Diver Died In West Palm Beach, Fl.

[El Cid]

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.

Thats a good point that I was about to make on the AED's. You would have to ensure that everyone is in a dry location and we all know that doesn't exist on a dive boat. As for the O2 though, use of the constant flow mask or pocket mask hooked up to an O2 cylinder allows you to force the O2 into the lungs while giving rescue breaths.

 

[fl-diver]

This is very sad news for sure. I don't know if it was mentioned but I think she was 53 years old.
After recently updating my CPR and First aid training to include AED use, it seems that these should be mandatory to have on charter boats along with oxygen. I don't remember the numbers but apparently the survival percentage goes up drastically with the use of AED within minutes of an incident.

I dove out of the same marina yesterday and there were Paramedics waiting to take a diver off of the boat in the slip next to Narcosis. The diver was conscious and actually walked to the stretcher and they had the oxygen kit out on the boat.
Does anybody know what happened in this case?

 

[Firediver32]

Did you catch the name of the other boat? or even the color?

 

[fl-diver]

I don't know the name of the boat but it was docked right next to Narcosis. I spoke with a guy at the dive shop today and he said that a diver ascended rapidly from 70fsw with no safety stop and once on the boat said he was not feeling well. He was given oxygen and then taken by ambulance. I don't know any more details at this time.

 

[Garrobo]

Yeah well, I don't think it does any good to Monday morning quarterback what happened to this lady. Some people seem to think that there should be an EMS technician and emergency room equipment on every dive boat. Diving is an inherently dangerous proposition to begin with since we are in an environment meant for fish not people. Every precaution should be taken to make sure that the diver is safely delivered clean compressed air at a quantity which will sustain life and divers should make sure that they are adepuately trained in the procedures and are in a good enough physical and mental condition to perform the exercises needed to stay alive under water. I keep reading about these middle-aged people having heart attacks while diving, many times on their first dive. This indicates to me that they are not in a good enough physical condition to be diving. Either they have ignored the medical necessities and have taken it on their own to dive anyway or they might not know that they have a problem. Personally I started diving two years ago at 66 and you can bet your a** that I went through a bank of exams before I took it up. One hundred plus dives later I'm still getting checked out every six months. Some of these tradgedies can be prevented.

 

[medical1]

"A 53-year-old Dunedin woman died after having breathing problems while diving Saturday about 1 mile off of Palm Beach, authorities said.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said Deborah Oshea began her dive about 1:30 p.m. and was in the water for 10 minutes when she began having problems. People in the water tried to help Oshea by putting the breathing regulator back in her mouth, but she kept spitting it out. One of the other divers inflated her flotation device, but Oshea kept deflating it.

Dive operators performed CPR while the Coast Guard escorted the boat into the Riviera Beach Marina."

Palm Beach Post 3 May 2008

By Jerome Burdi | Sun-Sentinel.com
10:03 PM EDT, May 3, 2008
RIVIERA BEACH - A 43-year-old newly certified diver died after diving in the Atlantic Ocean near Palm Beach about 2 p.m. Saturday, the Sheriff's Office said.
Deborah Oshea of Dunedin, Fla., was with her dive instructor and seven other people on a 48-foot charter boat near The Breakers hotel for an open water dive, investigators said.

She dove to a depth of 10-feet and then came back to the surface with breathing problems, deputies said. Two people tried helping Oshea by putting the breathing regulator back in her mouth but she kept spitting it out, authorities said. One the divers inflated her flotation device but Oshea deflated it, deputies said.

The boat captain along with the two other rescuers pulled Oshea onto the boat and began CPR. They reached the boat dock at 200 East 13th St., Riviera Beach, where Oshea was rushed to St. Mary's Medical Center. She was pronounced dead at 2:41 p.m.

I WISH EVERYONE WOULD STOP THE SPECULATION ON WHAT HAPPENED.

 

[III]

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

Yes I am new to diving. This was to be my open water certification dives. Needless to say none of us felt like diving after this happened, and we all returned home

As far as the medical equipment on board the Staff of the Narcosis breifed us all prior to departing the marina as to where the DEFIB and the oxygen were located. I was not on the boat when the victim was being brought back to shore but when I did return to the Narcosis the EQ was still open and on the deck.

On a brighter note i finished up my certification today in King Spring, Crystal River and tommorrow I will be diving out of Clearwater 1 wreck and 1 reef 60 feet on the Plunger.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

..... 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 really disagree about your assertion that staff must have screwed up,. I can envision many scenarios where the student can engage in a behavoir that is very dangerous and the instructor really can't do too much about. It is impractical to think that an instructor can watch 6 or so students and absolutely assure that none will bolt and hold their breath...The idea that the instructor should be able to get the student back to the surface safely, no matter what is a little unrealistic.... I stopped teaching diving because I saw people do too many scary things...

Not that this has anything to do with the recent fatality...

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Yes I am new to diving. This was to be my open water certification dives. Needless to say none of us felt like diving after this happened, and we all returned home.

So what happened on the dive? If you were in the same class and everyone was together, then you probably have a good idea about what happened underwater.

 

[III]

Me and my buddy were the only ones in the "class" The other people who were on the boat we all certified, including the victim. This was her first open water dive. I don't want to speculate on what went wrong because I wasn't involved.

All I will say is the crew of the Narcosis and the instructor were very professional and I'm sure did everything possible to avoid the outcome.

This is not the way I wanted to start my diving experience, it was a tragic accident and something I do not wish on anyone. I would think that all who read these forums and post here understand that this is an extreme sport and if you are not careful things can go south real fast.

My instrustor has been diving for 30+ years and she did an AWESOME job training me as she has 100's of other divers. Please don't speculate that it was her fault because she was with me at all times (as she should have been). We still don't know exactly what happened, the paper is saying heart attack, and she was feeling anxious as I stated in my first post.