Lessons for Life: Fatal One-Way Trip to the Bottom
Lessons for Life: Fatal One-Way Trip to the Bottom
Jori Bolton
Natalie was uncomfortable with the dive gear she was wearing but decided to ignore her uneasiness. She really wanted to see this shipwreck. Natalie made a giant stride from the boat, and though she struggled a bit on the surface with the extra gear and weight, she was convinced she would be fine once she got underwater. She began venting the air from her BC, and almost immediately dropped below the surface and out of sight.
THE DIVER
Natalie had made 24 lifetime dives, nearly all of them in warm water. She owned her gear, but the heaviest wetsuit she had was a 2 mm one-piece suit.
THE DIVE
It was a clear and cold morning when Natalie and her dive buddy, Steve, boarded the boat for the trip out to a recently discovered shipwreck in the Great Lakes. The ship rested in 50 feet of water, listing slightly to port. All of her friends told her the dive was fantastic, but the water temperature was something she needed to be prepared for. Natalie decided to rent a drysuit.
She had never dived in a drysuit before, but Natalie reasoned that it couldn’t be that diferent from a wetsuit. Steve was comfortable diving in a drysuit, but he didn’t have any experience helping someone else set one up. They guessed at how much weight she’d need, and finally decided that Natalie would wear the same amount as Steve. She was much smaller than Steve, but they reasoned that the extra weight would help her descend. Neither of them wanted her to struggle to get down.
THE ACCIDENT
Once suited up, the divers made their way to the swim step and donned their fins. Natalie added air to her BC. It was the same one she used when diving in the Caribbean, and she was comfortable with it. Steve completed his giant stride first and made himself buoyant on the surface while he waited for Natalie.
Natalie completed her giant-stride entry and slowly bobbed to the surface. She had to kick to keep her head above water as she and Steve swam to the bow to begin their descent. They agreed they were ready for the dive, even though Steve could tell Natalie was winded trying to stay on the surface. Natalie put her regulator in her mouth and took a deep breath while she released air from her BC. As soon as she exhaled she dropped below the surface. Steve descended only a few feet before he saw Natalie rocket past him to the bottom. She had a panicked look in her eyes and frantically tried to grab her nose to equalize. The unfamiliar gloves she wore made that nearly impossible.
Realizing Natalie was in trouble, Steve returned to the surface and shouted for help. The boat’s divemaster immediately jumped to action, suiting up and descending the anchor line, but his search was unsuccessful. Rescue crews responded quickly, but by the time they found her, Natalie had drowned.
ANALYSIS
Enthusiasm for diving and exploration is a wonderful thing, as long as it is tempered with the understanding that you don’t know everything about every dive environment. Natalie’s experience included 24 dives in warm, tropical environments. Diving in warm salt water is not the same as cold fresh water. Natalie’s biggest problem revolved around her equipment and lack of familiarity with its use. Dive accidents involving failed equipment are rare, but accidents involving the improper use of equipment are much more common.
Drysuits are wonderful tools, and Natalie’s drysuit was not the cause of her problems. Attempting to make a dive in a drysuit without understanding how to use one was. She didn’t understand that she needed to adjust her buoyancy underwater using the drysuit itself, not the BC on her back. If Natalie had added air to her suit on the surface, once she defated her BC, she would not have descended so rapidly.
If Natalie had taken a drysuit-diver course, she would have understood her weighting requirements. She would have taken time to get comfortable with the controls of the suit and learned how to make a safe descent and ascent. The extreme overweighting caused her to drop like a stone. In a moment she went from a diver excited about a dive to a panicked diver racing toward the bottom. The pain in her ears would have been extreme for a brief period until her eardrums burst inward from the water pressure. She was descending too quickly to equalize, even if she had been able to pinch her nose with her gloves.
Once Natalie’s eardrums burst, cold water would have rushed into her middle ears, making her disoriented and dizzy. Between the pain, the dizziness and the panic, Natalie probably lost consciousness and drifted away from the shipwreck on the bottom.
Last, Natalie used her warm-water BC for this dive. It was designed for tropical warm-water environments, where divers wear lightweight exposure protection and very little weight. It did not have sufficient lift to support her in the water with the equipment and weight she was wearing, especially without adding air to the suit itself. Like any tool or piece of equipment, BCs are designed for diferent situations and uses.
It is debatable whether Steve should have stayed with his buddy or ascended and attempted to get help as he did. If he had descended, he could have jettisoned her weights and brought Natalie back to the surface. To do that, he would have had to descend very rapidly himself, just to keep up, and possibly injured himself in the process. He was not experienced at performing dive rescues, so it is likely he didn’t know what to do. Many divers don’t. An inexperienced diver attempting to make a rescue can sometimes put two people in trouble instead of just one.
Lessons for Life
1. Gain experience with an instructor if you aren’t familiar with the diving environment.
2. Take time to learn to use new equipment properly.
3. Make a buoyancy check in a safe environment prior to a dive using unfamiliar equipment.
4. Be ready to call any dive at any time if you feel uncomfortable. In this situation, natalie could have returned to the boat when she was struggling and winded on the surface.
5. Get rescue-diver training and learn skills in case you are called upon to rescue a dive buddy.
Jori Bolton
Natalie was uncomfortable with the dive gear she was wearing but decided to ignore her uneasiness. She really wanted to see this shipwreck. Natalie made a giant stride from the boat, and though she struggled a bit on the surface with the extra gear and weight, she was convinced she would be fine once she got underwater. She began venting the air from her BC, and almost immediately dropped below the surface and out of sight.
THE DIVER
Natalie had made 24 lifetime dives, nearly all of them in warm water. She owned her gear, but the heaviest wetsuit she had was a 2 mm one-piece suit.
THE DIVE
It was a clear and cold morning when Natalie and her dive buddy, Steve, boarded the boat for the trip out to a recently discovered shipwreck in the Great Lakes. The ship rested in 50 feet of water, listing slightly to port. All of her friends told her the dive was fantastic, but the water temperature was something she needed to be prepared for. Natalie decided to rent a drysuit.
She had never dived in a drysuit before, but Natalie reasoned that it couldn’t be that diferent from a wetsuit. Steve was comfortable diving in a drysuit, but he didn’t have any experience helping someone else set one up. They guessed at how much weight she’d need, and finally decided that Natalie would wear the same amount as Steve. She was much smaller than Steve, but they reasoned that the extra weight would help her descend. Neither of them wanted her to struggle to get down.
THE ACCIDENT
Once suited up, the divers made their way to the swim step and donned their fins. Natalie added air to her BC. It was the same one she used when diving in the Caribbean, and she was comfortable with it. Steve completed his giant stride first and made himself buoyant on the surface while he waited for Natalie.
Natalie completed her giant-stride entry and slowly bobbed to the surface. She had to kick to keep her head above water as she and Steve swam to the bow to begin their descent. They agreed they were ready for the dive, even though Steve could tell Natalie was winded trying to stay on the surface. Natalie put her regulator in her mouth and took a deep breath while she released air from her BC. As soon as she exhaled she dropped below the surface. Steve descended only a few feet before he saw Natalie rocket past him to the bottom. She had a panicked look in her eyes and frantically tried to grab her nose to equalize. The unfamiliar gloves she wore made that nearly impossible.
Realizing Natalie was in trouble, Steve returned to the surface and shouted for help. The boat’s divemaster immediately jumped to action, suiting up and descending the anchor line, but his search was unsuccessful. Rescue crews responded quickly, but by the time they found her, Natalie had drowned.
ANALYSIS
Enthusiasm for diving and exploration is a wonderful thing, as long as it is tempered with the understanding that you don’t know everything about every dive environment. Natalie’s experience included 24 dives in warm, tropical environments. Diving in warm salt water is not the same as cold fresh water. Natalie’s biggest problem revolved around her equipment and lack of familiarity with its use. Dive accidents involving failed equipment are rare, but accidents involving the improper use of equipment are much more common.
Drysuits are wonderful tools, and Natalie’s drysuit was not the cause of her problems. Attempting to make a dive in a drysuit without understanding how to use one was. She didn’t understand that she needed to adjust her buoyancy underwater using the drysuit itself, not the BC on her back. If Natalie had added air to her suit on the surface, once she defated her BC, she would not have descended so rapidly.
If Natalie had taken a drysuit-diver course, she would have understood her weighting requirements. She would have taken time to get comfortable with the controls of the suit and learned how to make a safe descent and ascent. The extreme overweighting caused her to drop like a stone. In a moment she went from a diver excited about a dive to a panicked diver racing toward the bottom. The pain in her ears would have been extreme for a brief period until her eardrums burst inward from the water pressure. She was descending too quickly to equalize, even if she had been able to pinch her nose with her gloves.
Once Natalie’s eardrums burst, cold water would have rushed into her middle ears, making her disoriented and dizzy. Between the pain, the dizziness and the panic, Natalie probably lost consciousness and drifted away from the shipwreck on the bottom.
Last, Natalie used her warm-water BC for this dive. It was designed for tropical warm-water environments, where divers wear lightweight exposure protection and very little weight. It did not have sufficient lift to support her in the water with the equipment and weight she was wearing, especially without adding air to the suit itself. Like any tool or piece of equipment, BCs are designed for diferent situations and uses.
It is debatable whether Steve should have stayed with his buddy or ascended and attempted to get help as he did. If he had descended, he could have jettisoned her weights and brought Natalie back to the surface. To do that, he would have had to descend very rapidly himself, just to keep up, and possibly injured himself in the process. He was not experienced at performing dive rescues, so it is likely he didn’t know what to do. Many divers don’t. An inexperienced diver attempting to make a rescue can sometimes put two people in trouble instead of just one.
Lessons for Life
1. Gain experience with an instructor if you aren’t familiar with the diving environment.
2. Take time to learn to use new equipment properly.
3. Make a buoyancy check in a safe environment prior to a dive using unfamiliar equipment.
4. Be ready to call any dive at any time if you feel uncomfortable. In this situation, natalie could have returned to the boat when she was struggling and winded on the surface.
5. Get rescue-diver training and learn skills in case you are called upon to rescue a dive buddy.
