Report on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities and Project Dive

Appendix B: Fatality Case <strong>Report</strong>susing a scooter for the first time. The decedentmay have experienced a drysuit problem, butin any event his gas supply (primary andreserves) became exhausted, and he needed toshare breathing gas with one of his buddies.The diver and his buddies became separatedduring ascent, and his body was recoveredapproximately an hour later. In addition tochanges consistent with drowning, the autopsyshowed left ventricular hypertrophy.03-69 Advanced open water course diver,started dive low on air, ran out of air onascent, lost consciousness before reachingsurfaceCause of Death: Drowning due toInsufficient AirThis 54-year-old male, a student in anadvanced course, had received his initialopen-water certification three years earlier. Hewas making a shore-entry training dive in alake, and he descended to 82 feet (25 meters).He complained of being cold on the bottomand signaled that he desired to ascend. Thedecedent began the dive with less than 1,000psi, and he quickly exhausted his air supply.The dive instructor released the decedent’sweight belt during the ascent, and the diverlost consciousness before reaching the surface.Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. Theautopsy demonstrated changes consistentwith drowning as well as moderate coronaryartery disease and evidence of pre v i o u sischemic injury to the heart. Toxicology studiesalso demonstrated cannabinoids (any ofvarious chemical constituents of cannabis ormarijuana) in the blood. The medical examinerruled the death a drowning, but a cardiacevent certainly may have been contributory.03-75 Diver with uncertain dive certificationand experience, tobacco and alcohol abuse,made wreck dive on nitrox, ran out of gas,separated from buddy, found two days laterCause of Death: Drowning due toInsufficient AirThis 28-year-old male was reported to havetechnical diving certification, but the samereport indicated that he had completed fewerthan 20 lifetime dives. He was a smoker andhad consumed alcoholic beverages the nightbefore making a dive to a wreck at 67 fsw (20msw) using nitrox. The diver ran out ofbreathing gas and was making his way back tothe boat using the surface line when he washanded his buddy’s buoyancy compensatorbecause his could not be inflated (no gasremained). His buddy had also been low ongas, and the decedent slipped below the surface.The body was recovered two days later.The autopsy revealed mild coronary arterydisease and changes associated with drowning.03-82 Infrequent diver performed personaltask dive, separated from buddy, bodyrecovered two days laterCause of Death: Drowning due toInsufficient AirThis 45-year-old male had received his openwatercertification five years previously buthad not been diving in more than a year. Heand a buddy were trying to recover a sunkenoutboard motor from the bottom of a lake.Visibility was poor, and the divers becameseparated. The buddy surfaced, but the decedentdid not. His body was recovered twodays later at a depth of 90 feet (27 meters). Thediver’s tank was empty.116DAN’s <strong>Report</strong> on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities and Project Dive Exploration: 2004 Edition