Scuba Diving fatality in the Red Sea February 28, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : general , add a commentCDNN report that an incident in the Red sea has left one diver dead another slightly injured. A man in his sixties from the center of the country died on Saturday while scuba diving near the Underwater Marine Observatory in Eilat. The exact causes of his death are unknown.
His diving partner, who pulled him out of the water, was lightly injured and taken to the southern city’s Yoseftal Medical Center. The two men were diving 50 meters underwater with equipment necessary for this depth. When the man began feeling ill, his friend helped him up to sea level.
A Magen David Adom rescue services paramedic, Amit Regev, told reporters after a conversation with the injured friend, “The diving partner continued taking the man to sea level after he already had lost his pulse and was not breathing. A boat reached the men, pulled them out of the water, and took them to shore.”
A doctor, who happened to be at the shore, attempted but failed to resuscitate the diver with the help of diving instructors. His death was pronounced at the scene.
I suspect that this one could be a heart attack, as the diver felt ill before being brought to the surface, but if there is any more clarification I’ll follow up here
The body will be transferred to the Abu Kabir forensics institute in Jaffa, where the cause of death will be determined.
BSAC World at the London Dive Show for the second year February 28, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : News , add a commentIf you are thinking about attending the London Dive Show this year then it might be worth checking out what BSAC are planning. BSAC always have a strong attendance at the show and this year is no different. Here is their press release giving details of their plans.
LIDS 2006 will, for the second year, feature BSAC World. You can find out everything you want about the BSAC and have the total BSAC Experience!
Meet BSAC HQ
There will be a main BSAC stand where you can meet BSAC HQ staff from every department. Membership staff will be there to answer any Branch queries and can renew your membership or join up new members while you wait. The Diver Resources Team will be available to tell you all about the latest Skill Development Courses and what is going on in diving. Why not book on one of our SDCs while you are at the show? The BSAC Mailshop will have all the latest BSAC merchandise, including the increasingly popular Seamanship for Divers book.
Branch Marketing
If your Branch is keen to increase its membership, attract new divers and learn any Marketing tips, the BSAC Marketing Team will be at the show. If you have any success stories, we’d love to hear them so bring them along and tell us all about what you are doing in your Branch.
Project Neptune
Why not take the opportunity to find out all about Project Neptune? Chris Horan the Project Manager will be on hand to answer any questions you may have about the installation of the new system and what it means for you and your Branch.
BSAC Coaches
Some of our BSAC Coaches will be at the show to speak to you. The Coaching Scheme is there to help you and your Branch, so please do take the time to visit the Coaches and speak to them. They are always happy to visit your Branches and take the time to help sort out any training problems you may be experiencing.
Try A Rebreather Dive
Alongside the BSAC stand, BSAC World will feature the Rebreather pool. Once you have experienced a Rebreather dive you can talk to one of our Technical Rebreather Advisors who will be on the BSAC Stand and discuss how you can progress Rebreather diving with the BSAC.
Search fails to find diver missing off Sydney coast February 28, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : OceanDiving , add a commentNot much details at the moment about a diving fatality in Australia. The scuba diver is still missing after a dive about four nautical miles off Bondi Beach at a depth of 71 meters (233 feet).
A massive air and sea search is underway to find the missing diver who disappeared at about 9:30am.
Officials told CDNN the search by Water Police and Surf Rescue has been hampered by poor visibility in the water.
Further Progress made on Matthew Johnstons Quest to Scuba Dive February 28, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : general , add a comment
Matthew Johnston is a bit of a hero of mine. In a recent Yorkshire Divers discussion he announced his latest article from the MDA ‘Quest’ website. Matthew aims to go scuba diving in the sea. This wouldn’t be such a big deal for many people until you realise that Matthew has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and relies on 24-hour ventilator assistance. He had a trach inserted 11 years ago, he’s used a power wheelchair for 20 years, and he has movement only in his thumbs. Incredibly, Matthew discusses his dream on many scuba diving forums, and edits his own website.
He’s had seven dives that lasted over 30 minutes, with the longest at 60 minutes, and he’s reached a maximum depth of 6 feet with his current equipment. In a practice dive in January, he remained under water at 6 feet for 60 minutes. So far, he’s logged 280 minutes in practice dives.
At each practice dive, Johnston’s nurse, Sara Freking, and two professional divers assist. Freking stays above water to monitor the ventilator as it floats on the surface in a sealed, 9-gallon plastic container. She also monitors the ventilator connection that runs through Johnston’s drysuit, while the two divers accompany him under water.
Before each dive, Johnston is transferred into a manual wheelchair that goes into the water. Since he can’t move his arms or legs, he depends on the vent, drysuit and diving buddies for survival.
What must seem like a very straightforward task to most scuba divers represents a phenomenal effort by Matthew and his dedicated team of scientists, medical staff, and dive buddies. Matthew aims to go scuba diving in the Bahamas in the summer of this year, and will be using newly developed equipment specifically designed for the task.
Why is Matthew so keen to get underwater? Well, he says;
Johnston believes that his will and determination to achieve his scuba diving dream also will enable him to “make a difference in the world by helping to create better technology and making diving safer for everyone.
“I want to help open the door for other people with similar problems,” he explained. “There are a lot of people on vents, and they can’t handle it so they give up. I want to give people hope and encourage people to not give up on their dreams.”
Matthew needs donations to keep his dream alive. If you would like to help then visit www.scubadivingdream.com or www.divingadream.org.
U.S. Supreme Court denies appeal of beauty queen caught scuba diving on video February 23, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : News , add a commentIt doesn’t seem such a crime to be seen scuba diving on video does it? Well, it does when you are claiming disability benefit, says CDNN
Denise “Dee” Henderson, a former Mrs. Minnesota International, was convicted of fraud in 2004 after collecting more than $190,000 in Social Security benefits by claiming she was disabled. She is currently serving a four-year term which started in 2005 and appealed her conviction. The US Supreme court rejected the appeal after jurors saw a videotape of Denise, scuba diving in Hawaii.
Denise Henderson won the Mrs. Minnesota International title in 1999 and she also competed in the Mrs. U.S. International pageant and won the Mrs. Iowa International 2001 pageant. She was also a Mrs. International Top 10 finalist.
Find out about scuba diving Thai Wrecks with ThaiWreckDiver.com February 23, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : WreckDiving , add a commentI saw that divehappy had been talking about ThaiWreckDiver today and so I took a look. Wow, what a packed website and I can’t believe I haven’t heard of it before.
Chris says this about the site;
Both the Khram and the Hardeep are amongst the wrecks featured on ThaiWreckDiver.com, a comprehensive overview of Gulf Of Thailand wrecks put together by Steve Burton, the resident Wreck Diver and Engineer at Pattaya’s Mermaids Dive Centre. Steve is well known in the dive community as an authority on Thai shipwrecks and this site is a great example of the effort he has put into researching each of the wrecks that have been discovered so far. This research is important beyond the enjoyment of scuba diving - several of the wrecks are war graves, like the submarine USS Legarto, and their discovery and respectful exploration by tech scuba divers has allowed families to provide a fitting memorial to those who died.
Steve has put together a great website here with plenty of information for the recreational diver and also some for the more adventurous scuba divers who enjoy decompression (yeah right 
) and using trimix in his ‘deep’ section
At a depth 85meters/ 280ft This is the deepest dive site in the Gulf of Thailand, and is for full TRIMIX certified divers only. Sunlight rarely permeates down to the bottom here, and the use of Both Hypoxic TRIMIX (at this depth), multiple torches, multiple computers, and formal technical diver training should be considered the minimum equipment and experience necessary to survive this dive. The dive site is also in an area of very strong currents (maybe the strongest in the Gulf), AND is also an inland waterway with a heavy daily traffic of oil and gas tankers who’s hulls reach down well into your top 4 stops. Oh, and I forgot to mention the unexploded bombs littering the sea bed here in what is labeled on the chart as an ‘explosives dumping ground’. A better idea of the strength of currents at this site can be gauged by the fact that it is not unusual to meet the 1 meter diameter teardrop buoy submerged by current at your 15meter stop. Deploying the lift bag at this point to ‘drift on the bag’ with the current could result in surfacing either in Pattaya or Cambodia depending on which way the currents running once the ’stops’ are completed if dived during a ’spring run’. I have been ‘officially lost at sea’ during such a dive, returning home someway up the coast after luckily bumping into an Ocean going Deep sea trawler. May I humbly suggest this site is dived at slack water only.
Good site, well worth a visit. Thanks to Chris at Divehappy for pointing it out.
