Divers plunging into trouble

[Mr T.]

Divers plunging into trouble


Inexperience, health problems blamed for spate of scuba accidents, deaths
Sandra McCulloch Times Colonist
Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Inexperience and pre-existing medical problems are factors behind a number of recent scuba-diving deaths and mishaps, says regional coroner Rose Stanton.

"There's no pattern of equipment causing problems," said Stanton this week.

Still, the frequency and number of divers getting into trouble this season off south Vancouver Island is troubling.

On May 18, a 54-year-old Calgary man suffered an apparent heart attack and died while on a dive off Denman Island.

On May 22, a 37-year-old male diver was pulled away by strong currents from his anchored boat off James Bay. He was rescued by a nearby boater.

On June 3, a male and female failed to return to a charter boat while diving near Race Rocks. They were rescued later by coast guard crews, who found them floating several kilometres apart in 1.5-metre waves. The area is known for its strong currents.

On July 5, a 33-year-old Ontario woman on her honeymoon ran into trouble in 15 metres of water and drowned while diving with her husband in Sansum Narrows.

On July 10, a male diver suffered an apparent heart attack at Snake Island near Nanaimo.

While scuba diving is extremely popular here, those who have problems are often inexperienced and don't dive regularly, said Stanton.

"You have to think about how far away you are from help," she said.

The south Island's best-trained divers, members of the navy's Fleet Diving Unit (Pacific), are often called to assist the recovery of scuba divers' bodies.

"We do see conditions the divers are in and there's probably a message to be sent in terms of helping novice divers," said Lt.(N) Serge Vidalis.

Diving expeditions can go wrong when the divers lack experience, said Vidalis. "Novice divers experiencing an emergency may not react the way they were trained.

"Anyone can be disoriented. A ruptured eardrum can cause vertigo or it could be the diver gets into heavy vegetation -- the environment has a big impact on how you react," Vidalis said.

The unit's divers are highly trained and experienced but still they are in the water nearly every day honing their skills, he said.

"Diving with more experienced divers is key to developing your expertise. If you're in trouble, it's good to have someone there who has been through that incident before or something similar and is able to render assistance."

Despite the risks, diving is "absolutely safe," Vidalis said. "It's as safe as any other sport and I suppose if there wasn't any risk people wouldn't do it."

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2005

http://www.canada.com/victoria/times...5-eb5c3568fff0

[onthetrain]

its not just here then

[Foggy]

Oh Poo!

So Sh*t happens everywhere, we're not unique

Mind- you ...... you might expect this from a "Colonist" (bum reporter? -TIC)

(or are they simply living in the colony's?)

Cheers, Paul

[Bantam]

Is it fair to point out that initially the medical for diving was quite rigorous, including a chest x-ray (we all know the 'recent flu' thing our doctors used to pull to get us a free one ). I remember having to go once every couple of years to the quacks, take in a nice form, get the once over and pay for the medical certificate.

Since the medical waiver appeared back in the 90's (thankyou america) as a means of getting more people into the sport, we seem to have accidents which are as a direct result of people not being medically fit to dive. Whether a PFO or otherwise. It's very easy just to tick the boxes on the form even if you have had one or more of the items on the list, because who checks up on it?

Would it therefore be fair to say that if we still did the full on medical, or the HSE forced through that all divers should have a full medical, there would probably be much much less diving accidents caused by people diving 'normally' (i.e. well within ND limits and safe diving practices)?

[Fathoms Down]

Originally Posted by Bantam

Would it therefore be fair to say that if we still did the full on medical, or the HSE forced through that all divers should have a full medical, there would probably be much much less diving accidents caused by people diving 'normally' (i.e. well within ND limits and safe diving practices)?

You are spot on, there would be less incidents but thats probably because there would be less divers. I know its quite normal for YD members to give casual divers a bit of stick but we need to remember that diving has become more affordable and safer simply because its gone mass market. The harder we make it for people to take up and enjoy diving, the harder it will be for us to get new kit, servicing, air fills, advances in technology, etc, etc....

[Bantam]

Originally Posted by Fathoms Down

You are spot on, there would be less incidents but thats probably because there would be less divers. I know its quite normal for YD members to give casual divers a bit of stick but we need to remember that diving has become more affordable and safer simply because its gone mass market. The harder we make it for people to take up and enjoy diving, the harder it will be for us to get new kit, servicing, air fills, advances in technology, etc, etc....

I totally agree with you there. However, therefore, we should be aware that this in turn will lead to more fatalities because of medical reasons.

Example - some people only know when they've got a PFO, for example, because they get a skin bend after a relatively mild diving profile. However, the old medical used to test for a PFO as part of it's routine. I had to go for an ECG because they thought I had a murmur when I had my first medical at 14, but it wasn't a problem.

[dlegros]

Originally Posted by Bantam

I totally agree with you there. However, therefore, we should be aware that this in turn will lead to more fatalities because of medical reasons.

Example - some people only know when they've got a PFO, for example, because they get a skin bend after a relatively mild diving profile. However, the old medical used to test for a PFO as part of it's routine. I had to go for an ECG because they thought I had a murmur when I had my first medical at 14, but it wasn't a problem.

Unfortunately, a PFO is not that easy to spot - there may be no regurgitation sounds, no ECG abnormalities and it won't be picked up by a chest X-ray.

Even doppler ultrasound can miss small PFOs.

Dom

[Fathoms Down]

Originally Posted by Bantam

However, therefore, we should be aware that this in turn will lead to more fatalities because of medical reasons.

Thats the rub but people doing any kind of activity put themselves at risk of killing themselves due to medical issues. Regulation can save lives but it can also kill off an activity. At least with diving they are likely to take less people with them compared with driving if they do have a heart attack!

Personally I would like to see more people having an regular medical as part of their normal lives.

[nigelH]

*shrug*

I've just had my medical done for another year.

OK he wants an extra test done before I'm cleared for deco but I can get that done locally then I'm fully signed off for another year.

Forty quid, well over eighty once you include traveling, well spent.

What I do not want to do is leave some poor buddy wondering what he could have done when it was my fault for being in the water.

[chrisch]

Originally Posted by Bantam

... Would it therefore be fair to say that if we still did the full on medical, or the HSE forced through that all divers should have a full medical, there would probably be much much less diving accidents caused by people diving 'normally' (i.e. well within ND limits and safe diving practices)?

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The tiny percentage of accidents that are due to medical conditions that would be detected (e.g. not PFO) is not enough to justify this. Who will do the medicals? The NHS is overstretched now.

France have annual medicals but their accident rate is not much different.

The current system is the correct one. Unless you want a sport regulated by law (like it is in France) with legal depth limits and so-on leave well alone.....

Chris