Woman critical after West Van scuba diving accident - Canada

[Ayisha]

I'm wondering what kind of reg the victim received when she was sharing air and if it was a reg that breathes well upside down or in any position. Many octos breathe wet when upside down and you have to donate or take them right side up. To an anxious/ panicking diver or someone who may not know to simply turn the octo right side up to get dry air, it could cause them to reject the reg and get (more) panicked. Breathing in from the very wet reg can cause the medical issues mentioned previously as well.

Whether breathing from a wet reg was an issue in this situation or not, it is a potential issue that we can avoid by using an octo that breathes well in any position or at least donating them right side up. There are a few of them available. I have the Dacor Viper, which I believe is now called the Mares MV octo. There is also the Sherwood Minimus and Apeks XTX40 that I know of.

 

[DCBC]

Can we drop a weight belt? I always can, but some cannot.

Not to disparage the victim in anyway, but for the purpose of lessons learned, if you can't drop a weight belt, you are either incapacitated, or shouldn't be wearing one in the first-place. I would say the same about underwater rescue. Only one agency doesn't make this a requirement for OW certification. I believe that this can be a fatal mistake. The ability to rescue yourself and your buddy is an important part of a recreational diver's initial training.

 

[Crush]

Not to disparage the victim in anyway, but for the purpose of lessons learned, if you can't drop a weight belt, you are either incapacitated, or shouldn't be wearing one in the first-place.

Hi Wayne,

I agree with you. I'd only like to point out that some schools of thought accept the inability to drop weights provided that your gear configuration has redundant lift. For example, non-ditchable weights are seen as OK to many in the BP/w crowd so long as their drysuit generates sufficient lift in the event of a wing failure. This assumes that they are competent, level-headed divers who are not over-weighted.

Only one agency doesn't make this a requirement for OW certification. I believe that this can be a fatal mistake.

Yes. And that fact continues to boggle my mind.

The ability to rescue yourself and your buddy is an important part of a recreational diver's initial training.

Personally, I see self-rescue skills and skills to rescue another as an obligation or pre-requisite to getting an OW card.

 

[TSandM]

Before we get all wound up on dumping weights at the surface . . . does anybody know if this diver ever MADE it to the surface? There is nothing in the news report or in this thread to say that. If they were still on ascent when she gave up the reg and sank, then no one would have attempted to remove weights yet.

Although it's certainly an attractive hypothesis that she was overweighted, I can also imagine a scenario where they establish the air-share and begin ascending in the vertical position, slightly negative and swimming as OW students are so often taught to do. If she then embolized and dropped the reg, she would stop swimming and therefore sink.

I don't like vertical, negative swimming ascents, personally.

 

[InTheDrink]

I also think we should be circumspect about being sure about divers in general that bolt under certain circumstances. I think it's really easy in life in general to misappropriate people's reasons for doing things.

Ditching someone's donated reg may well have been because of some problem with the reg, serious or otherwise. Or it may not. We simply don't know.

To other divers out there - I wouldn't be too quick to denigrate a particular divers skills or abilities lest you find yourself under similar inspection under similar circumstances.

This isn't to say we shouldn't hypothesize - we should - but we should be clear that these are at best guesses and that divers that appear to be panicing for no reason might very well have very good reasons for their panic.

J

 

[Crush]

Before we get all wound up on dumping weights at the surface . . . does anybody know if this diver ever MADE it to the surface?

That is a great point, TSandM. I read reply http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/5435367-post2.html (the poster admitted that this was hearsay) and did not bother to verify it myself, assuming it to be correct. If the diver did not make it to the surface it certainly negates my argument that the rescuer should have ditched the victim's weights.

To other divers out there - I wouldn't be too quick to denigrate a particular divers skills or abilities lest you find yourself under similar inspection under similar circumstances.

InTheDrink, I don't disagree with your sentiment. I hope that it was not directed towards my post as I tried to be very clear that the rescuer is to be applauded for what she/he did, irrespective of how it turned out. Personally I think that divers should all take rescue diver courses so that they get the opportunity to practice their rescue skills and that, when called upon, then can perform gracefully under pressure.

 

[InTheDrink]

Mp,

My post was certainly not directed at you. I just wonder, sometimes, when someone underwater has a problem that they're not around to explain whether there may have been pretty good reasons for their problem. And of course in all likelihood that is not the case but critiquing the behaviour of the deceased who cannot defend themselves should be classified as a general and not particular point. U can easily see denisegg's close call had it turned out differently being called as a panicked diver episode who panicked and forgot her training. When this wasn't the case. Only reason we know is cos she made it through. Had she died, how would it have made her family feel to listen to people surmising that it was pilot error or panic?? And how would that have been a fitting epitaph??

So it's a general word of caution to those that believe they conclusively know the reasons for an accident even when there are no first hand witnesses (I.e. The victim).

Peace and good diving,

J

 

[Crush]

Had she died, how would it have made her family feel to listen to people surmising that it was pilot error or panic?? And how would that have been a fitting epitaph??

Thanks for the clarification.

Family and friends are generally not encouraged to read Accidents and Incidents threads as they can be critical of a diver's reaction.

I would like to point out that stress can occur with any diver, and that panic (which arises from stress) is not uncommon, especially among new divers. I would draw your attention to my own panic incident on my dive #6: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/4588916-post34.html .

 

[momicha]

I will pray for her

 

[tregrrr]

It turns out that I unknowingly met the man who was involved in this accident. He came into the shop on Friday to replace his mask that was lost during the ordeal. I had posted for that mask last week: mentioned here At the time of posting that thread I had no clue who/what... nada

I want to put that in as a plug to try and generate a bit of local awareness to get back the first mask that hasn't leaked for him in a while... if anyone sees it... He seemed to be quite fond of it. He seemed still quite shaken, rightly so, but came in to speak with two of his friends who work there... mostly for social, but the mask did come up.

As for the accident victim, as of this past Friday, apparently, she was still not conscious. From my understanding it seems to still be induced coma. He did not mention or release any details around the shop and NO-ONE is going to discuss it until he initiates.

Hopefully with a bit of time, more information will come out. Analyzing bunk and hypothesis really amounts to nothing more than an academic discussion which IMHO is best done anonymously without reference to specific people's situations. IF we don't KNOW, we DON'T know. I personally feel its best to look at and seek fact rather than rely on conjecture to discus causalities.