Report on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities and Project Dive

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Appendix B: Fatality Case <strong>Report</strong>sdepression. The diver made a shore-entry solodive to test out some equipment because hehad planned to resume diving regularly. Thediver used a line attached to his body; someonewho stayed back on shore held it. He surfaced,called for help, and disappeared backbelow the surface. The person on shore pulledthe diver in, but resuscitation efforts wereunsuccessful. The cause of death was determinedto be drowning, but the occurrence ofan air embolism cannot be excluded.03-73 Experienced diver with history ofpanic attacks, panicked during dive, maderapid ascent, lost consciousness on surfaceCause of Death: Drowning due to RapidAscentThis 57-year-old male was an experienceddiver with advanced open-water certification.His medical problems included hypertension,diabetes mellitus, obesity and a history ofc l a u s t rophobia and panic attacks. He hadexperienced panic attacks on previous divetrips. When he was reluctant to let go of theladder and enter the water on this dive, hestated, "This happens all of the time." Thedecedent finally went below the surface to adepth of 27 feet (8 meters), but he ascendedafter seven minutes. His ascent was rapid and,upon reaching the surface, he called for assistance.He was in a panic and would not take aregulator when offered to him. The diver thenlost consciousness and could not be resuscitated.The autopsy disclosed changes associatedwith drowning in addition to hypertensiveheart disease. Toxicology was positive formultiple antihistamines and benzodiazepines(tranquilizers that prevent or reduce anxiety,sleeplessness, muscle spasms, seizures, andother problems by slowing down the centralnervous system). The history was consistentwith an air embolism contributing to thedrowning.03-01 Certified cave diver with history ofnarcolepsy, made solo dive in freshwatercave on nitrox and did not returnCause of Death: Drowning due toEntrapment in CaveThis 35-year-old male was a certified cavediver with one year of cave diving experience.He was morbidly obese and had a history ofnarcolepsy. Diving without a buddy, the divermade a shore-entry dive into a cave system ina freshwater spring. He used a 34 percentnitrox mixture as a breathing gas, and the diveprofile was planned to 108 feet (33 meters) for20 minutes. The diver’s body was recovered ina restrictive area within the cave where thecurrent was brisk. From the position of thebody, it appeared that he had been attemptingto exit the cave system. The autopsy was consistentwith drowning, though there was stillbreathing gas available in the tank.03-13 Experienced public safety diver, madepersonal task dive in freshwater, trapped onbottom, body recovered laterCause of Death: Drowning due toEntrapmentThis 30-year-old male was an experienceddiver on the police dive team and had divemastercertification. The details of the eventare incomplete, but apparently the decedentand his dive buddy entered a freshwater bodyof water for the purpose of raising a vehiclefrom the silt-covered bottom. They had no surfacesupport for the task. According to theinvestigative report, the lift bags slipped, andthe decedent became trapped on the bottom.His body was recovered later. An autopsy wasperformed, but the report was not made available.DAN’s <strong>Report</strong> on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities and Project Dive Exploration: 2004 Edition 123
Appendix B: Fatality Case <strong>Report</strong>s03-65 Inexperienced diver made night divein freshwater, entangled in pipes on bottom,panicked and lost consciousnessCause of Death: Drowning due toEntanglementThis 21-year-old female, certified in open-waterfour months pre v i o u s l y, was making her firstset of dives after certification. She was morbidlyobese. The planned night dive included a gro u pof about 10 divers, with a mixture of open-watercertified divers, students in an advanced openwaterclass and instructors. A c c o rding to witnessreports, the diver became entangled insome pipes on the bottom of the quarry andpanicked. There are some discre p a n c i e sbetween the accounts of diff e rent witnesses, butit appears there is agreement that the decedentwas brought to the surface unconscious afterher gear was removed at depth. This would corroboratethe history of entanglement on the bottom.The medical examiner ruled the death ad rowning, possibly due to an air embolism.Since the decedent lost consciousness beforeascending, she likely drowned because she wasentangled on the bottom, and an air embolismwould be unlikely.03-78 Poorly conditioned diver made shoreentry dive with buddy, possibly overweighted,entangled in kelpCause of Death: Drowning due to Entangledin KelpThis 51-year-old female had been a certifieddiver for 20 years. She was obese and had ahistory of breast cancer. She and her buddymade a shore-entry dive and became entangledin kelp. The diver’s buddy was able tobreak free from the kelp, but the decedent wasnot so fortunate. In addition to wearing thetypical weight belt for a dive, she was alsowearing ankle weights. The autopsy disclosedthe incidental diagnoses of a nodular thyroidgland, uterine fibroids and ovarian cysts inaddition to the changes associated withdrowning.Proximate Cause: Unspecified orBody Not Recovered03-03 Experienced diver made dive onrebreather, did not returnCause of Death: Unknown Cause of Death,Body Not RecoveredThis 41-year-old male was an experienceddiver with advanced certification, includingformal cave diving certification. He was on aliveaboard, diving with a group. He did notappear to have a designated diving buddy.The decedent was using a rebreather apparatusand had a habit of diving long after theother divers had exited the water. He had performedprevious dives during the trip thatlasted up to two hours. The decedent did notreturn from this dive, and his body was neverrecovered.03-04 Experienced, poorly conditioned diver,separated from buddy at surface predive instrong current and disappearedCause of Death: Unknown Cause of Death,Body Not RecoveredThis 56-year-old male was an experienceddiver with nitrox certification. He was overweightand had undergone a knee replacementin the past. He was part of a group offour divers (two buddy sets) on a liveaboard.The divers were performing drift dives in astrong current. During the second dive of theday, each buddy team became separated. Thedecedent and his buddy became separatedprior to descent. They were the last divers offthe boat, and the decedent’s buddy wentbelow the surface without him. The diver didnot return to the boat, and his body was neverrecovered. His tank and safety sausage werere c o v e red miles from the decedent’s lastknown location.124DAN’s <strong>Report</strong> on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities and Project Dive Exploration: 2004 Edition
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1. INTRODUCTIONDivers Alert Network
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Section 1. Introduction1.3 Diving F
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2.2 PDE 2003This report includes da
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Section 2 - Project Dive Exploratio
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Figure 2.4-2 describes the breathin
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Figures 2.5-2 and 2.5-3 indicate th
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Case #2The diver was a 29-year-old
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3. Dive InjuriesSection 3 - Dive In
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Section 3 - Dive InjuriesFigure 3.1
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Section 3 - Dive Injuriesmost sever
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Section 3 - Dive Injuries3.3 Physic
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Section 3 - Dive InjuriesDays in Di
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Page 74 and 75: Section 4 - Dive FatalitiesOur data
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Page 134 and 135: Glossarymatical models to compute d
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Page 140 and 141: NotesDAN’s Report</strong
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