Paramedics called at Casino Point - 1/19/08

[JodiBB]

A bunch of us were diving Casino Point yesterday. Suddenly someone from the water screamed, "Call 911!" One of our group is a nurse and ran down to the steps. A woman was pulled out. Our nurse/diver claimed she had a pulse. When the paramedics arrived (and they get there fast!), she had turned blue, they had to cut away her bathing suit/gear and began chest compressions. She ended up going to the chamber.

We asked around to figure out what happened. Here's what we were able to gather. The woman got tangled in one of the kelp beds and panicked. During her panic, she spit out her regulator. Her DM saw what happened and popped the reg back in her mouth, but she spit it out again.

One of our members of the group asked the Harbor Master later for an update. He reported back to us that the woman was still in the Chamber and she should live.

She may live, but I doubt she'll ever dive again...
But it really impacted me hearing this and seeing it...makes me remember how careful we have to be when diving.

 

[Mr.X]

A bunch of us were diving Casino Point yesterday. Suddenly someone from the water screamed, "Call 911!" One of our group is a nurse and ran down to the steps. A woman was pulled out. Our nurse/diver claimed she had a pulse. When the paramedics arrived (and they get there fast!), she had turned blue, they had to cut away her bathing suit/gear and began chest compressions. She ended up going to the chamber.

We asked around to figure out what happened. Here's what we were able to gather. The woman got tangled in one of the kelp beds and panicked. During her panic, she spit out her regulator. Her DM saw what happened and popped the reg back in her mouth, but she spit it out again.

One of our members of the group asked the Harbor Master later for an update. He reported back to us that the woman was still in the Chamber and she should live.

She may live, but I doubt she'll ever dive again...
But it really impacted me hearing this and seeing it...makes me remember how careful we have to be when diving.

I hope the best for the diver. Kudos to your group, Bay Watch and the Chamber for giving her immediate assistance.

Sadly, stuff happens at Casino Point on a somewhat regular basis. It's good that Bay Watch has their boat parked just around the corner. It's tough to see stuff like this happening ; it did make me and my students think very carefully about how this sport can turn serious on a dime.

Thanks for letting us know.

Cheers,

X

 

[drbill]

When I heard of this last night from MissyP and others on-site, my first question was "Where was her buddy?"

I am relieved to hear that she will live. As Mr.X. said, incidents at the dive park do occur and have an impact on other divers, especially those who may be in BOW classes when they occur.

 

[JodiBB]

DrBill....You bring up a good point about her buddy. We didn't even hear about the buddy's involvement here. We did see some navigation instruction (towel over the head thing) in the parking lot, so it might have even been a AOW class member....don't know...

We were glad to hear she would recover as well....The paramedics and emergency crews were ever so impressive by their fast response! I wish we could get that kind of service back on the mainland!

 

[Jim Kerr]

I'm glad she's going to be ok but I have to wonder if she was ever given any instruction on "kelp" diving. When I was getting OW certified in Monterey they specifically warned us not to panic or try to twist and turn our way out if we got tangled in the kelp because it would only make things worse. They told us to just stay calm and locate the "offending" piece of kelp and just snap it and pull it away, and that's really all there is to it. Quality instruction goes a long way.

 

[DiverBizz]

I am so sorry to hear about the incident. I know my OW instructor covered how to get out of kelp and it was restated by my AOW instructor (thank goodness). I was certified at Casino Pt. and yes I did get a slight tug on my tank by the kelp but the instructors voices went through my head and I was able to reach around snap off the kelp. The fishing line that caught me was a surprise but we had reviewed that in class as well. We must remember stop, think, act. I wonder about her buddy. At least the DM noticed what was happening. I hope she recovers quickly and returns to the water.

 

[jaybombs25]

I don't think it's even a question of quality instruction. It should be natural reaction as an experienced diver that if you are caught up in something, to STOP, take a few breaths, analyze your situation and check your air etc. However, as a new diver should she have been diving without a more experienced buddy present to help her calm down?

May be wayyy off course but in my opinion one thing that has been drilled into my head at every level of diving is stop, calm down and think BEFORE taking any actions, when you can.

 

[Wildcard]

If the DM was close enough to "pop" her reg back in, she had a buddy doing the job. Why do people jump to conclusions so fast?

 

[robertarak]

She did have a weak pulse, but was not breathing. I was involved in the resuce and provided rescue breathing and instruction to other divers who were all helping. I will post more later, but at last check she was said to be doing "ok".

I will add that her buddies (it was a 4 person dive) did a good job of signaling for help. I watched as they did what they could while towing her through kelp and agains current.

 

[Jim Kerr]

I don't think it's even a question of quality instruction. It should be natural reaction as an experienced diver that if you are caught up in something, to STOP, take a few breaths, analyze your situation and check your air etc. However, as a new diver should she have been diving without a more experienced buddy present to help her calm down?

May be wayyy off course but in my opinion one thing that has been drilled into my head at every level of diving is stop, calm down and think BEFORE taking any actions, when you can.

Yes, you are definitely "waaaay" off. How do you know if she was experienced? She was taking a "class"!!!! It could have very well been her OW she was taking. It sounds like an AOW class was going on but it could have been a combination of both. Either way, alot of students go right into their AOW shortly after completing OW so they don't have alot of experience yet.