PETAWA, Ontario (6 Oct 2008) — Increased emphasis and training should be placed on the importance of dropping a weight belt for novice divers, according to an expert who testified before a coroner's inquest jury Monday. In his professional diving career, which has included 17,000 dives, Brett Gilliam has found that dropping the weight belt is the skill most divers forget. He was the final witness to testify in the coroner's inquest into the death of 24-year-old Charles Alexander Padulo, a member of the 3rd Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment based at CFB/ASU Petawawa, who died on April 6, 2006 while completing his third open-water dive in the Petawawa River off North Street. A weight belt is a piece of equipment worn by divers to counteract the buoyancy of other pieces of equipment including wet suits and cylinders as the air is consumed during a dive. Providing additional training on how to release a weight belt is one of the suggestions Mr. Gilliam offered the jury, who will be asked to make recommendations to help eliminate similar deaths in the future. He calls releasing the weight belt self-rescue training. Practicing the skill repeatedly and when not expected would be beneficial to simulate a real-life situation. "On the surface, if a diver gets into a stressful situation the first reaction should be to drop the weight belt," he told the jury. "If they are incapacitated on the surface they will not sink." He does not suggest dropping the belt at depth, however, as it could precipitate a rapid ascent resulting in an arterial gas embolism. He also believes novice divers should be made aware of the availability of medical screening for pre-existing conditions that could pose a diving-related risk. In addition, a list of physicians who specialize in these types of examinations should be compiled and made available, Mr. Gilliam said. Current standards require students to complete a medical questionnaire but a physical exam is not mandatory. Because a diver who is stressed on the surface may be confused by the buttons on the buoyancy compensator, Mr. Gilliam recommends changes to the inflator system on the vital piece of equipment. One button fills the vest with low pressure air while the other is used to dump air as the diver's buoyancy increases. He noted the buttons are located very close together and nearly identical. He admitted it will be difficult to get all of the manufacturers on board with the change, however. | | Joan Padulo is holding one of her favourite pictures of her son, Alex, who died during the third open water dive of a PADI entry-level scuba diving course. An inquest into the fatal scuba diving accident heard testimony that PADI scuba instructors Dustin Proper and Bruce Proper overweighted the victim and conducted their entry-level diver certification course in conditions that were not suitable for novice divers. Throughout the inquest, the jury has heard that Mr. Padulo was found with the hose to his buoyancy compensator disconnected. Yesterday, the jurors had an opportunity to watch as Mr. Gilliam released the hose. They will also be able to examine Mr. Padulo's diving equipment during their deliberations. Counsel is expected to give closing statements today, then the one-woman, four-man jury will begin its deliberation, answering the questions of the identity of the deceased, how, where, when and by what means the deceased died. |
