Instructor Nigel Craig has been acquitted of gross negligent manslaughter, following the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) not to

divernet.com

After reading it carefully, I am having a hard time identifying what the instructor did wrong.

 

[Diver With Altitude]

After reading it carefully, I am having a hard time identifying what the instructor did wrong.

That’s why he was acquitted. But it should be a teaching example for instructors (and all divers) that if a diver is indicating an OOA condition even though you know they have air and properly functioning equipment, it is a sign of a medical emergency and the priority is to get to the surface.

 

[boulderjohn]

That’s why he was acquitted. But it should be a teaching example for instructors (and all divers) that if a diver is indicating an OOA condition even though you know they have air and properly functioning equipment, it is a sign of a medical emergency and the priority is to get to the surface.

Actually, I don't believe he was acquitted. He just wasn't convicted.

It sometimes does happen that a beginning diving student will believe they are not getting air through the regulator because of shallow breathing caused by anxiety or panic. That is what an experienced instructor might expect. With a more experienced diver, that should not happen. It may well be that in a more experienced diver it could be taken as a sign of a medical condition causing the diver to feel that way. A heart attack will do that. I am pretty sure that was never a part of my instructor training. Perhaps it should be.

 

[Diver With Altitude]

Actually, I don't believe he was acquitted.

According to the article, the prosecution decided not to pursue the case further and the judge recorded a verdict of not guilty. So that is an acquittal.

I am pretty sure that was never a part of my instructor training. Perhaps it should be.

I think it should. I think being taught that signs of distress in a diver could potentially be much more serious than a panic reaction should be taught at least as early as the Rescue Diver course. Then at least people might be attuned to the possibility that they will need to do something other than follow standard procedures. In the case at hand, the diver gave the out-of-air sign on three different air sources and at least three different regulators. Hindsight is, of course 20/20, and it doesn’t sound like the instructor was guilty of gross negligence, but it seems like alarm bells should have gone off a little sooner.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

As an instructor, the take home message I got from this is that IPO can cause a diver to think they're out of air when they're not. IPO now becomes something I'd mentally check off as a possibility at depth in this situation.

In cold water where I teach IPO becomes more likely. I had an IPO victim doing her first OW dive, and she was incredibly fit. Fully recovered and ran a half-marathon 2 weeks later. She then won her age group in a half-marathon two weeks after that. (She is 43, so a bit young for IPO .) Fortunately, she did not become symptomatic until we hit the surface. I wonder if her aerobic capacity was such that she didn't notice an effect until it was quite bad. In this case, the gentlemen was not as fit.

I'm also becoming more fond of PADI's new "I'm not feeling well" sign. If the diver who died of IPO could have recognized this was an internal issue and articulated it, I wonder if the outcome would have been different? (He might not have realized his breathing issues were internal, not equipment-related. Or if he did he may not have been willing to admit it. Even so, "saying" "hey, I'm not well" would alter my response.) Other than that, the article doesn't even suggest the diver suggested going up as a solution to a perceived problem. It sounds like he just ascended past the safety stop, the instructor reminded him of the need for the stop, and he complied willingly. If at the safety stop he'd said he wasn't feeling well, then immediate ascent seems necessary .

On the other hand, the multiple-regulator-swapping issue seems to indicate a problem warranting an immediate ascent in and of itself.