Report on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities and Project Dive

Section 4 - Dive Fatalitiesaware of the nature of the problem. They started their ascent togetherbut the diver became unresponsive halfway to the surface.Another inexperienced diver died underwater soon after thedescent. The valve on her gas tank was not open enough to supplygas at depth. One diver may have experienced a heart attack underwaterand his buddy could not bring him up. In two other casesproblems started early in the dive and the divers decided to abortthe dive. One diver never made it to the surface, and the seconddiver died after surfacing.At the bottom. In 26 percent of the cases (n=23), problems startedon the bottom. Three divers were trapped; four may have had heartproblems while underwater. In one case, a solo diver died in a cavealthough he had a plenty of available gas and no obstacle to leave.He had a history of narcolepsy (episodes of suddenly falling asleepin any situation), which was suspected as a main cause of hisdrowning. One diver was found unconscious by his buddy at 130feet. The cause of his death was never established. In five cases theinitial event was an out of air situation. In four cases buoyancyproblems, cold, a new scooter, or lack of fitness contributed to arapid gas depletion. One diver was separated from his buddies andcame back with his regulator in free flow. He never made it to thesurface alive. One diver lost consciousness soon after he signaledhis buddy that he was low on air. Visibility was poor and his buddyrealized that the diver was missing when he reached the surface afew minutes later. Panic was witnessed in three cases. The trigger ofpanic was not known. Out of 23 divers in this group, 13 did anemergency ascent. Five divers were attended during the ascent bytheir buddy, and eight were unattended. AGE was confirmed in twoof the unattended ascents.Ascent. In 15 percent of the cases (n=13), problems started duringthe ascent, sometimes even after completion of the 10-foot safetystop. In one case, the diver was lost in shallow water after leavingthe safety stop. Inspection of his rebreather has shown major malfunctionsdue to poor maintenance and assembly.Post-dive. In 12 cases problems became apparent after the ascent. Atleast two of these cases had a rapid ascent for unknown reasons.One death occurred after the diver exited the water without indicatinghe had any problem. Nine cases seemed to be in distress onthe surface due to exertion while swimming against strong currentsand waves, or just trying to stay afloat against buoyancy problems.Unconscious divers were often found floating face down. This is areminder that BCDs are not designed to keep a diver’s head on thesurface and that a diver in distress needs assistance all the timewhile in the water.78DAN’s <strong>Report</strong> on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities and Project Dive Exploration: 2005 Edition