Georgia man dead - Key Largo, Florida

[DandyDon]

News | KeysNet

A 50-year-old man from Georgia died scuba diving off Key Largo Thursday.
When Morris Mitchell Lamb, his brother, who lives in Key Largo, and a neighbor went out near Carysfort Reef around 11:30 a.m. to dive, they were met with high winds, strong currents and choppy water.
Lamb, from Covington, Ga., entered the water wearing scuba gear. He had not even gone underwater when he reportedly appeared to be in distress, said Deputy Becky Herrin, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman.
His brother and the neighbor jumped in to save him, but the current swiftly took all three men away from their vessel toward Carysfort Reef Lighthouse. Another passenger on the boat called for help on the boat’s radio, Herrin said.
Crews from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission pulled the three men from the water.
A Coast Guard helicopter crew flew Lamb to Mercy Hospital in Miami-Dade County, where he was pronounced dead. The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy to confirm cause of death.
Lamb’s brother and the neighbor were not injured, Herrin said.

 

[wgw04024]

I assume all that weather they refer to in the report is from the widely talked about hurricane?

 

[doctormike]

So he never was under the surface? Not sure that it's correct to say that he "died scuba diving"...

 

[rhwestfall]

So he never was under the surface? Not sure that it's correct to say that he "died scuba diving"...

likewise, if you fell out of a chairlift on your first ride up, would it be a skiing death?

 

[DandyDon]

I assume all that weather they refer to in the report is from the widely talked about hurricane?

The eye of that storm was far away with the Bahamas between to break the swell somewhat, but the reach of the spiral surely would have sent stormy weather that far. It sounds like this was a private boat. I wonder if the commercial boats went out that day? It also sounds like they had planned on the three mentioned to go in at the same time anyway, leaving only one person aboard who it seems was not qualified to operate the boat - but at least knew how to call for help on the radio. Or so it sounds from this early report.

So he never was under the surface? Not sure that it's correct to say that he "died scuba diving"...

He was in scuba gear and had entered the water with scuba diving as the reason and intent. What's your problem?

He "entered the water wearing scuba gear. He had not even gone underwater when he reportedly appeared to be in distress..." Don't most scuba accidents happen at the surface? My first guess is that he was over weighted, failed to inflate for whatever reason, failed to ditch weights in an emergency, yielding a panicked diver drowning on the surface - our main focus in Rescue classes if I recall correctly.

I'll never forget the first time my home bud went on a trip with me to Cozumel. I was green, but he was less experienced, wearing a crappy rental BC, and while the dive went okay enough - he ended up on the surface with his reg in his hand, barely floating, choking on waves. I told him to put the reg back in his mouth three times before he did and was on the verge of dumping his weight belt off of him. He got his own gear when we got home, got better on future trips, and eventually did the Rescue course with me - but newbies don't know what they don't know. We don't know how experienced or well equipped this diver was of course.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Strong current, high winds & surface chop, and a 50 year old working physically hard to make headway to the dive site or back to the boat.

Probable Drowning;
Rule Out causes due to:

1) Exertion Hypercapnia,
2) Cardiac Arrhythmia and Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD).

 

[doctormike]

He was in scuba gear and had entered the water with scuba diving as the reason and intent. What's your problem?

Wow, pretty aggressive reply to a fairly benign comment...

Wearing scuba gear and intending to dive is not the same thing as "scuba diving".

He "entered the water wearing scuba gear. He had not even gone underwater when he reportedly appeared to be in distress..."

Right. So whatever happened, it wasn't caused by scuba diving, assuming that the information that we have is complete.

Don't most scuba accidents happen at the surface? My first guess is that he was over weighted, failed to inflate for whatever reason, failed to ditch weights in an emergency, yielding a panicked diver drowning on the surface - our main focus in Rescue classes if I recall correctly.

Yes. But you also need to be underwater at some point to drown. From the information that you provided, there is no evidence that that happened. But if you know more, you should tell us, since that would help with this discussion...





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BRT]

Actually you don't have to be completely under the water to drown. Kind of like a golfing death that wasn't caused by hitting or being hit with a ball or club. Still died golfing.

 

[Kevrumbo]

... But you also need to be underwater at some point to drown. From the information that you provided, there is no evidence that that happened. But if you know more, you should tell us, since that would help with this discussion...

All you have to do to "drown floating on the surface" is to lose consciousness for whatever reason and roll over face down . . .and start aspirating water. (You do not have to be necessarily submerged or underwater per se).

 

[wgw04024]

Ok, so he was in scuba gear, he jumped off a boat into the water. That's the beginning of 'a dive', thus he was diving. Based on the description in the article, it could of been anything. Sad.