Northwest Dive Club

This is crazy sad! Sending good thoughts to his family & fellow divers!

http://q13fox.com/2015/03/22/man-dies-d ... ood-canal/


Stay safe everyone!

KOMO reporting he was from Oregon:

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Oreg ... 81411.html

I still haven't heard what happened last week, it seems that we as pnw divers could possibly learn something from these events.

New article with updated information.

http://www.theolympian.com/2015/03/23/3 ... sport.html

They state the diver was a 51 year old male student pursuing certification. Prior article stated the diver had become unconscious underwater. Possible cardiac event or other health issue? So few details, and we can't be sure what has been published is completely accurate.

Indeed, we can learn from these incidents. Something I've learned from past incidents is: news articles can be notoriously wrong, and it's best to get information from the source, or a reliable 2nd party.

So sorry for all involved. Be careful out there folks.

lavachickie wrote: Indeed, we can learn from these incidents. Something I've learned from past incidents is: news articles can be notoriously wrong, and it's best to get information from the source, or a reliable 2nd party.

^^^ Word ^^^

This is an interesting article I found on the DAN website and may offer some insight on some of these incidents for those of us wanting to know more. I'm aware the first article is a CCR divers account of an incident and the hoodsport divers were not on CCR. It does however illustrate the divers experience with flash pulmonary edema and the management of it. I also noticed that work of breathing and cold were thought to be directly related both in this article and other studies I read.

https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/divi ... RCHW1z4tSU

http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/x ... sequence=1

Yes IPE is a very serious condition, but I haven't heard of anyone locally having that diagnosis and its not actually common either. Twice in one week would be an unbelievable rate. Sadly, once they drown its usually nearly impossible to piece together all the factors and IPE may be present but mischaracterized or omitted from the overlying cause of death which is still drowning.

I've always considered IPE a bit of a zebra.

I would take into account dehydration and physical fitness a much more likely concern, especially when we are looking at a subset of divers who travel reasonably long distances after getting up early to make it up here and go diving.

There are other aspects of this i'm curious about, such as are there higher risks of blood clots due to dehydration from a night of sleeping and then drinking coffee and not drinking a bunch of water cause stopping to pee on the trip is an inconvenience and then sitting for 3 hrs, etc... (I don't know, but have email out to my diving doctor friends) Stress and possible lack of sleep from being up late packing and preparing followed by the early morning etc...

A zebra in a horse pasture.

ljjames wrote:There are other aspects of this i'm curious about, such as are there higher risks of blood clots due to dehydration from a night of sleeping and then drinking coffee and not drinking a bunch of water cause stopping to pee on the trip is an inconvenience and then sitting for 3 hrs, etc... (I don't know, but have email out to my diving doctor friends) Stress and possible lack of sleep from being up late packing and preparing followed by the early morning etc...

Please loop back and share that, might make a great discussion thread. After a group started discussing the increased risks of those around the table (middle aged or later, overweight, various issues) and then some of the habits we tended to pair with diving, just like those you point out... someone said, "Dang, how are any of us even still alive?"

I wonder if there are golf forums where people keep track of those dying on the courses in the PNW and around the world? When people are 50+ and doing something that gets their heart rate up there are going to be deaths. I like to disect the causes in my mind because I want to avoid the problems I can, but often it is just 50+. Remember the joke, hit the ball and drag Henry, hit the ball and drag Henry.

Local news article, but no additional information about the cause/details of the event.

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/n ... /70353980/

Information I got elsewhere on last week's incident was that the diver got water in her throat during a mask skill and choked. She may have had some laryngospasm, but she was unable to breathe and passed out. She came out fine. In this one, a student appears to have gotten separated from his class, which is a whole different thing.

LCF wrote:Information I got elsewhere on last week's incident was that the diver got water in her throat during a mask skill and choked. She may have had some laryngospasm, but she was unable to breathe and passed out. She came out fine. In this one, a student appears to have gotten separated from his class, which is a whole different thing.

I am very glad to hear that she is okay!

My condolences to the friends and family of the latest incident, though.

CaptnJack wrote:Yes IPE is a very serious condition, but I haven't heard of anyone locally having that diagnosis and its not actually common either. Twice in one week would be an unbelievable rate. Sadly, once they drown its usually nearly impossible to piece together all the factors and IPE may be present but mischaracterized or omitted from the overlying cause of death which is still drowning.

I have experienced IPE TWICE diving in the Puget sound (in 2009 and 2011). Once on a short shallow night dive at Titlow and then on the surface at Redondo. I have since dove a hundred or more times in the same conditions and have not had any reoccurance. I actually contacted Duke University who has an on going study of IPE and submitted my data.

luv2dive wrote:

CaptnJack wrote:Yes IPE is a very serious condition, but I haven't heard of anyone locally having that diagnosis and its not actually common either. Twice in one week would be an unbelievable rate. Sadly, once they drown its usually nearly impossible to piece together all the factors and IPE may be present but mischaracterized or omitted from the overlying cause of death which is still drowning.

I have experienced IPE TWICE diving in the Puget sound (in 2009 and 2011). Once on a short shallow night dive at Titlow and then on the surface at Redondo. I have since dove a hundred or more times in the same conditions and have not had any reoccurance. I actually contacted Duke University who has an on going study of IPE and submitted my data.

I thought that further diving was contraindicated by IPE. While it seems like awhile ago, were you actually cleared to dive again?

Over 50?? what about over70?

I have to agree that age and stress levels are indeed a factor but there are so many complicating factors that it is impossible to rule out anything and in most of these instances we will never get the details. A 16 year old kids drop dead on the courts with no history of problems. One of the most common killers of middle aged people is sudden death syndrome and I don't think they have ever proved what causes that. There are dozens of every day things that can turn fatal if they occur under water especially with new and inexperienced divers. There was an incidence just a couple of days ago of a middle aged lady news anchor who had just finished an assignment and was simply riding back to the station and she had an aneurism and died on the spot?

It may not even be dive related. Could be his heart just stopped or any one of a thousand things that happen every day above water just chose that moment to happen. Life is fleeting and we don't get to read the script so dive careful and wisely but remember to enjoy every moment.

I feel for the family and friends that lost a loved one and for the students there that may never dive again.