Diver Died In West Palm Beach, Fl.

[III]

I was sitting beside her. The last words she spoke to any were to me and she said, "I'm feeling anxious." my reply was, "so am I." then it was DIVE DIVE DIVE and all hell broke loose.

 

[Thalassamania]

This is a terrible tragedy. Narcosis is a very well run operation and if there was a hope of saving her she was in very qualified hands. It's a shame to see this as it has long lasting effects on everyone present. I see that her instructor was with her on the dive, so I can only presume that everything possible was done from begining to end of the incident that would have saved her. My heart goes out to her family, but also to the instructor and the crew who all worked hard to try to save her.

Don't you think it best to wait and see before passing judgment one way or the other, especially when you consider that the most reasonable prima facie conclusion is quite the opposite?

 

[Divingguy]

III, Welcome to the Board. What a horrible first post to have to make. I feel for you and the others who were present, and trust that further FACTS will be made available as and when appropriate.

 

[Missdirected]

I was sitting beside her. The last words she spoke to any were to me and she said, "I'm feeling anxious." my reply was, "so am I." then it was DIVE DIVE DIVE and all hell broke loose.

I'm assuming you are new to diving as well? Either way, so sorry you had this experience.

 

[K_girl]

One thing struck me after watching the video report and what the captain said. He said they did rescue breathing and CPR. I noticed he didn't mention the use of a defibrillator or a better method for delivering oxygen. Don't most commercial dive boats have these devices? They aren't as expensive as they used to be. I know I learned to use them in the prerequisite courses for my rescue diving class. Was anyone who posts to this board there can shed any light?

 

[BKP]

Unfortunately, even though the newest portable AED's can be found for as little as $1,250, they're not required by code on dive ops.

 

[BUGBAGGER]

Condolensces to all involved and effected both directly and indirectly.

Regarding a previous post...

Don't you think it best to wait and see before passing judgment one way or the other,

Yes, to the above-good advise. Let's wait for more details

especially when you consider that the most reasonable prima facie conclusion is quite the opposite?

No, to this part. Implying that a death, judged "on the face of it," would more likely be as a result of appropriate action having NOT being taken you are making just as incorrect an assumption as the person to whom you were writing. There are many situations in diving and every walk of life where persons present at a death do everything reasonable, prudent, and even heroic and life is still lost. Let's not dissect the tragedy with unintentioned blame or unfounded criticism based on too little information.

More details are sure to be revealed in time.

I enjoy your usual post of good judgement and aloha and hope that you accept this as gentle criticism of what I assume to be an unintentional slip of the tongue-so to speak.

 

[shotthebreeze]

One the divers inflated her flotation device but Oshea deflated it, deputies said.

That strikes me as odd. Was this her first dive of the day or second? I don't know if you can get Narc'd that fast...

The boat name is Narcosis, which is a bit eerie too...

 

[Thalassamania]

... No, to this part. Implying that a death, judged "on the face of it," would more likely be as a result of appropriate action having NOT being taken you are making just as incorrect an assumption as the person to whom you were writing. There are many situations in diving and every walk of life where persons present at a death do everything reasonable, prudent, and even heroic and life is still lost. Let's not dissect the tragedy with unintentioned blame or unfounded criticism based on too little information.

More details are sure to be revealed in time.

I enjoy your usual post of good judgement and aloha and hope that you accept this as gentle criticism of what I assume to be an unintentional slip of the tongue-so to speak.

Thank you for your kind words, I do not want to disappoint, but I fear that I can not hide behind a lack of intent or a slip of the tongue. When a forty-year old dies in the company of leadership personnel who have with a clear duty to exit the water with his or her charges in the same condition that they were in when they entered the water, the prima facie conclusion is that, short of massive outside interference (e.g., aliens with ray-guns), or unpreventable and undetectable medical conditions, the leadership personnel involved screwed up.

I was not suggesting that that this is, in point of fact, the case. I was pointing out that it was unreasonable to be praising the “very well run operation,” and stating that, “if there was a hope of saving her she was in very qualified hands,” in the face of such prima facie evidence (which, as I indicated, may or may not turn out to be the case).

We have no idea if the instructor screwed the pooch, or if was one of those horrible and unpreventable tragedies.

More details are sure to be revealed in time.

That strikes me as odd. Was this her first dive of the day or second? I don't know if you can get Narc'd that fast...

The boat name is Narcosis, which is a bit eerie too...

It was, I believe, a very shallow dive and narcosis can be ruled out.

 

[DivingPrincessE]

One thing struck me after watching the video report and what the captain said. He said they did rescue breathing and CPR. I noticed he didn't mention the use of a defibrillator or a better method for delivering oxygen. Don't most commercial dive boats have these devices? They aren't as expensive as they used to be. I know I learned to use them in the prerequisite courses for my rescue diving class. Was anyone who posts to this board there can shed any light?

In my first responder course through the dive shop I asked about AEDs on boats. They said many (most?) small boats don't carry them because there is water everywhere, makes sense to me. The boat might have had oxygen on board, but I think more force is needed to deliver a rescue breath to a non-breathing victim than simply putting an oxygen mask on will accomplish.