Any info about diver falling on his own knife?

[David P]

I read the article. Again some guy walking his dog saw a body laying face down on the beach wearing a wetsuit. He went over to inspect the body, after rolling the guy (40 something) over, the victim admited he triped and fell on his own knife... I feel bad for the guy, and mean no disrespect, but I found the story so odd I cut it out and pasted by my desk at work.

On a slighly funny sidenote... on the front page of the same newspaper on the same day was a photo of 4 LA police dive crew members splashing from about helicopter about 6 feet off the water. One of the divers didnt secure his gauge/brick and it flying through the air. The head line was "Practice Rescue Dive" and I thought it wont be a practice in about a half second when the guy gets his nose busted...

 

[Rick Murchison]

Diver Found Dead at Base of Cliffs

By Carrie Yamato Peninsula News
PVE -- A 44-year-old Hermosa Beach male diver died from a knife wound Sunday afternoon below the 2800 block of Paseo del Mar.

A Peninsula resident found the diver, David Millasich, while walking his dog on the beach.

According to Palos Verdes Estates Police Capt. Jim Kronberger, when the witness saw Millasich, he was lying face down on the rocks in his wet suit. The witness, who is an emergency medical technician, turned Millasich's body over and discovered large amounts of blood and a wound near his right chest area.

Millasich told him that he slipped and fell on his knife, and that he pulled the knife out himself.

Millasich also suffered some trauma to his head.

After unsuccessful attempts to contact 911 on his cell phone, the witness flagged down an officer who was patrolling Paseo del Mar.

When officer Joseph Hall went down to the bottom of the cliff with paramedics around 3:15 p.m., Millasich was dead.

Los Angeles County Coroners officials arrived shortly after and took the body to L.A. County Hospital.

The incident is under investigation, but PVE police say it appears to be a "freak accident."

"We haven't seen anything that would lead us to believe anything has happened," said Kronberger. "There's nothing to believe there's any foul play. We don't know why his knife was out and I guess we will never know."

Kronberger said there was nothing in Millasich's dive bag.

Millasich is survived by his mother, ex-wife and daughter.

 

[Stirling]

Diver Found Dead at Base of Cliffs

By Carrie Yamato Peninsula News
PVE -- A 44-year-old Hermosa Beach male diver died from a knife wound Sunday afternoon below the 2800 block of Paseo del Mar.

....

Millasich told him that he slipped and fell on his knife, and that he pulled the knife out himself.

For what it's worth to anybody who may be called upon to assist somebody with a similar wound in the future (whether from a knife or some other object stabbed into a person's body), it is a mistake to try to remove the object on the scene. Let them do it at the hospital.

I certainly don't know enough about the facts of this case to know whether it would have made any difference here, but I was taught that pulling the knife out can do additional damage, and leaving the knife (or other object) in place may help to keep some pressure on the wounded area (internally) and reduce the amount of bleeding until the victim can reach a hospital.

 

[Corigan]

Stirling gave some good advice here. Once again my condolonces to the victims and his family/friends. First thing I thought when I read that report was, "Should have left the knife in." I'm sure the bleeding become more severe after the object was removed.

Matt

 

[H2Andy]

also, it doesn't say in the report, but if it had been me, i would have secured
the bleeding *first* in this instance, even though protocol is to call 911
first.

if you don't stop that bleeding, he's not going to be alive anyway when the pros
get there.

maybe the guy did, but the paper didn't mention it

 

[Rick Murchison]

Stirling gave some good advice here. Once again my condolonces to the victims and his family/friends. First thing I thought when I read that report was, "Should have left the knife in." I'm sure the bleeding become more severe after the object was removed.
Matt

This isn't a clear call at all. Often leaving an object in place will improve survival chances, but often removing it so that direct pressure can be effectively applied can make the difference too. Depends on the object and where it is and what's punctured/cut and whether the bleeding is life-threatening as is or not... Use your brain; if it isn't clear that you'd be better off removing the object, don't. But if it is, don't let a "general rule" prevent you from saving a life.
Rick

 

[ParamedicDiver1]

Removing impaled objects is not something we do in the EMS setting, at least no where I have worked. This may be a different protocol in rural and wilderness rescue, and maybe off-shore too...but I have not heard such. Generally, an impaled object does provide direct pressure to the wound internally and removing it would cause more harm than good. I would not recommend anyone remove an impaled object unless you have advanced training in trauma care and the ability to initiate life support measures immediately.

 

[redrover]

Removing impaled objects is not something we do in the EMS setting... This may be a different protocol in rural and wilderness rescue,...

Yeah, in my rural and wilderness as well as disaster you got to stabilize impaled object and cut away enough to transport unless imminent greater hazard like explosion or fire. By the way, I got (uh, with help) a guy with a guardrail through the neck into the hospital 50 miles away alive. It was still attached to the road and he was in the drivers’ seat. But we did have tools. Keeping the person from pulling the glass shards from their eyes was heart wrenching.

What a sad thing. I can see how it could happen quite easily. A couple of close calls and wondering how I managed to avoid just getting hit by a bus being that stupid and I paid more attention to potentials since.

Poor guy that found him, what a nightmare he’ll probably have for the rest of his life. At least a neck injury is difficult to stabilize, airway and all, so he shouldn’t take not stopping bleeding too hard if he didn’t or couldn’t figure out a way. Very difficult situation to decide to leave and get help or stay since just holding the wound closed may have helped. Pretty hard to expect untrained people to reach in and pinch a vessel, let alone carry forceps. And how long before any one else happened by.

Like other members here I’ve seen a lot of tragedy, for me the dead are dead. I feel much more sorrow for the living that tried to help and the people that will miss them. The first helpless feeling of not knowing what to do is what got me into EMS. I’m really pleased to discover so many Rescue Divers in this new sport for me. I haven’t seen it all, but I have enough permanently burned in images and happy to feel it less likely to hear, “Oh thank God, someone knows what to do.”

 

[H2Andy]

wow redrover, awesome post

 

[Firediver]

if the knife cut going in.. it's going to do more cutting coming back out.. the same with any other impaled object. Your best bet is to leave the object in place and pack gauze or towels around it to keep it from moving.. You can apply direct pressure around the object with bandages that are holding the packing in place........