BSAC

October 2005     05/007
An instructor and two trainees were engaged in an alternative air source training session at a depth of 8m. With the two students sharing a regulator they ascended to the surface. Their ascent was slow due to poor finning technique. At the surface one of the students inflated his BCD; he was extremely out of breath. The second student had difficulty orally inflating her BCD and the instructor inflated it with the direct feed. The first student was still out of breath and he removed his regulator and mask. He then began to panic and swim for the shore. During the short swim to the shore the second trainee stated that she was losing a fin. The instructor took the fin. The second trainee then became entangled in the SMB line and the instructor dropped the fin to resolve the tangle. At the shore a fourth diver came to assist. He offered his SMB as a buoyancy aid and gave the student one of his fins to allow her to swim to the exit point. This student then began to feel dizzy and she vomited twice. All divers were safely recovered from the water and no subsequent ill effects were experienced.

November 2005     05/022
Two trainees and an instructor conducted a dive to a maximum depth of 15m. The two trainees' previous experience had been in warm water. Towards the end of the dive they settled on a platform at a depth of 7m to conduct mask clearing drills as previously agreed. The instructor demonstrated and one of the trainees completed the drill. The second trainee then attempted this skill. He kept his eyes closed as he wore contact lenses. When he removed his mask he was shocked by the cold water. He tried to refit the mask but did not feel that it was correctly fitted, so he removed it again. He then inhaled some water and began to breathe heavily. He signalled that he wished to ascend and the instructor brought him to the surface using a controlled buoyant lift. At the surface he quickly recovered and no subsequent ill effects were experienced.

January 2005     05/049
Two divers completed a 34 min dive to a maximum depth of 20m with a 1 min stop at 6m. 1 hour 55 min later they dived again. One diver swam just behind the other and they regularly exchanged signals. 15 min into the dive, at a depth of 19m, the diver who was following removed her main regulator to reposition it. During a subsequent breath her mouth became filled with water and she started to gag. She tried to attract her buddy's attention by nudging his leg but he did not realise that this was a signal for help and swam on. The troubled diver tried to use her octopus regulator but had no air in her lungs and was unable to purge it. She did not think to use the purge button. She made a rapid ascent to the surface and was assisted from the water by others. Her buddy realised that she was missing and swam back looking for her and then made a normal ascent. The troubled diver was placed on oxygen for 10 min. The following day she experienced a tightness in her chest and sought medical attention. Water inspiration was diagnosed and she was advised to see her doctor if an infection developed. The diver had been using a regulator with a side mounted diaphragm and exhaust valve and it was thought that she had not moved her head to this side to enable the initial clearing of this regulator.

February 2005     05/054
Two divers descended a shotline. During the descent they encountered a strong current, abandoned the shotline and descended in open water. The current took them into deep water. During the dive they were joined by a third diver who was using twin 12l cylinders. When one of the original pair reached 100 bar they prepared a delayed SMB to make their ascent. The reel of this buoy jammed and was abandoned. A second reel was prepared but the handle broke. This second failure, combined with the current, led to a stressful ascent and by 15m the diver who had been down to 100 bar was running out of air. This diver used the alternative air source of the third diver. They made a safe ascent to the surface incorporating a 3 min stop at 6m. No subsequent ill effects were experienced.

February 2005     05/060
A trainee conducted a dive to a depth of 7m. Towards the end of the dive he was low on air and surfaced with his buddy. At the surface he had problems due to a lack of buoyancy, he swallowed some water and began to panic. Once out of the water he was placed on oxygen and an ambulance was called. He was seen by a paramedic but no further action was taken. The diver's weightbelt weighed 19.4kg.

April 2005     05/139
A diver was sitting on a pontoon waiting to enter to the water to act as a casualty in a rescue management exercise. He was wearing a twin set with which he was unfamiliar. Without his mask, fins or his suit direct feed fitted he entered the water by falling forward. The edge of the pontoon was thin and he became trapped, face down in the water with the pontoon wedged between his cylinders and his bottom. Without his fins he was unable to kick free. Another trainee quickly pushed him free. Once free, he struggled to keep his face out of the water. An instructor went to his aid and he was helped from the water. No subsequent ill effects were experienced.

April 2005     05/226
Two divers entered the water to make their first sea dive of the year. Both were using equipment some of which was new to them. One diver was insufficiently weighted and she pulled herself rapidly down the shotline. The other diver attempted to keep up with her and became out of breath. He found that he was over-weighted. They dived down the side of a wreck to a depth of 23m. When one of the divers reached 110 bar he signalled to his buddy and they ascended up the wreck. They started to move back towards the shot. But the current was stronger and the diver who had had 110 bar saw that his air was now down to 80 bar. He signalled that they should ascend and he started to move up. However his buddy did not follow and he completed his ascent alone. He was recovered into the boat. His buddy continued to the shotline which she ascended, completing decompression stops on the way.

April 2005     05/225
Two divers entered the water to conduct a drift dive. One of the pair was holding an SMB reel and the other was using a camera. Unknown to them, the diver with the reel started the dive with his pony regulator in his mouth instead of his main regulator. Once underwater they started to swim through some deep gullies but had problems with the SMB line snagging on the rocks above them. The diver carrying the reel had to stop and pull the line free. As he did so he ran out of air. He looked at his contents gauge which read 240 bar. He then realise that he had the wrong regulator in his mouth but he was unable to find his main regulator or his octopus regulator. He looked for his buddy but she was 5m away and busy with her camera. The troubled diver had swallowed a lot of water and was beginning to panic. He had let go of the SMB reel and was sinking backwards when his regulator swung into view; he grabbed it and put it into his mouth. He was sick and then recovered control. His buddy recovered the SMB reel and handed it to him and they then completed the dive. No subsequent ill effects were experienced.

May 2005     05/357
Solent Coastguard received a call from dive support vessel reporting having a diver overdue by 15 min, the diver subsequently surfaced safe and well before the rescue helicopter and lifeboat arrived. The diver had deployed his delayed SMB (alone) and the reel not being attached drifted off the diver, having over 20 min to go on ascent the diver drifted away from the support vessel. (Coastguard report).

May 2005     05/295
Two divers dived to a depth of 20m. Towards the end of the dive one of the pair was low on air. She attempted to deploy a delayed SMB but failed to do so and lost a large amount of air from her octopus regulator. Her buddy filled the SMB and began the ascent. The diver who was low on air struggled to leave the bottom and had to fin very hard. She added some air to her BCD but had very little air left. At 10m she grabbed her buddy's regulator and began to panic. The buddy switched to his back up regulator and managed to regain control. They made a normal ascent with stops at 6 and 3m. No subsequent ill effects were experienced.

May 2005     05/148
Two pairs of rebreather divers entered the water to descend a shotline to a wreck. The site was very busy, underwater visibility was low, and there were many divers using the same shotline. One of the divers signalled to his buddy and dived. He swam to the shot and started to descend. His signal had not been seen by his buddy and the other divers were unaware of his actions. The lone diver saw other divers on the shot above him and assumed that they were his buddies. He continued down to the wreck at a depth of 36m. At the bottom he waited for the other divers. The others realised that the fourth diver was missing and descended the shotline to find him. At 20m there was no sign of him and they decided to abort the dive. They surfaced and left the water. The lone diver discovered that those following were not his buddies. He then saw others descending and waited for them, only to find that they too were not his buddies. He then discovered that his dive computer was showing a low battery warning. The computer then went blank. He checked his backup computer and this too had failed. With no time or depth information he made a very slow ascent up the shotline. Nearing the surface he spotted a decompression trapeze and moved on to it. He then deployed a delayed SMB. A diver from another group descended to confirm that it was the missing diver and that he was not in trouble. After he had been missing for 20 min the Coastguard was alerted and a lifeboat and a helicopter were tasked to search. The diver eventually surfaced after a dive time of 40 min. He suffered no ill effects. Both computers had suffered battery failure. One had had new batteries that month and the other within 6 months.

June 2005     05/163
Two divers entered the water to descend a shotline. They had readied themselves in a hurry because of a short slack water period. One of the divers had turned her air on but, in the haste to prepare, someone else had turned it off again. At about 10m this diver was unable to get further air. Her buddy was using a recently reconfigured diving set and had not yet fitted an alternative air source. They attempted to share the buddy's main regulator. The diver who had her air turned off was negatively buoyant and they sank down the shotline. The air donor had a hammer clipped to him with a karabiner and this became entangled in the shotline and stopped his descent. The diver without air continued to sink to the seabed at 27m. Her buddy had managed to turn her air cylinder on slightly and she was able to inflate her drysuit. She made a rapid, buoyant ascent to the surface. The buddy was still tangled in the shotline and unable to get to his regulator. Another pair of divers from the same party descended the shotline and found the tangled diver. They gave him an alternative air source, untangled him and all three made a controlled ascent to the surface. The diver who made the rapid ascent arrived at the surface dazed and coughing up blood, she was recovered into the boat and placed on oxygen. The boat returned to the shore and both divers were taken to hospital for checks. No subsequent ill effects were experienced.

June 2005     05/174
Two divers descended a buoyed chain to a wreck. There was a strong current. They exchanged OK signals during the descent. In low visibility they became separated. One of the pair was too buoyant and ascended quickly to the surface. The other diver reached the wreck and realised that his buddy was missing. He looked around and then made his way back to the chain to make his ascent. Both were safely recovered into the boat. No subsequent ill effects were experienced.

July 2005     05/170
Two divers dived to a depth of 22m in a quarry. During their ascent one of the pair ran out of air at about 11m. He switched to his pony regulator and continued his ascent. At the surface he took the regulator from his mouth but was unable to inflate his BCD because his main cylinder was empty. He failed to retrieve his regulator and began to sink. At 5m he dropped his weightbelt and returned to the surface. He shouted for help and another diver entered the water and assisted him back to the shore. He was placed on oxygen and airlifted to a hospital for checks.

August 2005     05/430
Swansea Coastguard received a 999 call from dive boat reporting a missing diver, Swansea Coastguard tasked Horton & Port Eynon lifeboats, RAF rescue helicopter R-169 and Oxwich Coastguard. The units commenced searching when the diver was recovered by lifeboat, the diver had dived from a friend's RHIB with no marker float and no buddy and 5min into the dive his computer failed, continuing with the dive, he lost contact with the boat, when ashore was uncooperative not giving his name or details of club. (Coastguard report).

August 2005     05/211
A pair of divers entered the water and swam to a shotline. They started their descent and, at 4m, one of the divers' regulators stopped feeding him air. His buddy was slightly below him and he headed back to the surface. At the surface he was unable to inflate his BCD and he struggled to stay at the surface. His buddy surfaced and gave him her primary regulator and switched to her own alternative air source. Two other divers from this party had just started their descent, they saw that there was a problem and returned to help. The troubled diver managed to shout that he had no air and one of the others checked his pillar valves. The diver was wearing a twin-set and the valve to his reserve regulator was turned on but the valve to his main regulator was turned off. The other diver turned this valve on and the diver was able to inflate his BCD. The diver was recovered into the boat and the Coastguard was alerted. The diver was airlifted to a hospital for a check up and released later that day.

August 2005     05/445
Two divers ran out of air whilst on a 27m dive, the dive boat had no means of communication so the distress situation was relayed to Portland Coastguard by another vessel, Coastguard rescue helicopter R-WB airlifted the divers to Poole HLS where they were met by an ambulance and Poole Coastguard and transported to Poole chamber. (Coastguard report).