Printable View
anyone hear about an accident at jb today?? I got a frantic call from my mother in panama city who heard that somone died at blue spring in jackson county on the local news there? Bill Huth
Added: Certainly may not be the case at all as my mother is nearly 80 years old but she did hear that one diver died. Sorry if this turns out not to be true....Bill Huth
bill deco stop post just says there was a fatality no details available. i talked to vince, he did not of any one in particular diving today. hows the Big O?
Hey Jeff, sorry toi hear that, just spoke to a friend who was on his way there to edd's to dive now and he had not heard. I do know a couple of people who were diving today... have not been on the O recently, weather has been uncooperative...dove jb saturday and hitting indian this sunday...looking forward to that.Quote:
Originally Posted by swadiver
got blown out on the Big O dive planned for feb 24/25?
Local man drowns at Blue Springs
By KATE McCARDELL
Jackson County Floridan
March 6, 2007
Despite the heavy effort of rescue workers and volunteers, a diver did not make it out of Blue Springs alive Monday afternoon, after he became stuck inside one of the spring caves.
The deceased's name and address had not been released as of Monday evening, pending notification of his family. Authorites did confirm, however, that he was from Jackson County.
According to an on-scene witness, the man's diving partner surfaced and called for help after discovering that his friend was lodged under a ledge in a constricted section of the cave.
He said officers from the Jackson County Sheriff's Office and Jackson County Fire Rescue responded to the call.
Edd Sorenson was one of the people who assisted in bringing the diver out of Jackson Blue, the spring that lies in close proximity to the recreation diving board. Sorenson, an avid cave diver, is the owner Marianna dive shop Cave Adventures.
posted on Thedecostop.com:
http://www.jcfloridan.com/servlet/Sa...244&path=!news
-Lets all pray for the victim, friends, and family.
Another one so soon. This year isn't starting out so great.
My condolences to family and friends.
our thoughts with the friends and family
My condolences to the friends and family of the victim.
As a note, please keep any speculation to yourselves until the facts are known.
Does anyone know anything?? Was it a trained cave diver??
It appears maybe not but that is just the scuttlebut at the moment. stand by for more details and lets not speculate to much.
http://www.jcfloridan.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JCF/MGArticle/JCF_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149193562710&pat h=!news
For when the link is no longer active:
Man who died cave diving was Marianna resident
By KATE McCARDELL
Jackson County Floridan
March 7, 2007
Officials confirmed Tuesday the identity of the diver who died inside a spring cave at Blue Springs Recreational Area, as well as details surrounding his death.
Jackson County Sheriff John McDaniel said ************, 48, of Dogwood Heights near Marianna, died of drowning Monday after becoming stuck in Jackson Blue, the spring cave that lies in close proximity to a recreational diving board inside the park.
*******is survived by his wife and two daughters. He was the owner and operator of **************, where he designed and built automotive paint booths.
According to McDaniel, *******had been a certfied open-water diver for more than 20 years, but he did not have the required certification for cave diving. He had frequently dove at other caves, including Twin Caves and Hole-in-the-Wall at Merritt's Mill Pond in Marianna.
"Cave diving is a trial enough when you do have the training and certification," said McDaniel, "When you do it without the certification, you're just asking for trouble. It's like flying a plane into the wild blue yonder without being trained to fly."
McDaniel confirmed some of the details surrounding ********** death. He said ********* was diving with his friend, certified cave diver *********** of Marianna, when ******* apparently became stuck. ********** surfaced and called for help.
The sheriff's office and local cave-diving expert Edd Sorenson responded within minutes.
McDaniel said that the sheriff's diving squad is not cave-certfiied, so Sorenson did a search inside the spring cave for the missing diver.
Sorenson recovered *********** body four minutes into the search, approximately 600 feet from the mouth of the cave, which lies about 85 feet from the surface.
******* was no longer wearing his double tanks, which he probably removed in a state of panic, said McDaniel. An autopsy later confirmed that the cause of death was drowning.
As for ******** diving partner *******, whether or not he will face any charges has yet to be determined, pending investigation. A sheriff's press release reported that ******** has been a diver for about 30 years and works at an area dive shop.
McDaniel, who is a diver himself, said the longest part of the process of recovering ******** body was most likely Sorenson's ascent after finding him. Sorenson might have had to stop for decompression before exiting the water.
A decompression stop is when a diver spends time at the end of his dive at a constant depth in shallow water. This is a measure to eliminate harmful gases that the body absorbs while diving. Not doing so could lead to decompression sickness, otherwise know as "the bends."
McDaniel said that this is not the first diving fatality in Jackson County.
"We've had divers all over this county drown, usually people who aren't cave certified. I'd say about eight to 12 people in the past 30 years," said McDaniel, "When you push your limits or experience level, you're putting your life on the line."
My prayers go to the surviving buddy also. Dove with him recently. Everything was top notch, by the book. Great cave diver and very helpful.
Just wondering why the names were removed from the post above of the article?
Apparently RN did it himself. It's not something a moderator would do.
Not *after* the names were in the paper. I blanked out a name last time, because the next of kin had not been notified at the time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Slüdge
By the book...he knowingly took an AOW diver with scooters into cave after signing in at the Sheriffs office!Quote:
Originally Posted by aw
Not on the day we dove. I'm speaking of the day we dove.
I'm sorry AW. I didn't meen to imply that at all. I was strictly referring to the accident.Quote:
Originally Posted by aw
Can anyone give a better description of the area of JB this happened in?
It sounds like it was just after the first breakdown? One of the small side passeges to the left (going in), I assume?
Thanks,
-Dan
This is merely speculation.
The writeup makes me assume it was the area high and to the left that we call Eddy's Tunnel of Terror.
http://cavediver.net/phpbb2/viewtopi...=3994&start=30
Please don't confuse the upbeat, comical tone of last year's post with the seriousness of the fact that a diver died this week. I only refer to that post as a description of that section of cave.
No prob, Mike. :wink:
I really enjoyed that dive he and I did, from planning, drills, to the dive. Even when I had a mishap or two, an extra hand was literally right there. I woulda done it again.
I know I've done things from time to time I probably shouldn't. I'm just sorry this mess has happened.
I THINK, based on the article in that Panama City paper, it's the area that I labeled the "squirrely passage" in this writeup of a dive I did in that passage some years ago: http://mail.ais.fsu.edu/kave/JB . It is a tight passageway wearing backmount. I shudder at the thought of a non-cave trained diver negotiating this passageway (if, indeed that's what happened).
-- Jeff
Panic led to diver’s death
By David Angier
Panama City News Herald
March 7, 2007
Harry Milliser took off gear, including his oxygen tank
MARIANNA
A Jackson County man died after abandoning his dive gear and trying to swim out of a submerged cave.
Harry Milliser, 48, of Marianna, drowned Monday evening when he was trapped in the Jackson Blue spring of Blue Springs Recreation Area in Jackson County.
Edd Sorenson, owner of Cave Adventurers in Marianna and an experienced cave diver, said Tuesday he thought he was going to be able to rescue Milliser, but instead found evidence of a fatal panic. Sorenson arrived at the springs 12 minutes after the 9-1-1 call went out. He was in the water three minutes later and used a motorized scooter to reach Milliser as quickly as possible.
Sorenson said he was traveling through the crystal clear water of the main passage when he encountered a thick cloud of silt about 700 feet in. He said he took a side passage to the left and followed the silt to Milliser’s body, which was 70 feet down the side passage and 96 feet underwater.
Sorenson said Milliser had taken off his diving gear, including his tank, which still had oxygen.
He said Jackson Blue is a popular destination for cave divers. He said the walls are white limestone with unique formations. The water is clear with unlimited visibility and the main passage clearly is marked with a gold-colored guideline.
“Of course, the allure of cave diving is what’s around the next corner,” Sorenson said. “It’s usually a very safe cave dive.”
He said “99.9 percent” of fatal accidents in cave diving happen when a diver exceeds his training or capabilities.
“I would think that’s what happened here,” Sorenson said.
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office Maj. John Dennis said Milliser was not a certified cave diver. Milliser was certified to dive in open water and had 20 years of experience in that sport. His partner on this trip, Gordon Smith, 58, had a basic cave-diving certification.
Smith told investigators Milliser got stuck in a narrow part of the side passage they had taken. Smith went to the surface to alert the authorities and a 9-1-1 call was placed.
Dennis said there have been a number of accidents in Blue Springs over the years, but he did not know a specific amount. The last fatality in the spring The News Herald reported was in 1999. Dennis said he thought there was another, more recent drowning.
He said Smith and Milliser had been diving in Blue Springs before.
“Basically, they went into the cave. Mr. Milliser became trapped in a small opening and drowned attempting to free himself,” Dennis said.
Edit:
OK guys, remember rule #6. "No opinions about another cave diver".
You can think what you want, but don't put it into print.
FW
head moderator
Is it not obvious he oxtoxed? I mean, he was breathing oxygen at 96'.
Stupid newspaper reporter. You'd think he could get a diver to read over his story beforehand and point out obvious errors.
MK7
Dennis said he thought there was another, more recent drowning.
there was. I think it was 2002. Jonathon Gol
To make it even worse, the reporter is a certified diver ;(Quote:
Originally Posted by MK7
Keith
He said the tank "still had oxygen", he didn't say that it was 100% Oxygen :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by MK7
I think "oxygen" is used as a generic term. One newspaper article from the Eagle's Next accident stated the men had used up their "oxygen". at over 200 feet, everyone knows they did NOT even have 100% on their person.
I do feel great sadness for the people involved, I knew one of them.
My prayers are with everyone there. I feel for Edd too, he did all he could.
You people should get your facts straight before you post something like this. Jonathan Gol did not drown.Quote:
Originally Posted by Howard
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pirate
Ok, Pirate......what did happen?
This is from another board, posted in November of 2001, under a thread entitled, "Diving while sick:"
Jonathan Gol was found dead in the basin at Jackson a week ago. He was
not supposed to be diving at all. Since he was diving with a friend and not
with the WKPP, there was nobody to stop him. We had him on medical "leave"
from our operations.
As you all know, a few weeks ago Jonathan picked up a viral infection in
South America that caused him to be hospitalized for a week with brain
swelling, seizures, and a serious infection. He was being treated for all of
that and was told not to dive by his doctor ( I know, I know - that seems
pretty obvious).
Anyway, Jonathan was "feeling" better , his friend said, so he tried a
little test dive at Jackson - 45 minutes total in-water - and he paid with
his life. His friend and paramedics were unable to revive him. We do not
know the rest of the details but will get the coroner's report when
available and hopefully it will contain information that will allow others
from making a mistake like this. My guess is that there is nothing here to
do with his gas since that cave is so shallow and the exposure so short .
Anyway, while this is not really a "cave diving accident" per se, it will be
added to the total body count that is sooner or later going to get us all
booted out of everywhere. I see where the State of Florida banned shark
feeding yesterday, and that has only killed a few people. Don't bet against
the public loosing access to caves sooner or later.
Once again, as Casey says, we know the rules of diving, we need to show some
personal judgment on and off the field.
MK7
Jonothan died because he didn't analyze and mark his tanks, specifically his O2 bottle. Pure He at 20 feet instead of O2. He had some He left over and bled it into several bottles (one of which was an O2 bottle) before he sent his storage bottles back. He checked the pressure and found he had enough to do the deco so he took it diving. Unfortunately it wouldn't support life by itself. Jonathan was frugal, unfortunately for him he also got complacent that one time and he paid for it with his life.
Prior to and at the time of his death, Jonathan was a mixed gas diver with the WKPP. He was not diving a WKPP project when he died. Several months before the dive trip on which he died, he put 500 psi of pure Helium in an empty 40 cu. ft. bottle permanently marked as an O2 bottle. He put a piece of grey duct tape on the bottle and marked it He 500 psi with a blue ink pen. (Why he did this we can only speculate).Quote:
Originally Posted by Howard
Shortly after he put the helium in the O2 bottle, he got sick from toxic mold that was found in his house. He was sick for a couple of months and when he was well enough to dive again, he decided to go on a recreational cave diving trip to Florida. He didn't analyze his O2 bottle before the dive trip or before the dive. He died of hypoxia from breathing pure Helium.
Due to his having been sick for a couple of months prior to the trip, there was speculation that his illness led to his death. It didn't.
I arrived in Marianna about 2 hours after he died and was asked by the sheriff's deputy to inspect Johathan's gear. I discovered the O2 bottle marked as described above. The bottle was analyzed and confirmed to contain pure helium. Jonathan's autopsy confirmed that he died of hypoxia.
Lesson to be learned from this: always analyze all breathing gas; air, nitrox, trimix, and especially oxygen and always mark all bottles with the gas content, the date of the analysis, and the MOD. Never be complacent with your breathing gas.
Johathan was a good friend and a great person. We miss him a lot. However, he made a stupid mistake that cost him his life.
Although I have only 4 dozen nitrox dives, I have learned that it pays to analyze the gas at the dive site. Often the mix is a little different than it was at the shop. Gas mixed by partial pressure seems to take quite a while to mix. When one has several tanks of different stuff lying around, analyzing at the dive site becomes even more important.
One of my dive buddies has dove with Smith in that system on occasion and gave me a few more details about the incident. One of the sadder things he found out was that the victim and his wife had already signed up to take a cavern class the following weekend. What a shame.
I agree!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Pirate