Dive incident in Cozumel March 27, 2015

[uncfnp]

From what I understand - please correct me - You should engage the AED every time you think you will be performing CPR to bring the heart back

Essentially, yes since by saying you are going to perform CPR that means the victim is unresponsive and pulseless.

BUT if there is no heart beat the AED will NOT deliver a shock - SO the above statement is technically true by lowviz....

If by no heartbeat he meant no electrical activity on the EKG, asystole, then yes, technically true. An AED will not "shock" if there is no electrical activity. And that is what eventually happens when nothing is done.

 

[lowviz]

... If a pt is unresponsive without signs of life, start cpr, get an AED and use it. Survivability drops 10% each minute care is delayed during sudden cardiac arrest

And that is the take away message from all this, there are things that need to be done, done quickly, and done in the correct order.

 

[gkwalt]

This entire thread focused on AED's For me as a 60 year old rec/instructor diver the question is...am I engaging in a sport that may kill me. Regardless of DCI and other causes, is my age a significant risk factor? Cardiologists look at excersize in terms of METs. METs are a measurement of energy (cardiac and respiratory) needed to perform certain tasks. It takes 1 MET to sit in your chair and watch re-runs of Sea Hunt. Although the jury is out, it takes about 7 METs to conduct a typical rec dive .( How many MET's should the rec diver be able to handle?+) That is equvalent to walking up stairs and sexual intercourse.( What are METS?). While I am not quite the Don Juan I was before, I can certainly climb flights of stairs without problems. For me at least, it boils down to risk vs. benefit. The benefits I get from diving far exceed the theoretical risk. It goes without saying that if ever I feel I can't safely teach OW students, that will be the day I stop teaching. The rec diving community is ageing. If a diver knows their limits and dives their limits I think any diver can dive at any age. But the important thing is to know when it is time to hang up your fins so you don't endanger any one else.

 

[MMM]

This entire thread focused on AED's For me as a 60 year old rec/instructor diver the question is...am I engaging in a sport that may kill me. Regardless of DCI and other causes, is my age a significant risk factor? Cardiologists look at excersize in terms of METs. METs are a measurement of energy (cardiac and respiratory) needed to perform certain tasks. It takes 1 MET to sit in your chair and watch re-runs of Sea Hunt. Although the jury is out, it takes about 7 METs to conduct a typical rec dive .( How many MET's should the rec diver be able to handle?+) That is equvalent to walking up stairs and sexual intercourse.( What are METS?). While I am not quite the Don Juan I was before, I can certainly climb flights of stairs without problems. For me at least, it boils down to risk vs. benefit. The benefits I get from diving far exceed the theoretical risk. It goes without saying that if ever I feel I can't safely teach OW students, that will be the day I stop teaching. The rec diving community is ageing. If a diver knows their limits and dives their limits I think any diver can dive at any age. But the important thing is to know when it is time to hang up your fins so you don't endanger any one else.

I think you have hit on an important point. The baby boom is aging and as it represents the largest demographic bulge and probably a disproportionately large fraction of recreational divers, I think it inevitable that we will see more and more of their deaths reported while diving (or golfing or whatever). There must be some happy medium between sitting in front of the fireplace knitting and diving the Titanic. Where that place is, I don't know. But think we should all get used to seeing a lot more of these types of incidents.

 

[Ayisha]

If this is the same event it appears that she succumbed to a heart attack.

Turista muere infartada

Here is a Google Translate of the above article, although it's not entirely accurate. This woman and her husband were/are from London, ON, and well known to the community there:

COZUMEL, 28 March.- After several attempts to save the life of a Canadian tourist of 69 years who was diving on the island, it lost life just when intended move it by air ambulance to their country of origin; Woman killed apparently by a myocardial infarction.

Despite the efforts of paramedics body hyperbaric chamber to save the life of Sharon Young, 69, a tourist, who enjoyed a vacation in Cozumel, suffered a first heart attack while snorkeling on the reef Colombia, so the respiratory failure feel out of the water, being supported by the dive guides and her husband, Ronald Young, who was with her at the time.
According to information gathered, the couple was enjoying water activities on the ship the "Renegade" Company Dive Paradise dive where reefs visited the southern part of the island of Cozumel, suddenly the husband woman, a sign, reported that his wife felt bad, so the dive guide provided the assistance brought them to the surface.
Once on the surface, Sharon Young said he felt bad and I could not breathe, feeling a sharp pain in the chest, so immediately the guide gave her first aid while giving notice to the Port, as well as to the emergency services.
Because the group of divers of that tour was unaware of the incident and could not leave, the captain of the boat the "Renegade" sought assistance from another boat that was already out, so was the "Medusa" who He moved to economy immediately Palancar Beach Pier, where it was expected by ambulance manner.
In the place of women fell into respiratory arrest, so we were provided first aid, managing to revive and being transferred in code red to clinical hyperbaric chamber, where upon arrival he suffered a second heart attack, which is revive it could again; due to the severity of the patient, although it was stable, family and doctors requested an ambulance for aero was moved to Canada, unfortunately he fell into a third heart attack, which he claimed the life, being the time 18:47 hours officer death.
Meanwhile, Ronald Young said unknown what happened to his wife, because she was very happy vacationing and as far as she knew she had no heart condition. It is in the course of this day the woman's body to be transferred to their country, where Christian burial will be delivered.

 

[lowviz]

Ayisha,

At the end of the day, it all comes down to real people with real families and real friends and loved ones. We do our best to make our time here rewarding and minimize any damage we may cause to those around us.

Thanks for the reminder.

 

[uncfnp]

It does seem that a disproportionate number of dive related sudden death occurs in the 50+ age group.

On the other hand, during a recent dive trip we spent an evening with the couple staying in the villa next to us. The wife's parents dove into their 80's. I can only hope.

 

[Saltyhawg]

My wife and I were certified a year ago when she was 54 and I was 58. We love diving so much we were initially sad we waited so late in life to start. We expected we would be the oldest divers where ever we went on dive trips. We've been on about 50 ocean dives in the last year and we have never been the oldest on the boat. On a recent trip we were actually the youngest by several years on some days!

Friends have asked us about increased risks at our age....my wife replied before I could, "if we die we die doing what we love". As a physician I realize that despite the fact that we are both in great health that we are at additional risk to younger folks but the reality is we never know when our number is up. I have a patient who had a major heart attack at age 31. He was a marathon runner and had perfect blood pressure and lipids before his MI. His cath was normal except for one congenitally compromised artery. You never know.

 

[Yarbrough]

This entire thread focused on AED's For me as a 60 year old rec/instructor diver the question is...am I engaging in a sport that may kill me.

GKWalt, of course you are.

There is significant stress put on our cardiovascular system just by being underwater, not to mention the host of other things that go on under the water that are inhospitable.

How Diving Affects Your Health and Circulatory System | The Heart & Diving - DAN Health & Diving

 

[ZombieZombie]

This entire thread focused on AED's For me as a 60 year old rec/instructor diver the question is...am I engaging in a sport that may kill me. Regardless of DCI and other causes, is my age a significant risk factor? Cardiologists look at excersize in terms of METs. METs are a measurement of energy (cardiac and respiratory) needed to perform certain tasks. It takes 1 MET to sit in your chair and watch re-runs of Sea Hunt. Although the jury is out, it takes about 7 METs to conduct a typical rec dive .( How many MET's should the rec diver be able to handle?+) That is equvalent to walking up stairs and sexual intercourse.( What are METS?). While I am not quite the Don Juan I was before, I can certainly climb flights of stairs without problems. For me at least, it boils down to risk vs. benefit. The benefits I get from diving far exceed the theoretical risk. It goes without saying that if ever I feel I can't safely teach OW students, that will be the day I stop teaching. The rec diving community is ageing. If a diver knows their limits and dives their limits I think any diver can dive at any age. But the important thing is to know when it is time to hang up your fins so you don't endanger any one else.

Good post. The key to managing risk is knowing if you are fit enough to engage in the normal exertions of the activity.
The fitness test for the PADI Rescue Diver course- for those of us who have had heart or other issued in the past- is 11 METS IIRC.
I got to 13 and decided not to push my luck too much. At 13 METS I was breathing pretty hard but had more in the tank in I needed it. (It's not a linear scale so 13 METS is substantially more effort than 11).

People should get a METS based stress test from their doctor on an annual basis if age or medical history gives them food for thought. If you can't get to 11 METS, you have a decision to make. I have told my wife not to be in any way upset if I go during a dive. I was doing something I love and we should all be so lucky. It's a personal choice and my answer is not your answer. For some, extra time on the porch doing very little is preferable to the 'short glorious lives' of some others.