Report on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities - Divers Alert ...

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air to disentangle a mooring line and made thedive to 24 feet (7.2 meters) alone while his tenderwaited on the surface. The tender left thearea to get more tanks, and when he returned,the surface tank was empty and the diver wasstill in the water. Rescue divers found thedecedent entangled in anchor chains on thebottom. The findings at the autopsy were consistentwith drowning. The decedent also hadcoronary artery disease. Contributing factors/significantdiagnoses included coronaryatherosclerosis, fatty liver, tobacco abuse, andtoxicology positive for cannabinoids.01-74 Experienced nitrox diver entangled onwreck, ran out of airCause of Death: Drowning due toinsufficient air, entangled on wreckThis 26-year-old male had open-water andnitrox certification, with approximately 70lifetime dives. He and a buddy made a deepair dive to 231 feet (69.3 meters) in fresh waterin order to take pictures of a shipwreck. Thedecedent’s equipment became entangled onthe wreck early in the dive, but his buddyhelped him to get loose. When the dive buddyascended, the decedent did not follow him.After a decompression stop, the buddy surfacedand asked for assistance. Divers foundthe body entangled on the outer structure ofthe wreck several hours later. The medicalexaminer concluded that the cause of deathwas air embolism, based on postmortem X-rays and intravascular gas. Those findingswere most likely artifact (or, unrelated to diving),since a significant ascent from such adeep depth would be required to cause anembolism. There is a possibility that the decedentsurfaced and then sank back to the bottomafter experiencing an embolism, but thedive buddy’s account does not indicate thatthis occurred. Contributing factors/significantdiagnoses included nitrogen narcosis.Proximate Cause: Drowning /Various Causes01-03 Open-water student struggled anddied on surfaceCause of Death: DrowningThis 52-year-old female was a student in aninitial open-water certification class. After adive to 30 fsw (9 msw), she was vomiting,choking and struggling on the surface. Thedecedent then lost consciousness and couldnot be resuscitated. The autopsy showed aspirationof gastric contents and changes consistentwith drowning. Contributing factors/significantdiagnoses included aspiration of gastriccontents, and history of migraineheadaches.01-06 Experienced diver ascends in roughseas and became separated from group,recovered the next dayCause of Death: DrowningThis 45-year-old male was a very experienceddiver who was making a night dive in a groupof four divers. A storm came up during thedive and the sea state was rough as theyascended to the surface. The decedent becameseparated from the other divers. His body wasnot recovered until the next day when it wasfound between some rocks. An autopsy wasperformed, but the report was not made available.Contributing factors/significant diagnosesincluded contusions and abrasions.01-14 Diver with improper assembledequipment loses consciousness duringsurface swim to shoreCause of Death: DrowningThis 41-year-old male had received his openwaterdive certification six months previouslyand had made five lifetime dives. He and adive buddy made an uneventful shore entrydive to 70 fsw (21 msw) for 15 minutes usingdrysuits. The decedent was low on air at theDAN’s <strong>Report</strong> on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities and Project Dive Exploration: 2003 Edition 121
end of the dive, but seemed to be doing fine,according to his dive buddy. The sea state wasslightly rough, and the decedent lost consciousnessduring the surface swim back toshore. An examination of the equipmentrevealed that the regulator was improperlyattached to the tank. An autopsy was performed,but the report was not made available.01-33 Experienced, physicallyunconditioned diver separated from groupCause of Death: DrowningThis 41-year-old male was an experienced,certified diver. He made a dive to 40 fsw (12msw) with a group of divers and became separatedfrom the others. Another diver saw himsinking toward the bottom motionless andwent back up for assistance. The unconsciousdiver was brought to the surface but could notbe resuscitated. A cardiac event cannot becompletely excluded. Contributing factors /significant diagnoses included obesity andtobacco abuse.01-34 Uncertified, inexperienced diver withimproper equipmentCause of Death: DrowningThis 17-year-old female had no training orexperience in diving. She and another equallyinexperienced diver were collecting sand dollarsin 10 feet (3 meters) of water off a privateboat. The decedent did not wear fins, and shebegan the dive with only a partially full tank.The two divers held hands during the dive,but the decedent let go at the surface and wasnot seen again until her body was recoveredeight hours later. An autopsy was not performedand the medical examiner determinedthe cause of death to be drowning. An airembolism cannot be excluded and could verywell have occurred in this case.01-37 Experienced diver with multiplemedical problems died at surfaceCause of Death: DrowningThis 51-year-old female was an experienceddiver with open-water certification. Her medicalhistory included non-insulin requiringdiabetes mellitus, systemic lupus erythematosisand morbid obesity. She made a 30-minute,103-fsw (31-msw) dive down to a wreck. Afterascending, the decedent struggled on the surfaceand had problems getting back into theboat. She became short of breath and lost consciousness.Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.The autopsy findings were consistentwith drowning. Contributing factors/significantdiagnoses included morbid obesity, diabetesmellitus, lupus erythematosis, and fattyliver.01-42 Diver becomes separated from buddy,found on bottom of quarryCause of Death: DrowningLittle information is available on the death ofthis 46-year-old male who had open-waterdiving certification. He made a shore entryinto a freshwater quarry with another diver.The two divers became separated, and thedecedent was found unconscious on the bottom.Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.The medical examiner certified the cause ofdeath as drowning, but the autopsy reportwas not made available.01-50 Experienced technical diver separatedfrom buddy, possible shark attackCause of Death: DrowningThis 42-year-old male was a very experiencedtechnical diver. He made a wreck dive to 268fsw (80.4 msw) using a trimix rebreather tocollect tropical fish. The diver and his divebuddy became separated on descent, but thebuddy spent an hour on the bottom beforereturning to the surface. This was in accordancewith the prearranged dive plan they122DAN’s <strong>Report</strong> on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities and Project Dive Exploration: 2003 Edition
Page 1 and 2:
Report onDecompres
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Dedicated toDr. Peter B. BennettThe
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AcknowledgmentsData for the 2002 <s
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International DAN OfficesDAN Americ
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When divers have questions about th
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Flying After Diving (FAD) StudyIn 1
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In 2002, DAN trained six interns fr
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DAN Training ProgramsOxygen First A
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DAN members are also eligible for d
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DAN Diver Identification System (DI
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Instructors who don’t have access
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Of 522 reports submitted in 2001, 5
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2. Dive Injuries2.1 Injury Data Des
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Arterial Gas Embolism (AGE)• Symp
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The pre-existing medical problems o
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Figure 7 shows the number of self-r
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As shown on Figure 11, most diving
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As in previous years, the largest p
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Figure 19 shows number of days divi
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Figure 23 shows the maximum depth o
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2.4 Signs and Symptoms in Injured D
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Figure 29 shows symptoms reported b
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Fig 32Distribution ofcases by PSI.E
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Figure 35 shows the administration
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Figure 37 shows the type of recompr
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2.6 Therapeutic OutcomeFigure 40 sh
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Figure 43 shows that AGE was more l
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3. Dive FatalitiesDAN is not the pr
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Figure 49 shows the gender and cert
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Figure 53 shows the time of day at
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Figure 57 shows the distribution of
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Figure 61 shows the limited informa
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4. Project DiveExplorationPDE is an
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Fig 65Cumulativenumber of PDEdives
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Table 10Number ofseries per diver.T
Page 71 and 72: Figure 69 illustrates the certifica
Page 73 and 74: 4.4 DivesMost PDE data (97 percent)
Page 75 and 76: 4.5 Dive SeriesPDE recorded 1,960 d
Page 77 and 78: The maximum depth of the dive serie
Page 79 and 80: The workload reported by divers in
Page 81 and 82: The pre-flight surface interval (PF
Page 83 and 84: Fig 88Percentageof dives bycertific
Page 85 and 86: Figure 90 shows the month in which
Page 87 and 88: All PDE divers were asked to report
Page 89 and 90: The incidence of DCS was different
Page 91 and 92: Figure 94 shows the proportion of m
Page 93 and 94: Fig 98Comparison ofdive purpose byp
Page 95 and 96: Figures 102 and 103 show how the po
Page 97 and 98: 6. Mixed-Gas DivingThis section off
Page 99 and 100: Figure 110 shows that injured diver
Page 101 and 102: GlossaryAGE — Arterial Gas Emboli
Page 103 and 104: Appendix A: Injury Case Rep
Page 105 and 106: During the second day of diving, th
Page 107 and 108: Case 6. Delayed Onset of Mild Neuro
Page 109 and 110: Case 9. One Diver Treated Twice in
Page 111 and 112: Appendix B: Fatality Case R
Page 113 and 114: Proximate Cause: Drowning / AirEmbo
Page 115 and 116: Proximate Cause: Cardiac01-05 Divin
Page 117 and 118: the water with the instructor and a
Page 119 and 120: 01-22 Public safety diver who was o
Page 121: dock. Fifteen minutes into the dive
Page 125 and 126: 01-67 Inexperienced diver, diving s
Page 127 and 128: 01-61 Novice diver lost control of
Page 129 and 130: entry into a freshwater lake for a
Page 131 and 132: 2002 PublicationsBennett PB, Rostai
Page 133 and 134: Notes132DAN’s Report</str
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