Unknown Woman dies after diving Homestead Crater - Utah

[PeterRabbit]

This is a local dive for me/us. I have taught a bunch of OW classes here. Here is what the Park City Record quoted, "According to Wasatch County Fire District Battalion Chief R.L. Duke, the woman was taking a class when she began experiencing difficulty. Though she was able to surface, her troubles persisted, leading to cardiac arrest."

The first thing I did was check our shop schedule to see if it was one of our classes or anyone we know. It wasn't, but if there's anything to learn from this, the dive community here is definitely going to be interested to know the cause. The dive is very straight forward. A big 60 foot deep round hole, about 40 feet across with a platform on the side at 20 feet and a hanging PVC safety stop bar at 15 feet. Water temp right now is about 94 degrees (geothermal). DCS on one or two shallow OW dives is very unlikely, but an embolism, etc. wouldn't be. Of course, it could just be a medical issue as well.

I live in St George, and I'm doing my open water cert there next weekend. I'm thankful there is such a place to go in December this time of year, but also a little apprehensive about how uncomfortably warm it might get. I just plan on wearing a swim trunks since it will be so hot. I know you're not my instructor, but I am just wondering how long do the students stay in the water to do their cert, and what tasks do you have them demonstrate? I am just trying to get a sense of what I'm in for before I go. My instructor is doing the swimming pool part this Monday to Wednesday in St George at a heated indoor pool, so I will be done with that part by the time I go to Homestead Crater. I only have one 30 minute dive under my belt, which happened in Mexico a few weeks ago in warm waters between Cancun and Isla Mujares, at a site called Manchones.

 

[boulderjohn]

I live in St George, and I'm doing my open water cert there next weekend. I'm thankful there is such a place to go in December this time of year, but also a little apprehensive about how uncomfortably warm it might get. I just plan on wearing a swim trunks since it will be so hot. I know you're not my instructor, but I am just wondering how long do the students stay in the water to do their cert, and what tasks do you have them demonstrate? I am just trying to get a sense of what I'm in for before I go. My instructor is doing the swimming pool part this Monday to Wednesday in St George at a heated indoor pool, so I will be done with that part by the time I go to Homestead Crater. I only have one 30 minute dive under my belt, which happened in Mexico a few weeks ago in warm waters between Cancun and Isla Mujares, at a site called Manchones.

You will not be too uncomfortably warm. You will want to have a T-shirt in addition to the trunks to minimize chafing from the BCD straps. If you wear the same shirt for each dive and let it dry, you will be able to stand it up leaning against a wall because of the minerals.

If you are doing the course through PADI and get the official logbook when the class starts, it will have a precise list of exactly what you are supposed to be doing on the dives. The length of the dives varies greatly by the class. It depends upon how many people are in the class and how much time the instructor devotes to swimming exploration of the site--the more time for that, the better.

 

[PeterRabbit]

You will not be too uncomfortably warm. You will want to have a T-shirt in addition to the trunks to minimize chafing from the BCD straps. If you wear the same shirt for each dive and let it dry, you will be able to stand it up leaning against a wall because of the minerals.

If you are doing the course through PADI and get the official logbook when the class starts, it will have a precise list of exactly what you are supposed to be doing on the dives. The length of the dives varies greatly by the class. It depends upon how many people are in the class and how much time the instructor devotes to swimming exploration of the site--the more time for that, the better.

Mine is SSI, but all this information is good to know regardless, thank you kindly!