be safe out there, check your equipment. In fact, start triple checking and remember never to push yourself, if you feel something is not right, don’t dive and check your gauges often. Our thoughts are with the Fletchers at this time. _ *Useful Links* Shop - www.simplyscuba.com/ Daily Scuba News - bit.ly/39vFkYX Scuba Advice - bit.ly/2SHYiEN Friday Feature - bit.ly/2SsKGhG Deco Stop Podcast - bit.ly/2whcmh7 Teespring - bit.ly/2uLRoGz
That's very sad. Poor guy. I am an instructor recently just had two emergency angioplasties to clear arteries. My air consumption got steadily worse as I got sicker. I had a minor event at 18m not a nice experience I'm lucky to be alive.
Another layer of safety as a prerequisite if it hadn't already been done; it's always good to test your equipment in a pool. especially when it's been a while since it was used or its new equipment or even just before a planned trip. I'd much rather notice equipment problems/failure in a pool. (your training centre would probably be able to advise you of a pool session for this).
Question: Do you think that in cases of stroke or heart attack that a full face mask increases your chances of survival? I believe that it's the only way you're going to be able to continue breathing underwater if you're unconscious.
I'm sure it will increase your chances. Even a simple bungee necklace on your reg, like tek divers use, will help keep the reg in your mouth if you lose consciousness but probably won't prevent your jaw muscles from relaxing and letting water into your mouth.
So if you are a new diver or paired with a new diver who doesn't seem confident in the pre dive checks or any part of the dive, then what should be done? And is there a standard way of doing the pre dive checks i.e. a manual to help with making sure all the key essentials are covered?
then that person should not dive that day. if one is new and maybe doesnt remember the pre dive safety check by the book, then the more experienced buddy can walk them thru it. a pre dive safety check is something that a new diver should have done a minimum of 9 times in their open water course only. yes, there is a standard way of doing it, an order so you dont miss anything.
Most training organisations have a standardized predive check routine and mnemonics to help remember it. But novice summer holiday divers that go a year between dives can forget... If your buddy doesn't remember predive check procedures, they will probably struggle with other skills too, and should be closely supervised during the dive. If you do not have the experience or confidence to supervise and assist a novice diver, let the dive manager know and see about arranging more appropriate buddy pairs. Ideally they should be paired with an instructor or divemaster or dive leader. If you are the novice diver, then look into refresher courses or ask to be paired with an experienced diver who can supervise you.
New question. So if the issues with the equipment, which obviously wasn't caught during pre dive checks, was a contributing factor to his death then could the person who did his buddy check be held liable for it? Asking because if so then having that bit of information out there may help with better equipment checks because no one would ever want to be put in that situation.
you are, in the end, responsible for your own equipment. it's a buddy check, yes, but i dont need a buddy to check my gear, nor can i blame somebody else for not checking my equipment properly. when you get a certification, you do it so you are autonomous. the buddy check is there so that all dive teams check their equipment collectively, and that nothing gets missed. it's literally just 4 things, check you bcd that it inflates/deflates, no leaks, weights are secured and in the right place, you closed all your buckles properly, your tank is open and you've got air. quite basic
@@JamesMilanese123 it does, this is exactly why we do it. but as an autonomous divers, you should be able to do everything by yourself anyways and figure out if theres any issues
There are many things that can fail underwater if not maintained properly. Most cannot be checked by a buddy before the dive, that's what annual/etc checkup/servicing rules are for, both for divers and equipment. The buddy check exists to prevent basic mistakes, like forgetting to change your tank or to turn on your air. And also to show each other how to operate your gear in a rescue. Beyond that, it is your life and your equipment and you are responsible for making sure it is all fit for the dive.
El Diablo a lot of the time a diver doesn't want to hold their buddy up. Something like low air isn't an "emergency" per se, and I could see the diver signalling to his buddy "yeah i'm low on air but its all good mate you keep going I'll just go back myself", especially if there was a watch on look out like the people on shore.
Alicia Day I disagree, sorry. I am a Divemaster, started diving in 2002 and if I know one thing from experience is that usually one single event doesn’t have catastrophic results BUT can lead to a series of events or domino effect that unfortunately often end in something serious happening. The buddy or buddies (if there were 3 of them) should have aborted the dive and surface all together as trained, especially knowing that one member has a medical condition. A life was lost from pure negligence, very sad.
El Diablo I am a Divemaster too. I also don't agree with leaving buddies behind, whenever I have been diving with someone I go with them to surface no matter what. I was simply providing an explaination as to what could have possibly happened, based on my experience on fun dives
Alicia Day I understood your point and I am not questioning your experience, I am just sharing mine. What happen was a collective mistake but could have been avoided if simply they’ve had followed the rules. We both know that diving regulations can sometimes feel more restrictive than necessary but instances like the aforementioned and unfortunate event are there to remind us why...
Mark said the buddy did follow up but lost visual during ascent. Probably due to a rapid ascent by the casualty. In British waters visibility is rarely more than a few meters. If my buddy ascends rapidly, I will stick to the safe ascent rate and meet them at the surface. Sorry, but one casualty is better than two. I'm no use to anyone if I get DCI by following my buddy's runaway ascent. That said I agree, that "go on without me" because of low air should never happen, unless the divers are trained for solo diving and gear accordingly. Buddy pairs are the foundation of recreational diving and the first rule that you always dive according to the most restrictive limit: If one diver uses up their air, they both end the dive.
Sorry, but l cant see any equipment failure. I always dive with my drysuit valve fully open, my position in the water is neutral, it's not and issue and l prefer it that way. I do not use my bcd for buoyancy during the dive only at the surface which is the safest, l only have to concider one buoyancy control not two. Its least complicated way of diving. As for the first stage having not been screwed fully, ok...? but it wasn't leaking so it was still sealed so it was screwed in enough. ! I wish that diving accidents were investigated properly so that we could actualy learn from the mistakes instead of just pointing the finger.
It wasn't his first stage leaking; it was where the LP inflator screwed into the bladder. As to the drysuit, normal doctrine is to add air just to ease the squeeze and use the wing/BCD for buoyancy control; that's what it is designed for. I dive with the autodump a couple of turns shut and only open it fully during the ascent. This gentleman's issue was likely that on reaching the surface he was too stressed and incapacitated to rationalise his BCD failure, shut his autodump and inflate the suit. I don't think there was any info in this vid as to where his buddy was at that point.
@@timgosling6189 Thanks for your post. If the LF was leaking then simply disconnect the hose as taught in basic OW. I have taught over 200 drysuit courses and have way over 3000 drysuit dives. If you have been taught to just add a little bit to ease the squeeze then your instructor was just lazy and worried you would loose control and assent feet first. I turn all my students upside down on purpose to teach them how to regain control. One buoyancy device is enough, two just complicates the issue. Wetsuit then bcd, drysuit then drysuit. In an emergency out of controlled ascent which you should of learned on your drysuit course, you dont want to be balancing two buoyancy devices. Then maybe add to the assent you holding on to another diver which happens on most drysuit courses and now only have one free hand to do both, you will quickly understand why you only use the dry suit.
@@stephens2r338 I find your English difficult to follow but we clearly differ on drysuit technique; if it works for you then fine but I practice an established, widely-accepted technique and I would not describe my instructor all those years ago as 'lazy'. In particular, with diving in very cold water when I do need a lot of air in the suit for insulation, leaving the dump open would just continually release and waste gas as I moved around. However, that does not change the point about this case with a medical problem combining with task loading. I'll try to make his equipment problem clearer: the nut on the junction of the inflator with the bladder was 2 1/2 turns loose, leading to an uncontrolled loss of whatever air was put into the bladder. He did not have a free-flow and disconnecting the hose at the quick-release connector would serve no purpose whatsoever. It was effectively already open at the other end. I do agree that it would be immensely useful to have a open, blame-free reporting and investigation process in the diving community, as happens in aviation, so we could all learn the lessons from these unfortunate events.
@@timgosling6189 the nut at the junction of the inflator with the bladder? It's a spring attachment. The only nut is at the first stage which is why l said it wasn't an issue. Being British l am a little confused that you dont understand my mother tongue. I now live, dive and teach in northern Norway so ice and darkness is my friend. If you have good buoyancy control and your body is horizontal then no air escapes. Seriously it doesn't!! If you find it does then you have been taught poorly. I understand that you feel different and thats not your fault, you naturally trust your instructors but sorry your simply wrong!
@@stephens2r338 OK last input from me. Imagine you are holding the inflator in your left hand. Out of the bottom comes a big corrogated hose. It goes over the left shoulder to an elbow joint which mates to a circular, threaded fixing in the bladder, sealed with an O-ring and screwed down by a big nut. That's the nut that was loose. I apologise for impugning your English but I hope you can understand that 'assent' and 'your wrong' hinted you might be a foreign speaker. Stay safe!
be safe out there, check your equipment. In fact, start triple checking and remember never to push yourself, if you feel something is not right, don’t dive and check your gauges often. Our thoughts are with the Fletchers at this time.
_
*Useful Links*
Shop - www.simplyscuba.com/
Daily Scuba News - bit.ly/39vFkYX
Scuba Advice - bit.ly/2SHYiEN
Friday Feature - bit.ly/2SsKGhG
Deco Stop Podcast - bit.ly/2whcmh7
Teespring - bit.ly/2uLRoGz
That's very sad. Poor guy. I am an instructor recently just had two emergency angioplasties to clear arteries. My air consumption got steadily worse as I got sicker. I had a minor event at 18m not a nice experience I'm lucky to be alive.
Finthefish 1701 stop diving.
Sad to see a fellow diver lose his life😢
This is why they should teach in water buddy checks for even open water
I'm looking at getting into scuba diving. The only thing holding me back some is having a heart problem. Love swimming and snorkeling right now.
William how about the cost for the training and equipment ???
Sorry for his loss.
I wouldn't call this equipment failure rather improper equipment setup which falls back onto the diver
Very sad and double bad luck. I would never leave my son if it happened.
Damn. RIP Ricard :(
Another layer of safety as a prerequisite if it hadn't already been done; it's always good to test your equipment in a pool. especially when it's been a while since it was used or its new equipment or even just before a planned trip. I'd much rather notice equipment problems/failure in a pool. (your training centre would probably be able to advise you of a pool session for this).
Question: Do you think that in cases of stroke or heart attack that a full face mask increases your chances of survival? I believe that it's the only way you're going to be able to continue breathing underwater if you're unconscious.
I'm sure it will increase your chances. Even a simple bungee necklace on your reg, like tek divers use, will help keep the reg in your mouth if you lose consciousness but probably won't prevent your jaw muscles from relaxing and letting water into your mouth.
Yggdrasil42 but bungee won’t keep your mouth shut.
So if you are a new diver or paired with a new diver who doesn't seem confident in the pre dive checks or any part of the dive, then what should be done? And is there a standard way of doing the pre dive checks i.e. a manual to help with making sure all the key essentials are covered?
then that person should not dive that day. if one is new and maybe doesnt remember the pre dive safety check by the book, then the more experienced buddy can walk them thru it. a pre dive safety check is something that a new diver should have done a minimum of 9 times in their open water course only. yes, there is a standard way of doing it, an order so you dont miss anything.
Most training organisations have a standardized predive check routine and mnemonics to help remember it. But novice summer holiday divers that go a year between dives can forget...
If your buddy doesn't remember predive check procedures, they will probably struggle with other skills too, and should be closely supervised during the dive. If you do not have the experience or confidence to supervise and assist a novice diver, let the dive manager know and see about arranging more appropriate buddy pairs. Ideally they should be paired with an instructor or divemaster or dive leader. If you are the novice diver, then look into refresher courses or ask to be paired with an experienced diver who can supervise you.
New question. So if the issues with the equipment, which obviously wasn't caught during pre dive checks, was a contributing factor to his death then could the person who did his buddy check be held liable for it?
Asking because if so then having that bit of information out there may help with better equipment checks because no one would ever want to be put in that situation.
you are, in the end, responsible for your own equipment. it's a buddy check, yes, but i dont need a buddy to check my gear, nor can i blame somebody else for not checking my equipment properly. when you get a certification, you do it so you are autonomous. the buddy check is there so that all dive teams check their equipment collectively, and that nothing gets missed. it's literally just 4 things, check you bcd that it inflates/deflates, no leaks, weights are secured and in the right place, you closed all your buckles properly, your tank is open and you've got air. quite basic
@@newaysss do you think it would help prevent bad situations if both divers went over each other's gear together thoroughly before it is even put on?
@@JamesMilanese123 it does, this is exactly why we do it. but as an autonomous divers, you should be able to do everything by yourself anyways and figure out if theres any issues
There are many things that can fail underwater if not maintained properly. Most cannot be checked by a buddy before the dive, that's what annual/etc checkup/servicing rules are for, both for divers and equipment. The buddy check exists to prevent basic mistakes, like forgetting to change your tank or to turn on your air. And also to show each other how to operate your gear in a rescue. Beyond that, it is your life and your equipment and you are responsible for making sure it is all fit for the dive.
Unfortunately 9 out of 10 diver deaths are found with their weights still on! Please don’t forget this basic safety rule
His dive buddy should have been with him until getting on the boat, I don’t understand what kind of certification they went through... anyway RIP
El Diablo a lot of the time a diver doesn't want to hold their buddy up. Something like low air isn't an "emergency" per se, and I could see the diver signalling to his buddy "yeah i'm low on air but its all good mate you keep going I'll just go back myself", especially if there was a watch on look out like the people on shore.
Alicia Day I disagree, sorry. I am a Divemaster, started diving in 2002 and if I know one thing from experience is that usually one single event doesn’t have catastrophic results BUT can lead to a series of events or domino effect that unfortunately often end in something serious happening. The buddy or buddies (if there were 3 of them) should have aborted the dive and surface all together as trained, especially knowing that one member has a medical condition. A life was lost from pure negligence, very sad.
El Diablo I am a Divemaster too. I also don't agree with leaving buddies behind, whenever I have been diving with someone I go with them to surface no matter what. I was simply providing an explaination as to what could have possibly happened, based on my experience on fun dives
Alicia Day I understood your point and I am not questioning your experience, I am just sharing mine. What happen was a collective mistake but could have been avoided if simply they’ve had followed the rules. We both know that diving regulations can sometimes feel more restrictive than necessary but instances like the aforementioned and unfortunate event are there to remind us why...
Mark said the buddy did follow up but lost visual during ascent. Probably due to a rapid ascent by the casualty. In British waters visibility is rarely more than a few meters.
If my buddy ascends rapidly, I will stick to the safe ascent rate and meet them at the surface. Sorry, but one casualty is better than two. I'm no use to anyone if I get DCI by following my buddy's runaway ascent.
That said I agree, that "go on without me" because of low air should never happen, unless the divers are trained for solo diving and gear accordingly. Buddy pairs are the foundation of recreational diving and the first rule that you always dive according to the most restrictive limit: If one diver uses up their air, they both end the dive.
Sorry, but l cant see any equipment failure. I always dive with my drysuit valve fully open, my position in the water is neutral, it's not and issue and l prefer it that way. I do not use my bcd for buoyancy during the dive only at the surface which is the safest, l only have to concider one buoyancy control not two. Its least complicated way of diving. As for the first stage having not been screwed fully, ok...? but it wasn't leaking so it was still sealed so it was screwed in enough. ! I wish that diving accidents were investigated properly so that we could actualy learn from the mistakes instead of just pointing the finger.
It wasn't his first stage leaking; it was where the LP inflator screwed into the bladder. As to the drysuit, normal doctrine is to add air just to ease the squeeze and use the wing/BCD for buoyancy control; that's what it is designed for. I dive with the autodump a couple of turns shut and only open it fully during the ascent. This gentleman's issue was likely that on reaching the surface he was too stressed and incapacitated to rationalise his BCD failure, shut his autodump and inflate the suit. I don't think there was any info in this vid as to where his buddy was at that point.
@@timgosling6189 Thanks for your post. If the LF was leaking then simply disconnect the hose as taught in basic OW. I have taught over 200 drysuit courses and have way over 3000 drysuit dives. If you have been taught to just add a little bit to ease the squeeze then your instructor was just lazy and worried you would loose control and assent feet first. I turn all my students upside down on purpose to teach them how to regain control. One buoyancy device is enough, two just complicates the issue. Wetsuit then bcd, drysuit then drysuit. In an emergency out of controlled ascent which you should of learned on your drysuit course, you dont want to be balancing two buoyancy devices. Then maybe add to the assent you holding on to another diver which happens on most drysuit courses and now only have one free hand to do both, you will quickly understand why you only use the dry suit.
@@stephens2r338 I find your English difficult to follow but we clearly differ on drysuit technique; if it works for you then fine but I practice an established, widely-accepted technique and I would not describe my instructor all those years ago as 'lazy'. In particular, with diving in very cold water when I do need a lot of air in the suit for insulation, leaving the dump open would just continually release and waste gas as I moved around. However, that does not change the point about this case with a medical problem combining with task loading. I'll try to make his equipment problem clearer: the nut on the junction of the inflator with the bladder was 2 1/2 turns loose, leading to an uncontrolled loss of whatever air was put into the bladder. He did not have a free-flow and disconnecting the hose at the quick-release connector would serve no purpose whatsoever. It was effectively already open at the other end. I do agree that it would be immensely useful to have a open, blame-free reporting and investigation process in the diving community, as happens in aviation, so we could all learn the lessons from these unfortunate events.
@@timgosling6189 the nut at the junction of the inflator with the bladder? It's a spring attachment. The only nut is at the first stage which is why l said it wasn't an issue.
Being British l am a little confused that you dont understand my mother tongue. I now live, dive and teach in northern Norway so ice and darkness is my friend.
If you have good buoyancy control and your body is horizontal then no air escapes. Seriously it doesn't!! If you find it does then you have been taught poorly. I understand that you feel different and thats not your fault, you naturally trust your instructors but sorry your simply wrong!
@@stephens2r338 OK last input from me. Imagine you are holding the inflator in your left hand. Out of the bottom comes a big corrogated hose. It goes over the left shoulder to an elbow joint which mates to a circular, threaded fixing in the bladder, sealed with an O-ring and screwed down by a big nut. That's the nut that was loose. I apologise for impugning your English but I hope you can understand that 'assent' and 'your wrong' hinted you might be a foreign speaker. Stay safe!