I have a cut and paste of the info from the Divebums maillist.
OK, here are the promised further details on the recent diving accident
at the Shores:
The injured diver is a certified diver from Brazil and was on a guided
tour being given by an instructor at OEX.
The max depth on the dive was about 60 feet and the dive lasted about
18 minutes. At that point, from about 50 feet, the diver gave the out
of air signal to the guide, appeared panicked, and would not accept the
guide's regulator. (Later examination of the diver's gear showed that
he still had 1200 PSI.) The guide accompanied the diver to the surface
during his emergency ascent. At the surface, the diver was foaming at
the mouth and was not breathing.
The guide popped his (big, orange) safety sausage, waved for the
lifeguards, and began rescue breathing. The lifeguards saw the safety
sausage and responded very quickly. The diver required CPR at the
beach, but regained a pulse. As of yesterday afternoon, he was alive
but not in very good shape. Heart attack has apparently been ruled
out. Embolism is suspect, but I do not know whether it's been proven.
The guide was taken to the chamber as a precaution, but was not treated
and is physically well.
SAFETY SAUSAGES:
OEX believes, and it's reflected in what the lifeguards have told them,
that the use of the orange safety sausage to very quickly get the
lifeguard's attention was critical to the lifesaving measures the diver
received -- and getting him to the beach and CPR on a hard surface very
quickly. Because of this, they have made the decision to put safety
sausages on all of their rental BCDs and all of their staff BCDs. In
addition, they are offering half off on safety sausages to anyone who
wants to come in and get one. I do not know if they will put a time or
quantity limit on this, but check in with them if you're interested.
Also, if any other shops wish to offer deals on safety sausages, please
contact me off-list and I'll compile a list and put it back out.
John
Divebums
