Cozumel dive fatality on April 3?

[Dave Dillehay]

Dear Brules,

Your point is well taken-- AEDs can be a huge factor in survival from a HA. Allowing divers who are in some sort of discomfort to rise without being accompanied by a professional is scary. With the normal demographics in Cozumel divers, it is not too surprising that the rising majority of deaths is occurring.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

WE have two right now and we try to make sure that they are both out everyday (also with our huge O2 tank). If we have a problem on one boat, the others can get to them a lot quicker than an ambulance can. WE are adding them as fast as we can but they are not cheap at all. By year end we hope to have them on all boats.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[deepsea21]

Sorry to be ``that guy'' but AEDs do not treat heart attack (MIs). AEDs treat irregular heart rhythms, and if you are lucky, sudden cardiac arrest if you can get a rhythm back.

Note, this is very generalized and generic:

If someone is having a MI, the only treatment outside of a hospital is nitro or aspirin.
If someone is having a cardiac arrest, you start CPR and attach an AED.
In both cases, 911 and hospital.

The easiest way to tell the difference is the person having the MI will usually be awake and will have a pulse. Someone having cardiac arrest will be unconscious and usually pulse less. The majority of MIs (if they receive immediate treatment) will survive. The majority of cardiac arrest's (even with treatment) will not.

I think an AED is always great to have.

Thank you Nash for posting the facts... We all watch TV and have seen people over and over "shocked" back into life but that is just not the case. An AED is used to reset the chain and sequence of electrical signals that cause the chambers of a heart to beat in sequence. Someone experiencing a heart attack due to blockage is not going to respond to a defibrillator as the issue is not being caused by a fault in the electrical wiring of the heart. There is a reason we were all taught to minimize physical activity at depth in our training. Breathing dense air at depth puts a strain on your system and excessive exertion can lead to problems. Long story short, if something doesn't feel right or one feels themselves starting to hyperventilate from excessive exertion stop all movement, RELAX, control breathing and then decide to surface or continue the dive. As always, it's your life, your decision and as certified divers we accept the risks and the responsibility for our actions.

 

[B_D]

Sask - thanks for posting with the info. Very sad to hear; and certainly difficult for you to witness as well.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

I was on that dive and we were all saddened when we heard she had passed. She was quite nervous about the dive and it sounded like this was her first or near first dive since certifying.
A few minutes into the dive she told the DM that she wasn't well but they would continue. The DM sent up his SMB right then. A minute or two later her and her partner decided to surface and they followed the line up. About 10 minutes later another from our party was having equipment issues and followed the line up. When he surfaced the boat captain told him to get us all up. When we surfaced we realized this wasn't our boat. Our boat took the woman to shore and to hospital as she was in trouble. Our new boat then went and picked up his divers and we proceeded to shore. An hour or so later we had heard that she didn't make it and it was a presumed heart attack. They said there was to be an autopsy the next day but as we didn't know these folks we never heard results. It was very sad.

Which dive op?

 

[deepsea21]

Which dive op?

Does it really matter? I personally don't care to know. People die diving just as they do sleeping in their beds every night. I don't ask what brand of mattress he or she was sleeping on when they passed as it doesn't matter.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

Does it matter? No. Am I curious...yes. Thats why I asked. There is one particular operation that I believe has an unsafe track record. I'm just wondering if they have struck again.

Jay

 

[deepsea21]

Jay, there are better things to be curious about. I've had only one discussion with a diver in-person who witnessed a horrible event as we were on a dive boat talking about "what happened" with such and such dive op in coz several years ago. After our 5-10 minutes of talking about the incident a quiet solo diver on the boat spoke up, stated that he was there and part of that group, told the story, and it pained him to tell it. Us talking about it put him in a place where he felt he needed to step in and "correct" the stories we had heard and were discussing. In short, I'm no longer curious and I don't care to discuss such things here or with divers on a boat ever again. Your're right, it doesn't matter and talking about it is not going to make a difference... It can only remind and cause pain for those who were close to it again. I learned that on that day.

 

[Sideways]

Does it really matter? I personally don't care to know. People die diving just as they do sleeping in their beds every night. I don't ask what brand of mattress he or she was sleeping on when they passed as it doesn't matter.

For me it matters. Main reason is because it sounds like the Dive Op handled the scenario very well. For me it's ALWAYS good to know a quality/safe OP to dive with. I've been with a couple different dive Ops during my dive career that I don't think would have handled the scenario as well (as stated). Unfortunately also, if the Op is not up to safety/performance standards I would sure like to know, wouldn't you?

 

[Christi]

I didn't even hear about this incident - but I will say that it's gossip unless it comes from parties directly involved or who directly witnessed it - and gossip is rarely good or factual

Prayers for the family, friends and those who were involved.