DATELINE: 29th June 2001
INCIDENTS INCREASE
Five divers lost their lives in four incidents around Britain during the month of May. And treatments for cases of decompression illness continue to rise.
The British Sub-Aqua Club, which monitors deaths among all divers, has recorded annual averages of 15 in the sport in recent years. But with May's fatalities, this year's October-October total was already at 14 by the halfway point.
Meanwhile, hyperbaric professionals have voiced concern about the rising number of sport divers being admitted for recompression treatment. The British Hyperbaric Association, which compiles figures from member-chambers around the country, has noted a 40 per cent rise over the past five years, from some 250 to 350 treatments a year.
In some cases, inexperienced divers trained overseas are thought to have over-stretched themselves in trickier British waters. In others, experienced divers are regarded as pushing their limits; last year's BSAC Incidents Report noted that nearly half of all incidents involved dives to 30m-plus.
On 12 May, in one fatal incident off the Firth of Forth, two divers were lost after a dive on the 60m-deep Halland, 4 miles off Dunbar. The bodies of James Harris, 36, and Richard Smith, 56, were recovered from the wreck by an RN search team. An inquest will be held.
The group is said to have comprised seven experienced BSAC divers. Two buddy pairs had entered the water. When one diver resurfaced to report that he had lost his buddy, others went in to search, after which a second man failed to surface.
The same day Steve Hughes, 45, was lost on an outing to the Donegal, which lies in 53m, 15 miles SE of the Isle of Wight. He was diving with his brother-in-law Gerry Gooch, 46. Both men, members of Hoddesdon BSAC, were using Inspiration rebreathers while eight others in the group, from another Hertfordshire branch, were on open-circuit scuba.
"We'd completed our dive to 47m and drifted off the wreck for our ascent," Gooch told Divernet. "We'd ascended about 5m when I deployed my SMB, but when I next looked for Steve in the visibility of 2-3m, he'd disappeared."
Hughes did not arrive at the surface and a search by lifeboats, two naval vessels and helicopters revealed nothing.
Experts have raised doubts about Hughes' experience on the Inspiration. He was said to have been qualified recently by the TDI to use air diluents to a maximum 40m without deco stops, though the fatal dive was deeper and involved trimix. He had reportedly also had problems ascending on previous dives.
In reply Gooch, an experienced rebreather user, told Divernet: "I wouldn't have dived with Steve if I didn't think he was safe. He'd been to that depth before, and was quietly confident."
At the time of writing Hughes body had not been found. "Even if Steve fell to the seabed some way from the wreck, we'd expect him to have been swept back and caught up somewhere on it," said Gooch, who appealed for divers who "can look after themselves at 50m" to help him continue the search (call him on 077 518 45675).
On 23 May, a 51-year-old man surfaced unconscious during a group evening dive in calm weather to 20m on Peveril Ledges, near Portland. A member of Bournemouth BSAC, he was evacuated by Coastguard helicopter to hospital, but never regained consciousness.
Three days later Brian Gordon, 30, from Edinburgh, was trapped inside the Wallachia, which lies in 34m 4 miles south off Dunoon. Described as an experienced diver, he was one of a group from Strathclyde University.
He is said to have entered a hold in the late afternoon, removing a decompression stage cylinder to gain easier access. When he failed to re-emerge, his buddy surfaced to raise the alarm before risking decompression sickness by returning to the wreck with a spare cylinder in case his friend reappeared.
Air and sea searches were conducted, and divers from a Navy minesweeper descended to the wreck, but at 11pm it was announced that Gordon was lost, presumed drowned. The body has yet to be found.
Meanwhile the head of a major chamber facility has spoken out about the rising number of incidents involving hyperbaric treatment.
John Ross runs the National Hyperbaric Centre in Aberdeen, which treats many divers on Scotland's challenging West Coast. The chamber treated 87 sport divers last year, compared with 19 in 1993.
Ross told the Guardian: "Evidence is emerging that a worrying number are not gaining the experience they need before diving, and some are diving to much further than 50m on air, the limit for commercial divers. It is vital that people gain enough experience before serious dives. A two-week course may not be adequate."
Divers trained in warm waters often made only shallow dives to enjoy corals close to the surface, he added. Returning to Britain they dived deeper, possibly using a drysuit for the first time. Buoyancy control problems could lead to uncontrolled ascents, and Ross pointed out that novice divers might not be fully aware of the effects of nitrogen narcosis.