Maui snorkel deaths

[E tank]

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...area-maui-full-face-snorkel-mask-12547806.php

With attention to this:

It is "too early to make any sort of connection to the use of this equipment and drownings,"Maui Fire Battalion Chief Edward Taomoto said, but there is speculation "that there may be an unforeseen buildup of carbon dioxide within the breathing chamber" of the full-face snorkels.

Comments?

 

[Summit]

Not sure about the CO2 buildup because RR should increase to compensate with hypercapneic drive. Hard without having vid, good witnesses, etc to see the nature of the drowning to judge panic vs passing out (and because most medical providers, much less the public, doesn't know what a drowning struggle actually looks like).

My suspicion is that it is this mask design that kills. The way they flood obscures the eyes, nose, and mouth all at once rather than a traditional snorkel where a mask flood doesn't affect the mouth and a snorkel flood doesn't affect the eyes. A panicked gasp will draw water and you cannot just the mask out like you can a snorkel.

Some people panic when they get water over their eyes under water. I've seen it. Hell on my first open water checkout a girl flooded her mask for a clearing drill, went wide eyed, took a deep breath (air instead of water) spit out her reg and made for the surface. DM and I had to grab her fin until she exhaled (so she didn't pneumo/CAGE herself to death). This was over 20 years ago. If she had one of these masks she would have taken a breath of sea water.

When we train for full face dive masks (AGA) its very different to clear a floor (I know its different for SCUBA). But panic is panic and I bet that these are panic drownings not rebreathing issues.

These masks have reputation as tourist killers. It was openly talked about by Maui locals/dive operators when I was there in November and on a previous trip two years back. Yet they are very popular.

 

[Jim37F]

Currently in the Water Safety(some basic lifeguarding stuff) portion of my academy (Honolulu)...all they've said is that we weren't allowed to bring one of those ninja style full face snorkeling masks. They didn't even give a particular reason when they said that....though with the recent Maui deaths is wasn't hard to extrapolate....

But other than that they haven't mentioned those masks at all

 

[DrParasite]

Currently in the Water Safety(some basic lifeguarding stuff) portion of my academy (Honolulu)...all they've said is that we weren't allowed to bring one of those ninja style full face snorkeling masks. They didn't even give a particular reason when they said that....though with the recent Maui deaths is wasn't hard to extrapolate....

But other than that they haven't mentioned those masks at all

Dude, you're in honolulu? I thought you were hired somewhere in California.... that's awesome.

I have done snorkling and SCUBA diving, and have never used the full face masks. I'm sure they are sold to people who feel to constricted by a "traditional" mask, or who want to take better underwater selfies. I can understand why there are issues with CO2 getting stuck in the face piece vs getting blown out the mouthpiece.

 

[Summit]

Thought more and I can see how a panicking snorkeler could rapidly shallow breath effectively increasing the percentage of dead space until they black out.