Diver Down Panama City / Mexico Beach

[Rick Murchison]

If this was a legitimate charter it's one thing but if it was an unlicensed private boat charging folks to go diving it would be very prudent to maintain a tight lip.......

True, the days of free enterprise without government meddling and litigation-in-the-wings are long gone.
Rick

 

[mike_s]

My knowledge of the incident stems only from the one-way conversation that we could hear over the VHF between the coast guard and the said vessel. We could not hear the responses from the boat that the unresponsive diver was brought to only the questions and comments from the Coast Guard. I must say however that I had a lot of concerns from what I heard.

1) The Coast Guard asked several times what the unresponsive divers name was and it seems they either didn't know or could not find it. The coast gurad even prompted them to look through her personal items to see what could be found. This would make me think it was a dive charter?

So.. they've got a victum on the deck doing CPR and the Coast Guard wants people to stop helping with the emergency and go determine their name? huh? wtf?

I just don't see this as being an urgent item to know her name.

I'm not even sure why it's needed at that point. much less publicized over a public use radio system, before the victims family is notifies. Last thing we need is some news crew listening to VHF showing up at the victims families house and shoving a camera in their face asking "How do they feel?" when they didn't even know their loved one was dead.

I guess it's needed for the reports, but if crazy to ask "go look through her personal items" during an emergency when it clearly has no benefit at that moment.

 

[Hetland]

True, the days of free enterprise without government meddling and litigation-in-the-wings are long gone.
Rick

Because obviously it's a good idea to be running commercial dive trips in the Gulf of Mexico without any medically trained personnel on board? Or any O2?

(not that this was the case here)

Government meddling and litigation-in-the-wings are the reason your car doesn't turn into a fireball in a fender-bender, or your cylinder doesn't explode (most of the time). I hear that Somalia doesn't have any government meddling, and the real-estate is pretty damn cheap too.

It did sound like a commercial trip to me, and a dive shop was mentioned. I can't say it was a boat for hire situation though. There was some other dialogue (monologue actually) that could lead me to believe they were performing a commercial activity (like taking samples or surveys or such).

While I'm mildly interested in elements of the commercial/non-commercial aspects of this case, I'd much rather hear about the diver, and how she ended up the way she did.

 

[Hetland]

So.. they've got a victum on the deck doing CPR and the Coast Guard wants people to stop helping with the emergency and go determine their name? huh? wtf?

I just don't see this as being an urgent item to know her name.

I'm not even sure why it's needed at that point. much less publicized over a public use radio system, before the victims family is notifies. Last thing we need is some news crew listening to VHF showing up at the victims families house and shoving a camera in their face asking "How do they feel?" when they didn't even know their loved one was dead.

I guess it's needed for the reports, but if crazy to ask "go look through her personal items" during an emergency when it clearly has no benefit at that moment.

Identification would allow them to know the person's age. The name could be used by the hospital to pull a medical history, blood group, etc. Pretty important. Even if she had never been to a hospital in the area, she might have been a blood donor (your card has your group) or had medications that would give clues to medical conditions or had a doctor's name. It takes one person to drive a boat, and one or two to do CPR. Likely, everyone else on the boat was standing around with their mouths open. It's good to give them something to do, and a name IS helpful. If someone is doing CPR on you, you don't give a $#17 what the press does with your name, and if the press does do something crappy, it's on them, not on the folks trying to save a life.

SPECULATION: The CG was probably pretty suspicious that the radio operator didn't have a name. You pretty much know everyone's first name that gets on your boat, and if it was a commercial operation, you would want to have a release, a c-card, something with a name on it.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Time was, I could hire a guy and his boat to take me somewhere to do something. It was my responsibility to select the boat I wanted to hire, and my responsibility to do due diligence to protect my own interests. It was his responsibility to honestly represent himself and his boat and his ability to do the job I wanted done. And we made the deal with a handshake.
I like it that way.
Automobiles weren't "turning into fireballs in fender-benders" long before government meddling.

Rick

Because obviously it's a good idea to be running commercial dive trips in the Gulf of Mexico without any medically trained personnel on board? Or any O2?

(not that this was the case here)

Government meddling and litigation-in-the-wings are the reason your car doesn't turn into a fireball in a fender-bender, or your cylinder doesn't explode (most of the time). I hear that Somalia doesn't have any government meddling, and the real-estate is pretty damn cheap too.

It did sound like a commercial trip to me, and a dive shop was mentioned. I can't say it was a boat for hire situation though. There was some other dialogue (monologue actually) that could lead me to believe they were performing a commercial activity (like taking samples or surveys or such).

While I'm mildly interested in elements of the commercial/non-commercial aspects of this case, I'd much rather hear about the diver, and how she ended up the way she did.

 

[Hetland]

More News

Updated: 8:14 AM Oct 26, 2010
Woman dies while diving with chartered trip
Port St. Joe -- The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating a scuba diver's death Saturday off the coast of Port St. Joe.
Posted: 5:12 PM Oct 25, 2010
Reporter: Erica Rakow
Email Address: erica.rakow@wjhg.com

Port St. Joe -- The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating a scuba diver's death Saturday off the coast of Port St. Joe.

57-year-old Paula J. Grimes from Tallahassee lost her life during a dive trip Saturday.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, Grimes was scuba diving in the Sherman Tug area with Daly’s Dock and Dives out of Port St. Joe.

A member of the dive party reported Grimes was found unresponsive, inverted and had dropped her gear.

The Coast Guard is still investigating the incident, so all of the details are not available yet. But members of the local dive community were shocked and saddened to learn the news, and say that there are many safeguards available to keep this type of tragedy at bay.

"To assist with our CPR and first aid, oxygen is always recommended for dive related injuries so we have a large oxygen unit with about four hours supply in it in case there's two victims and we're a long ways from shore to keep oxygen flowing the whole time. We also carry the defibrillator on board at all times and the crew is trained to use it," said Owner of Panama City Dive Charters, Patrick Green.

A defibrillator and oxygen tanks aren't required by the Coast Guard. Their only requirement is a first aid kit.

"We elected to purchase the first aid kit and the larger O2 bottles and the AED just because you know, I’m the captain on the boat, I see my customers every day and I want to do everything I can to keep them safe," added Green.

Daly's Dock and Dive Center would not provide any information about their emergency equipment and any other details about this incident and we were unable to reach grimes' family.

According to the Divers Alert Network, or DAN, the number of diving related deaths in the U.S. and Canada average about 100 per year.

According to DAN, the overwhelming cause of death as determined by the coroner is drowning. Acute heart conditions are the second most common cause of death while diving.

While the numbers may sound daunting, it's important to note that PADI alone certifies nearly one-million divers a year.

The medical examiner's office completed an autopsy Monday morning. While authorities say the cause of death appears to be accidental, they could not yet release the exact cause of death.

Woman dies while diving with chartered trip

 

[FSUgly]

I appreciate everyone's thoughts and concerns. I am now trying to get this typed in a manner that will seem to make sense (I hope), then I will try to answer/add to the concern, some of the questions that were brought up in previous posts. Give me a little time to get this done.

Thanks again for all your concern.

 

[mike_s]

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, Grimes was scuba diving in the Sherman Tug area with Daly’s Dock and Dives out of Port St. Joe.

I'm not familiar with this operation. are they somewhat new to the area?


Went to their website, but my filter at work for some reason has it blocked by defined category, which is I'm sure wrong.

Blocked URL: Daly's Dock & Dive Center
Category: Pornography​

There is a pic of the boat on their Facebook page. It's got a yellow strip on it as noted in the above posts.

 

[Hetland]

Time was, I could hire a guy and his boat to take me somewhere to do something. It was my responsibility to select the boat I wanted to hire, and my responsibility to do due diligence to protect my own interests. It was his responsibility to honestly represent himself and his boat and his ability to do the job I wanted done. And we made the deal with a handshake.
I like it that way.

Not everyone is a savvy sea-salt like yourself. While I'd trust you to find the proper captain, I'd want my niece and nephew on a commercial op, with a DM on board, O2, defib, etc. (not that such is any guarantee of better service or safety)

Personally, I agree with you. I'm happy with a captain that gets me there and back in one piece. I don't care for a DM harassing me over bottom times and pawing my gear.

Automobiles weren't "turning into fireballs in fender-benders" long before government meddling.

Some were. Car companies don't do recalls because they want to, they do recalls because they fear bad press, litigation, and the government.

I'm not familiar with this operation. are they somewhat new to the area?

If they are a new operation, that would explain the possible issues with the CG communications. They had their hands full, and possibly were not prepared for the types of questions being asked. They might not have seen the connect between DM and "medical personnel" either....

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

I have no filter on my computer and the link just comes up a dark gray screen. When I google the address and click on the cached pages they come up blank too.