Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think a standard DAN O2 kit lacks a ventilator bag, making it useless once the patient stops breathing. Additionally, AEDs only shock in very narrow circumstances, so I don't know if it would have been useful either. Maybe one of our MD's can chime in and let us know what type of rhythms you can expect just after a rapid ascent.
Again, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Oxygen is most useful in managing DCS symptoms in a patient that is breathing on his own.
First let me share that I am not a physician but may be able to shed some light on these statements/questions as I have been a first responder for more than 35 years and have provided aid in diving accidents.
The standard O2 kit does not include a "ventilator bag" as this should never be used by a lay person or person trained only in basic first aid and CPR. However, anyone trained in First aid/CPR by Emergency First Response, Medic First Aid, or the other agencies affiliated with dive training orgs is taught to always have a pocket mask with an O2 inlet at the ready. This will allow a tube from the O2 bottle to be connected to the mask on constant flow and a much higher concentration of oxygen to enter the patient with each rescue breath. This provides a better chance of getting much needed O2 to the brain if breaths and compressions are effective.
Even though O2 may be highly effective in treatment of DCS it is also extremely effective first aid in almost all circumstances where breathing is impaired and the brain is deprived of oxygen. Though this diver may have suffered an AGE due to a rapid ascent after panic it is also possible that she was low on air and may have taken in water, may have drowned. Regardless, in either of these cases and most other related possibilities O2 would be a highly recommended course of first aid.
Regarding AED's, they are not the miracle device that news success stories would have us all believe but two of the situations in which the use of an AED has proven to render positive results are in sudden cardiac events and in near drownings. Since either of these was a possible cause or result of the accident it would have been prudent to attempt use of an AED if it were available and responders were trained to use it. Just as oxygen is recommended in almost all cicumstances when breathing is impaired, the use of an AED is almost always recommended, if available, if the patient does not have a pulse.
All of that having been said, though it is clear the boat could have (and many would say should have) had additional equipment available, it sounds as though once the problem was identified the dive boat captain and the dive leader used what resources were available to provide basic life support. Unfortunately it cannot be known if any additional safety or first aid equipment would have resulted in any different outcome.
I would say that reading about this incident has only reinforced my belief that every diver needs to constantly assess for every dive their own preparedness to dive in regards to all of these: mental, emotional, physical preparedness as well as their own training, experience, equipment, and buddy considerations. On every dive, you don't need to dwell on the negative, but like a boyscout you need to be prepared and that means anticipating potential problems and having a plan, the equipment, the training, the experience, and an equally prepared buddy to handle potential problems.
Off my soapbox now...
