Details on student death at Foothill College
Dave Waller
the student diver who died during a training session in the pool.
A personal comment: Lee Jones, an instructor who posts to rec.scuba,
first brought this incident to our attention, and noted that he had
previously refused to accept this individual as a student because the
deceased was an insulin dependant diabetic.
Lee was later lambasted by another reader who is a diabetic and a
certified diver, stridently accused of irresponsible representation
regarding this topic.
For my own part, I agree with Lee, and will not certify an insulin
dependant diabetic for SCUBA diving. The tragic incident here simply
reinforces my reluctance to do so, as the risks are simply too great. I
will elaborate further on the topic in a response to this basenote, if
you are interested.
On with the transcription. These three articles are copied without
permission.
Dave Waller
YMCA Instructor
-------------------------
STUDENT STUCK IN POOL DURING SCUBA LESSON DIES
A Foothill College student hospitalized after being stuck at the bottom
of a campus pool for more than two minutes during a SCUBA lesson has
died.
Micael Powell, 19, of Palo Alto, was pronounced dead at 8:45 a.m.
Wednesday at El Camino Hospital, spokewoman Jean Altman said.
Powell, a beginner wearing diving equipment, was unable to make it to
the surface of the water in the Monday evening accident, which occurred
in the presence of seven instructors and 18 other people attending the
diving lesson.
College representatives say the drowning was probably accidental, but
campus police cheif Tom Conom is interviewing witnesses, including lead
instructor Hank Kettle, to determine possible responsibility.
-------------------------
DEATH OF DIVING STUDENT STILL BEING INVESTIGATED
Michael Powell and his father had planned to learn SCUBA diving together
in a summer evening class at Foothill College. They had completed two
sessions on diving safety and basic techniques.
But during the third class on Monday, as students began to leave the
shallow end of the pool and strip off their SCUBA gear, something
happened to 19-year-old Michael.
The next time James Powell saw his son, and assistant instructor was
pulling the young man's limp body from the bottom of the pool.
The Palo Alto man watched from a bench as rescuers used cardiopulomonary
resuscitation to try and restart his son's heart. He followed his son's
ambulance to El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, where Michael Powell
was pronounced dead 36 hours later.
What caused Powell to slip back underwater and remain there unnoticed
for several minutes was still being pieced together Friday by the chief
of the small Foothill College police department, the Santa Clara County
Coroner's office and Hank Ketels, the veteran instructor of the popular
SCUBA class.
Foothill College Police Chief Tom Conom's final report on the matter is
expected to be released next week.
Information uncovered since the drowning appears to contradict earlier
news reports that Powell had been abandoned by his "buddy" (the class
member he was paired with), and instructors at the bottom of the pool.
"We're so careful, and we can't figure out what happened," said Richard
Herbert, 20, the assistant instructor who discovered Powell and dived to
rescue him.
When Michael Powell signed up for the six-week course, he submitted a
doctor's note certifying that he was physically qualified for the rigors
of diving, Conom said. Powell was diagnosed was diabetic four years ago
and took insulin injections twice daily, according to the coroner's
report.
In the past, he had experienced episodes of hypoglycemia, in which his
blood sugar level had dropped as low as 40 milligrams per deciliter, but
these had been easily reversed by eating sweets, according to the
report. Hypoglycemia can cause symptoms ranging from weakness and
headaches to faintness and coma.
Monday, the class had just finished its second session using SCUBA
equipment, practicing basic breathing techniques and swimming with
weight belts and buoyancy vests. Ketels told students to get out of the
pool, drop their SCUBA equipment and then return for a lesson on
performing surface rescues, Herbert said.
-------------------------
POLICE FOCUS ON LOW BLOOD SUGAR IN P.A. DIVING STUDENT'S DEATH
A "sudden or disabling" event -- possibly a hypoglycemic attack --
apparently was responsible for the drowning of 19-year-old Michael
Powell last week during a SCUBA class at Foothill College, Foothill
Police Cheif Tom Conom concluded Monday.
In a 34-page report released to the press, Conom said he had found no
evidence of criminal misconduct or negligence. Instead, his report
centered on Powell's blood-sugar level, an issue because the young Palo
Alto man suffered from diabetes.
A hypoglycemic attack occurs when the body's level of blood sugar is too
low, an event sometimes experienced by diabetics who go into insulin
shock.
As Powell was rushed to El Camino Hospital, paramedics tested his
blood-sugar level and found it in the lower range of normal. But Conom
said Powell was given medication that might have boosted that level.
Noting that Powell was spotted at the side of the pool at the end of a
snorkeling exercise, Conom said the attack apparently hit as he held
onto the ladder or the side.
"There was no evidence of a struggle to remain afloat," Conom wrote.
"Powell appears to have gone to the bottom of the pool and followed a
descending slope to the point he came to rest."
The police chief said Powell was not spotted immediately because of the
agitation in the water from a water-polo game -- and because the
foot-wide black lines at the bottom made it difficult to see a person in
a black wetsuit. Witnesses said he was on the bottom six to 10 minutes.
While Conom absolved teachers and students of blame, his report
suggested their attention was distracted in the crucial moments when
Powell disappeared.
The report says Powell's group of divers had completed swimming two laps
around the shallow section of the pool 20 minutes before the incident.
One of the instructors reported that Powell looked fatigued and had
trouble pulling his weight belt up.
The group was ordered to snorkel across the pool, followed by two
teaching assistants, Kimberly Chase and Gretchen Schroeder.
Chase told police that she saw Powell make it to the side and asked him
if he needed any help. "I'm OK," she quoted him as saying as he removed
his fins.
The report says that Schroeder, however, lost her fin at the bottom of
the pool. While she was attempting to retrieve it, Chase turned her
attention to her [sic; presumably they mean Schroeder here, but I'm not
sure -dw]. Both assistants told police they thought Powell had left the
pool.
But as the next exercise began, the two teaching assistants noticed him
missing. A third assistant, Richard Herbert, snorkeled into the deep
end, spotted him on the bottom, and yelled for help.
Dave Waller
Hewlett-Packard Co.
Workstation Systems Division
Sunnyvale VAB Consulting
(408) 746-5324
Chris Peterson
"second night on SCUBA" and that "all of the students had made it to the
surface at the side of the pool".
Another instructor took over the Foothill class during the investigation.
Those students who wanted to continue with the course moved to a different pool
and are expected to complete their certifications next weekend (August 2).
--
Chris Peterson Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
Research Computing Services
Palo Alto, CA USA
(415) 857-6432 pete...@hpl.hp.com
Dillon Pyron
I printed this article and took copies of it to the lake for the instructors.
Although most comments were things like "The guy lied and died", the most
significant one was "Staff blew it, they should never have lost trask of the
guy".
The upshot was an impromptue staff meeting where our policy of always
having at least one staff in addition to the instructor in the pool. In
addition, we now will have a last-one-out rule that keeps one staff member (DM,
AI or another Instructor) in the pool until everyone else is out. He/She stays
deep until everyone is shallow and stays on the surface in the deep end.
There's never been an accident, but that doesn't mean we can't learn.
Comments from an "leadership" types?
--
Dillon Pyron | The opinions expressed are those of the
TI/DSEG Lewisville VAX Support | sender unless otherwise stated.
(214)462-3556 (when I'm here) |
(214)492-4656 (when I'm home) | Lawyers are like nuclear warheads, every-
py...@skndiv.dseg.ti.com | body has some, and when you use them, they
f*ck everything up.
Danny DeVito, _OPM_
Dave Waller
|>
|> I printed this article and took copies of it to the lake for the instructors.
|> Although most comments were things like "The guy lied and died",
From the sketchy information available in the articles, it would appear that
the student was up front and honest about his condition, and presented the
instructor with a physician's release qualifying him as fit for diving.
|> the most
|> significant one was "Staff blew it, they should never have lost trask of the
|> guy".
I am still in the process of obtaining the police report so I can read it
first hand rather than draw conclusions simply from the newspaper reports.
However, based upon the reports in the newspaper, I can make the following
comments:
1. The physician is likely up shit creek on this one. The overwhelming
advice among the medical community with diving medicine expertise
is that insulin-dependent diabetes is an ABSOLUTE contraindication
for diving, so this person should not have been sanctioned by the
M.D. that examined him. My suspicion is that the release was
obtained from the student's personal physician who had been treating
him for his diabetes, and knew nothing about the special
circumstances involved in SCUBA diving. This is no excuse, IMO.
2. The instructor, after reviewing the medical questionnaire and
physician's evaluation, should not have accepted this student
for training in his class. One other instructor who had this
student as a prospect refused admission based on his condition.
3. There APPEARS to have been some general negligence from a logistical
viewpoint as far as the implementation of the confined water skills
are concerned. I am at a bit of a loss to understand why a water
polo game was allowed to be taking place in the same pool as the
SCUBA instruction, for exactly the reasons that led to the delay
in spotting this individual on the bottom.
|> The upshot was an impromptue staff meeting where our policy of always
|> having at least one staff in addition to the instructor in the pool. In
|> addition, we now will have a last-one-out rule that keeps one staff member (DM,
|> AI or another Instructor) in the pool until everyone else is out. He/She stays
|> deep until everyone is shallow and stays on the surface in the deep end.
|>
|> There's never been an accident, but that doesn't mean we can't learn.
|>
|> Comments from an "leadership" types?
Sounds like some good policies, and I'm gratified that disseminating this
information will have a positive effect toward increasing the safety of
your classes.
I would suggest further that you strongly emphasize the buddy system while in
the pool, and admonish the students to be constantly aware of where there
buddy is at all times, even out of the pool, until the night's session is
over. This is a bit difficult for things like swimming skills, but close
supervision by the assistants can substitute in this case.
As long as there are students in the water, almost all of the assistants
should be in the water as well, supervising.
--
Dave Waller
YMCA Instructor
how...@hplabsz.hpl.hp.com
conditions and lack of experience of the assistant instructors. Also, as a
40-year-old who has never been very athletic, the course was too physically
demanding for me. This made me pretty mad, because SCUBA should be an
enjoyable, relaxing sport. I'm not an athlete, but am a strong swimmer and
went on to pass the pool course under another instructor last summer, and
got my certification last November.
Part of the problem is the pool is shared with other activities, and they
enroll everyone in the class who shows up, despite a class limit of 20.
There were about twice that number in my class. The instructor's excuse was
that he expected about half the class to "wash out".
Regardless of the student's medical condition, there's no excuse for a
student to go unnoticed at the bottom of a pool for two minutes. While I
was taking the class, the instructor didn't take attendance until the
classroom session (after the pool session) and none of the staff made a
point of counting heads at any time. My guess is this will probably change.
Howard Stateman
how...@hpl.hp.com
stant...@gmail.com
Not sure if anyone still reads this blog. I was trying to find the spelling of Hanks last name to help get a replacement card and ran across it. I took the ill fated dive class at Foothill College with Michael and Hank Ketels
I remember Michael in class and the day he showed his doctor's permission slip to Hank.
Hank was very concerned and didn't want to accept Michael into class but did under diress. "A doctor says it's OK"Michael didn't finish my session of the class because of health reasons so attended the next session where the accident happened.
I still feel sorry for both Michael and Hank almost 28 years later.
Someday continuous blood glucose measurements could be sent to your dive computer if a company would take the product risk. I know my blood sugar was always low at the end of class and would go get a big milkshake after.
Stan Thomas
euphemism
> On Tuesday, July 28, 1992 at 11:05:44 AM UTC-7, Dave Waller wrote:
>> Here are three articles that appeard in the San Jose Mercury News about
>> the student diver who died during a training session in the pool.
>>
>> A personal comment: Lee Jones, an instructor who posts to rec.scuba,
>> first brought this incident to our attention, and noted that he had
>> previously refused to accept this individual as a student because the
>> deceased was an insulin dependant diabetic.
>>
>> Lee was later lambasted by another reader who is a diabetic and a
>> certified diver, stridently accused of irresponsible representation
>> regarding this topic.
>>
>> For my own part, I agree with Lee, and will not certify an insulin
>> dependant diabetic for SCUBA diving. The tragic incident here simply
>> reinforces my reluctance to do so, as the risks are simply too great. I
>> will elaborate further on the topic in a response to this basenote, if
>> you are interested.
>>
>> On with the transcription. These three articles are copied without
>> permission.
>>
>> Dave Waller
>> YMCA Instructor
readers who would be interested?
I think it is important to distinguish between individuals diagnosed as
Type I diabetics and those with onset diabetes also called Type II
diabetes. The term "insulin dependent" is associated with the Type I
disease and I suspect that if the death was due to low blood sugar, then
he was most certainly Type I.
So, if you decide that you won't abide a diabetic diver, I would
recommend you become more knowledgeable about the disease and relative
risks. I suffer from Type II diabetes and have been safely diving for
many years and have never had a bad moment as a result of that condition.