Accident and rescue at Breakwater (Monterey, CA)

[bbianchi]

does anybody know what LDS was doing the training?

Or how the diver is doing?

 

[Ben_ca]

It would be interesting to find an official account of the incident, instead of speculation.

It would be nice if the diving world were like the aviation industry with thorough debriefs and expert findings (example FAA Lessons Learned).. but unfortunately we don't get that unless the parties involved tell the stories themselves.

 

[bbianchi]

It would be nice if the diving world were like the aviation industry with thorough debriefs and expert findings (example FAA Lessons Learned).. but unfortunately we don't get that unless the parties involved tell the stories themselves.

Exactly...

 

[mikeguerrero]

FAA disclose that for a reason; billions of dollars in the Airline industry. A plane going down doesn't kill just one party, it messes with everyone, mainly civilians.

We lose one diver here and there and nobody cares beyond the family members. The closest we get is the book, Diver Down. It's very sad, that divers sometimes go lost without a trace, just a forgotten memory.

 

[pterantula]

Or how the diver is doing?

according to the other thread ("Sunday Breakwater Accident"):
"the injured diver was revived & breathing thanks to other divers."

 

[bbianchi]

Appearing to be fine, and actually being fine are different in this sport. There's the possibility that she had water in her lungs, etc. I was just curious if anyone had heard anything official or otherwise.

 

[dgrolem]

There is also a tendency of the family and the friends to try and minimize any contribution on the diver's part. As a cave diver, I see this all the time with complete wars from 2 separate camps. Camp 1: "Don't even talk about this accident. I knew him." Camp 2: "We need to understand this as much as possible in order to avoid this fate ourselves." I rest firmly in Camp 2.

We will probably never know if she even survived. A frighteningly low percentage of folks who need CPR ever leave the hospital. But because she regained her breathing so quickly, the chest compressions she received were probably not necessary.

I watched them carry her to the ambulance. She was breathing, but did not appear to be conscious. If she does survive, it is all due to the diligent and quick care she received on the beach.

 

[mikeguerrero]

To me it seems like that when a diver goes down everyone hushes up, mainly due to family wanting the memory to be put to rest, I understand that.

But I can imagine that the scuba training agencies don't want to publicly announce deaths associated to the sport; scare tactics can occur and that's millions of dollars that can be lost.

As a diver wanting to pursue the sport even more, these incidents do matter a great deal to me, however, family of the deceased have the ultimate say.

MG

 

[Ed L.]

The diver in question is fine and was released from the hospital the other day. No other info than that.

 

[SRT Diver]

Are you positive that she was confirmed released from the hospital or is it heresay? I was on on the beach and witnessed the accident too. I hate to hindsight without hearing from the instructor involved but it was confirmed that the victim was an open water student and she was performing CESA as I overheard during the police interview. From an instructor perspective on the sidelines risk management appeared to be a major issue. My divemaster was walking her dogs on the pier when she witnessed 3 divers pop to the surface near a float which was a good 1000-1500 yards from the shore and said one of them was unconscious and there appeared to be confusion in the water. It appears that open water students swam her to shore ( a looong way to shore especially for an OW student). They did the best they could which they deserve a lot fo credit. The location of the instructor i can not say. I was with my class doing paperwork when I heard screaming and a crowd gathering so I went to assist. I can tell you she was extremely cyanotic and not breathing. My DM also said she was not breathing on the tow in. USCG was quick to the beach with a backboard and first aid. They used a powered o2 mask and were breathing for her. They could not detect a pulse, connected and AED and the AED indicated no shock advised. After about 2-3 minutes she vomited what appeared to be water and began shallow breathing on her own. By that time all first responders including paramedics were on scene. I can tell you from my experience as a paramedic the first responders (padi execs, coast guard and fellow divers) ran the call perfectly and did an outstanding job, by the numbers! I can also tell you that the private ambulance paramedic (who was last to arrive) had horrible bedside manner and without seeing what was going on yelled at the "crowd" to disperse who happened to be all professionals doing their job (called paragod syndrome in my hood) Thats my perception of the event. I find it hard to believe she was released with no deficits given her skin color (most of my cardiac arrest victims do not have skin color that blue!) and delay for rescue breathing but it is cold water, she appeared younger and stranger things have happened.

Also a bad day to have a class accident when your a PADI instructor and PADI execs are on your beach!