Dive Mishap Key Largo 1/13/07

[Law5Guy]

Not sure if it is OK to post a link, so I will do it 'indirectly'...

According to an article Posted - Wednesday, January 17, 2007 9:27 AM EST at http://www.keynoter.com/news (click 'Diver still critical' link):
The diver "was stricken while near the end of a dive".

Ok.. just guessing but... When I read 'stricken' that sounds like she was hit ... by the boat perhaps?

 

[seemybubbles]

me diver...i appreciate you keeping us updated but would love to see a link or something. Through various friends in the dive community in the Keys, the only information they have all found is in the news and nothing has spoken of her passing. I'll take that as a great sign until we see others. She and her family are in our thoughts and prayers.

 

[JillGadget]

I think we need to stop pointing fingers at any and everyone. Accident are accidents that is why they are called that.. My understanding is she was NOT certified. She was doing her open water certs with her husband/instructor. What we need to do is learn from this tragedy. My understanding is she took her reg out of her mouth upon surfacing... aspirated water and went unconscious. The waves that day were 6-8 foot! I think to myself... damn I've surfaced and talked to my instructor before. LESSON LEARNED for me. No, I was not on the boat but was in the area and everyone is devastated. This could have happened to almost everyone. Aren't most protocols and rules originally created by accidents or near accidents? I have heard about her health but cannot not confirm and that would not be fair. I pray for her family and her.

 

[Skeeter1097]

any more news about this lady.?

 

[Jeff Toorish]

The waves that day were 6-8 foot!

The waves were up to 8 feet that day? And an open water student was in the water?

This incident has already evolved significantly. The arrested instructor was apparently not teaching her, according to the published reports. The same article sites her husband as her instructor. It appears she was not certified. These rudimentary considerations beg several obvious questions.

Not speculation, but an observation: there is still a great deal to learn about this terrible incident.

Condolances to her family and friends and sympathies to all involved. Clearly this is a tragedy; and with any tragedy of this nature, what affects one of us affects us all.

Jeff

 

[jdwa]

http://www.keysnews.com/288009050800878.bsp.htm

 

[fabasard]

Saving his company from a HUGE lawsuit. Correct me if I am wrong, but those uncertified may NOT be given tanks with air? Now it is true that the wife was under the husbands supervision, second problem. He was not certified to monitor her. We may never know what happened, but the husband takes some of the blame as, as a diver, he should have known better. The company takes blame for renting to him (even if he lied and said it was all for him, when the boat went out and she was with him, they should have asked for her C card and NEVER allowed her to get suited up). I feel for her and her family, but this case needs to be severed and tried with the husband as one defendant and the shop (and the employee) as the other set of defendants. Even I, who would have made a few errors (turned off the air/or left it on, still don't know which is right) but I would have segregated her gear and CERTAINLY wouldn't have washed it with a police officer telling me not to. If anyone should ever have their C cards pulled, its the husband, the dive shop and the instructor who tampered with evidence. God, what an @$$!!!!!!

 

[james croft]

This is a sorry mess. Diving in 6-8 foot seas are not suitable for an uncertified or inexperienced diver. They need to dive in pool like conditions. It looks like she got good rescue treatment by the crew and doctor on board which gave her a fighting chance.

 

[trtldvr]

Before everyone starts tearing apart the operater for letting a non-certified diver dive, it is my understanding the husband is an instructor. The locals only use our local paper for general info, not for facts. No father in the Keys would ever have told his young daughter that if she read it in the Citizen it must be true (it is definitely not the Baltimore Sun). Not that the Citizen reported incorrect facts, the husband is a certified diver, just incomplete facts.

On another issue I checked the NOAA web for the weather in the area that day, it was blowing 10 to 15 kts out of the east. Yes it would have been choppy . Down here that usually means seas of 3 to 4 ft. Which is workable

 

[Richesb]

The diver died yesterday, cause unknown. Previously unstated she was diving with her husband who is a scuba instructor. She had surfaced from the dive and gave an OK signal to the divemaster. The facts are slowly coming out. Don't be too quick to blame the dive operator.