Madison Blue Fatality

[Ken Hill]

Yesterday there was a fatality at Madison Blue Spring as a team exited through Potters Delight and reached the stage room. The lead diver of the team appeared to have some problem possibly a heart attack. His buddy attempted to assist and get response from the victim without success.

Later that day a recovery team located the victim where the buddy said he was located. The victims tanks contained ample and correct mix to assure an exit. There appeared to be no violation of the rules of accident analysis.

Folks I want you to take a second and think about this sport and the access to the sites we love and enjoy. There have been four fatalities in northern Florida in the past four weeks. LAST YEAR THERE WERE NONE! Two of the recent fatalities can be attributed to divers that lacked cave training, but the headlines read "Cave Diver Dies."

We have lost two from our community, the first doing long term exploration in an extreme confined area and the last apparently had a heart attack that could have happened anywhere.

Tomorrow I am going diving but today I spent a few extra minutes making sure me and my gear were okay. Be safe, do not become complacent, remember your training and follow common sense. We do not want or need another headline. All please be safe! /Ken

[Mike]

Having not been to cave country in a few months & just reading about all these cave fatalities is really disconcerting.
There will differently be a spike in the death analysis graph for this year.

Whether the fatality came from lack of training, complacency or health, it's just sad to hear this kind of news so much so often this close together.

If ( heaven forbid) I don't return from a cave dive one day, I can only hope it was from something beyond my control & not from my own lack of not adhering to my training.
Going through the drills before each dive is a good way of preventing bad things from becoming deadly things.

Unfortunately there are no drills for an unforeseen health problem.

My heart goes out to the fallen divers family & friends.


Mike M

[ARY]

My condolences to the family and friends of the deceased diver.

[akcaver]

My prayers go out to the family and friends, it is another heart crushing blow to our community...

[jeandiver]

My prayers go out to the family and friends, it is another heart crushing blow to our community...

Yes.
My prayers for all the family and friends.

Jean

[DeWayne]

Condolences to family and friends of the deceased. Has a name been released yet?

[CaveDivingCop]

I will not disclose his name until it is in the news, but he was a good friend and a very experienced and disciplined diver. He was a friend to all who met him and always had a kind word to say about any he met.

He will be sorely missed and greatly remembered.

R.I.P. pal, you went out doing what you LOVED

[Puttzer]

The deathas are sad and truly tragic. But: as a diver in the 60's I recall there were a LOT more tragic deaths (even one of my friends) and many sites were simply closed.

What is being done to insure that "lawmakers" understand the nature of these deaths?

Please PM me if these is anything I can do.

Richard Hardison
Tallahassee

[FW]

Ken,

Thanks for the report, and the excellent advice.

It is always sad to hear anyone died, but this was a good cave diver, and a friend of many other cave divers.

[megahurts]

There seems to be some misunderstanding about this incident among the cave community in North Central Florida; therefore, I find it necessary to respond to squash some rumors that have started to circulate.
My wife and I were part of the recovery team. We were called, by the lead diver, to assist him immediately after he had been notified by the ranger that there had been an incident.
We topped our tanks and a stage at his facility.
Upon our arrival the lead diver proceeded to interview the victim's dive partner and ascertain the pertinent facts related to our recovery. He formulated a dive plan that would call for him and I to enter at Martz Sink and swim to the victim. After an analysis of the site we were to recover the victim with all his equipment in place as much as possible. Meanwhile, my wife would install a line from the main basin to the gold line, allowing us to exit at this location, and provide assistance as needed at the exit point. She would also place deco bottles in the basin for our use. The dive was executed exactly as planned.
Several points should be clarified:
1. Neither the original dive team nor the recovery divers were using DPVs.
2. The recovery was a TEAM effort - not that of an individual.
3. The incident was in no way related to the content of the gas the victim was breathing. The recovery divers filled their tanks off the same bank that the victim and his buddy used. The facility had very recently had its gas tested by a respected facility (per industry standards) and it passed without question. The victim's gas was analyzed after recovery by two independent individuals and found to be exactly as labeled.
I hope this helps to clarify the facts surrounding the recovery effort. It is important for us, as cave divers, to understand the events surrounding an accident - even one that appears to be related to personal health issues.
Dive Safe
Ken Clizbe and Bonnie Stelzenmuller