Another Dive Accident in Port Washington

[scubafreek864]

I was taught that rule #1 is always dive with a buddy!!  That will always be #1 in my book.

The first accident that happened around 300ft. (IMO) could have been prevented if he would have had a "buddy" with him.

[Vtach]

Not necessarily in that case.  Chances are that a buddy would not have made a difference in the outcome.

[scubafreek864]

Not necessarily in that case.  Chances are that a buddy would not have made a difference in the outcome.
[/quote]

So, does anyone know what the cause of death actually was?

[Vtach]

I doubt that anyone really exactly what events that caused his death were.  Here is what we can speculate through information on other forums. 

He was known to regularly dive a modified BMR 500 closed circuit rebreather possibly manually operated.
Pictures posted did not indicate he used a full face mask, bailout valve or heads up display on that unit.
He had previous experience diving beyond recreational depths with staged decompression on CCR.

Possible causes based on this information are numerous but I will list the ones that I feel are most pertinent

1. CCR operation related.
   a. Hypoxia - lose consciousness, lose mouthpiece and drown.
   b. Hyperoxia - start to seize, lose mouthpiece and drown
   c. Hypercapnia (scrubber failure) - become disoriented, lose consciousness, lose mouthpiece and drown
   d. Loop failure (caustic cocktail) - airway irritation, coughing, choking (if bailout not easily accessible drowning is likely)
2. Medical
    a. heart attack, pulmonary embolus, stroke (cerbral embolus), etc....

A manually operated closed circuit rebreather relies on the diver to maintain the setpoint or level of oxygen in the breathing loop.  If it is too low (hypoxia) or too high (hyperoxia), the above problems will likely happen.  Once unconscious and the mouthpiece is lost, it is highly unlikely to get it back in.  At those depths the diver will need (for the most part) to be self sufficient and manage problems on their own.  A buddy may be able to offer minor assistance with additional gas supplies or minor equipment problems but once things transgress to the point of impairment, a buddy would have great difficulty in "rescuing".

[fuzzytop]

you say Chances are that a buddy would not have made a difference in the outcome. you also say a buddy may not of helped . But if it was me , I would of liked to have the chance that a buddy could of helped or made a difference we know what happen without a buddy, I just would like to know what would of happen with one i also believe that anyone else involved would like to know.

[Vtach]

Sure, we would all like to know if a buddy would have made a difference.  However, there have more than enough deaths on open circuit and closed circuit in the presence of "buddies" who were unable to help and it sounds like the death on the Northerner may have been one of those situations.  In the other fatality, you really need to understand the type of dive he was executing and reduce the focus on typical open water protocols from the evaluation of potential causes.  To simply say that having a buddy would have prevented this particular accident seems a bit unrealistic given the depth and equipment used. 

[Vtach]

No real details that I am aware of other than what was listed in the JS (and those are probably pretty flimsy also).  Sounds like he was not alone, a member of a dive club and diving a wreck in recreational depths.  It doesn't sound like he ran out of gas because according to the article, he appeared to have problems breathing shortly after getting to the bottom.  It may have been an equipment malfunction, medical or a combination thereof with panic.  Sounds like a buddy was along but no details if they were able to assist.  Not really much to go on from there unless someone can provide more details.  I would bet that the "legal" cause of death would be drowning.....

[Vtach]

I will open up a new thread on this in the CCR forum rather than hijack this one.

[fuzzytop]

He had a free flow on the bottom and didn't know how to handle it, his tank had three hundred lbs left in it at the surface. 

[Vtach]

Then it sounds to me like a chain of events.  Malfunctioning regulator, freeflow, panic, illogical emotional reaction, drowning...  I take it the buddy was unable to assist or may even had to push away to save themselves?  Regardless, it is a sad turn of events.