Beachman
Guest
I just returned from a well known liveaboard trip that incurred an incident that I would sincerely like to present to this forum for comments and observations. I certainly have formed some opinions of my own, but will reserve them so as not to influence your inputs.
The dive was described by the divemaster as a drift dive along a reef sloping from 80' to 100', then dropping as a wall to great depths. She cautioned all divers to watch their depth gauges closely. Entry procedure would be to collect on the current line, then it would be disconnected from the boat with about 85'of line which she would use as a down line to lead the dive from that depth. A second cruise employee/diver (not DM certified) would follow the group as a dive "supervisor" (can't think of a better word since they were not a DM). A third cruise employee DM certified would be in a dingy near the float ball watching for any early ascents or problems.
The group of 17 divers, which included an instructor and four DM certs and various levels of experience down to OW with 12 dives, collected on the line as described and descended together upon the DM's signal. At 50' it was obvious to me that the group was dispersing rapidly from each other. I stopped at 95' with the dive leader in sight and about 70' viz, located my buddy about 50' away, and noted 8 or 10 other divers in sight. As I atttempted to drop to about 110' where I would be on the edge of the wall, I noted with interest that I really had to goose my BC to keep from dropping uncontrolably over the edge of the wall, but nothing more. I also noted bubbles rising from below me in the distance over the edge of the wall, but had heard a couple of the very experienced folks talking earlier on the boat about doing the dive as deep as 150' for a while.
When the DM sgnals the end of the dive and we surface to circle for pick-up on the float line, it's obvious our group is smaller (by 5 persons it turned out). Apparently there was a difficult down current which not only dispersed the group at entry, but swept many over the edge and down the wall. One diver had dropped their belt at 150' to stop her descent, became overly buoyant at about 100', surfaced like a balloon, and was picked up by the dingy frothing at the mouth with blood also running from her mouth and nose. She had no assigned buddy. Another buddy team separated in the down current. One surfaced after being swept down to 160' (reasonably controlled, I assume). Her buddy was found by one of the DM cert divers clinging to the wall at 160' totally narced. The DM and his buddy surfaced with the victim and were also picked up by the dingy. His computer later showed that he bottomed out at 200'.
All three divers rescued were evacuted to a deco chamber facility, where it was determined that the frothing/bleeding vicim had also suffered a heart attack (probably initiated by sheer terror and panic from the rapid ascent).
The group was so spread out from the begining of the dive that even in in the 70' viz neither the lead DM or following "supervisor" were aware of any problems until we surfaced. The strength of the down current was verified by several other divers, including the instructor and one DM, who bottomed out at about 140' before gaining contol.
All victims turned out OK. All were given a few hours in the chamber as a precautionary measure and released. The heart attack victim was retained for a heart cath procedure and is doing fine now.
For y'all....Should anything have been done differently? Did the cruise team do things right? Should procedures for the dive be revised in the future? This dive has been conducted many times over many years without incident, and no significant down curents detected previously. Is this just a case of "**** happens"?
Really interested in your observations.......have I left anything of significance out of the facts I've tried to set forth accurately?
The dive was described by the divemaster as a drift dive along a reef sloping from 80' to 100', then dropping as a wall to great depths. She cautioned all divers to watch their depth gauges closely. Entry procedure would be to collect on the current line, then it would be disconnected from the boat with about 85'of line which she would use as a down line to lead the dive from that depth. A second cruise employee/diver (not DM certified) would follow the group as a dive "supervisor" (can't think of a better word since they were not a DM). A third cruise employee DM certified would be in a dingy near the float ball watching for any early ascents or problems.
The group of 17 divers, which included an instructor and four DM certs and various levels of experience down to OW with 12 dives, collected on the line as described and descended together upon the DM's signal. At 50' it was obvious to me that the group was dispersing rapidly from each other. I stopped at 95' with the dive leader in sight and about 70' viz, located my buddy about 50' away, and noted 8 or 10 other divers in sight. As I atttempted to drop to about 110' where I would be on the edge of the wall, I noted with interest that I really had to goose my BC to keep from dropping uncontrolably over the edge of the wall, but nothing more. I also noted bubbles rising from below me in the distance over the edge of the wall, but had heard a couple of the very experienced folks talking earlier on the boat about doing the dive as deep as 150' for a while.
When the DM sgnals the end of the dive and we surface to circle for pick-up on the float line, it's obvious our group is smaller (by 5 persons it turned out). Apparently there was a difficult down current which not only dispersed the group at entry, but swept many over the edge and down the wall. One diver had dropped their belt at 150' to stop her descent, became overly buoyant at about 100', surfaced like a balloon, and was picked up by the dingy frothing at the mouth with blood also running from her mouth and nose. She had no assigned buddy. Another buddy team separated in the down current. One surfaced after being swept down to 160' (reasonably controlled, I assume). Her buddy was found by one of the DM cert divers clinging to the wall at 160' totally narced. The DM and his buddy surfaced with the victim and were also picked up by the dingy. His computer later showed that he bottomed out at 200'.
All three divers rescued were evacuted to a deco chamber facility, where it was determined that the frothing/bleeding vicim had also suffered a heart attack (probably initiated by sheer terror and panic from the rapid ascent).
The group was so spread out from the begining of the dive that even in in the 70' viz neither the lead DM or following "supervisor" were aware of any problems until we surfaced. The strength of the down current was verified by several other divers, including the instructor and one DM, who bottomed out at about 140' before gaining contol.
All victims turned out OK. All were given a few hours in the chamber as a precautionary measure and released. The heart attack victim was retained for a heart cath procedure and is doing fine now.
For y'all....Should anything have been done differently? Did the cruise team do things right? Should procedures for the dive be revised in the future? This dive has been conducted many times over many years without incident, and no significant down curents detected previously. Is this just a case of "**** happens"?
Really interested in your observations.......have I left anything of significance out of the facts I've tried to set forth accurately?