Volunteer Fire Fighter Drowns During Multi-Agency Dive-Rescue Exercise – Illinois

Details

• Personal Author:
  Tarley, Jay L. ; McFall, Mark F.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Description:
  Death in the Line of Duty…a Summary of a NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation
  
  On October 13, 2001, a 28-year-old male volunteer fire fighter (the victim) drowned during a multi-agency dive-rescue exercise. The dive exercise included a dive coordinator, an assistant dive coordinator, and seven divers. The site of the incident was a man-made lake that is owned and maintained by a private club. The dive coordinator and assistant dive coordinator had sunk a boat and two mannequins in the lake to simulate a boating incident. Four of the divers, including the victim, were on their second dive when the victim failed to surface. Dispatch was notified of the missing diver, and additional search-and-rescue crews responded to the scene with two rescue boats. The victim was found in the area of his last known location, approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes after he was last seen by his dive partner. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. NIOSH investigators concluded that, to minimize the risk of similar occurrences, fire departments should: develop, implement, and enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) regarding diver training
  
  ensure that each diver maintains continuous visual, verbal, or physical contact with his or her dive partner
  
  ensure that a backup diver and a ninety-percent-ready diver are in position to render assistance
  
  ensure that the dive coordinator stays informed about the rates of air consumption by divers
  
  provide divers with refresher training on the hazards of lung overexpansion injuries and prevention measures.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Emergency Responders Firefighters Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Divers Diving-equipment Emergency-responders Fire-fighters
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Trauma ; Training: Scuba Diving ; Water: Scuba Diving
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Subseries:
  Death in the Line of Duty Report
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFFFACEF200135
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-12
• Contributor:
  Caruso, James L.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20022403
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2003-104295
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE F2001-35, 2002 Jul ; :1-12
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2001/10/13
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:33b5bf1de6f3569319b600f856e9b914cc385dcc073b41bb5e4d698518095f05c42970786c5ab1559bf1abdb562c3d431ee018f15d4c698de0ca2ba1eb243935
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163850/cdc_163850_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 224.43 KB ]