Diver Fatality - Destin, FL

[Stone]

Date: 9 Sep 03, story appeared in the 11 Sep 03 newspaper.

32 year-old woman (tourist from Oklahoma) "went unconscious" while surfacing from the dive. Paramedics met the diveboat (SeaCobra) and "administered CPR enroute to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center where she died". Victim's father told the boat's Captain/owner that the "preliminary cause of death is an aneurysm". Initial investigation will take a week. Cause of death could take six weeks.

 

[paulintexas]

how horrible, i feel for her family...

any idea if a out of control ascent could cause this? I would think it could....

 

[Genesis]

But didn't want to hassle ScubaTech for the details.... the radio calls were overheard by a lot of people (myself included; I was working on the boat and had the radio turned on.)

My understanding is that they adminstered CPR for close to 2 hours, all told, before transport was complete. Not much chance of survival, but once you start CPR, you can't stop (unless you pass out from exhaustion!) until the EMS folks take over.

There's no way to know exactly what happened; a too-rapid ascent frequently causes AGE, which might present like an aneurysm, but the difference will be obvious if an autopsy is performed (a burst aneurysm causes a massive hemmorage, and its immediately obvious on autopsy.)

99% of the time such events are IMPOSSIBLE to predict, particularly if they're cerebral. Sometimes you catch ones in the coronary arteries before they get you - but not always.

I high-school pal of mine died last year of one - he was a triathlete, avid diver and in unbelieveable physical condition. He just fell over dead one day while (literally) walking down the hall at the office.

When your time is up, its up.

If she died of an aneurysm then this is not legitimately a "diving incident", as the outcome would be identical no matter what she was doing at the time - in fact, even if she was sitting in the hospital ER at the time it blew she probably STILL would have died.

 

[mom2twinz99]

She was originally from our hometown...her brother is the ER doctor now. This is what the paper here said about the accident. (By the way...she was a very experienced diver. The whole family dives regularly.)

Ada woman dies while scuba diving
2003-09-11
By The Associated Press



DESTIN, Fla. -- A congenital lung condition that is seldom deadly on land is blamed for the death of an Oklahoma woman while scuba diving off the Florida coast.
The diver lost consciousness in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday and died a short time later at a local hospital.

The Medical Examiner says the diver had an abnormal air sac called an emphysema bleb that burst in one of her lungs. He says because the diver was under water, the water pressure collapsed her lung and she wasn't able to breath from her scuba tank.

The Examiner said this happens often to people walking around, causing shortness of breath that is usually cured after a visit to the emergency room.

 

[jdb]

He says because the diver was under water, the water pressure collapsed her lung

I am a little confused about this. When a belb burst, the lung collapses because of the air being able to escape into the lung cavity. The lung collapseing had nothing to do with diving or water pressure, it would have collapsed if she were on the surface resting in bed.

 

[Epinephelus]

jdb once bubbled...
I am a little confused about this. When a belb burst, the lung collapses because of the air being able to escape into the lung cavity. The lung collapseing had nothing to do with diving or water pressure, it would have collapsed if she were on the surface resting in bed.

What the doctor meant to say is "on ascent the air in the pleural cavity of the collapsed lung is unable to escape. It expands and eventually impinges on the other lung, the trachea and the heart and makes life sustaining ventilation, respiration and circulation impossible."
E.

 

[Stone]

jdb once bubbled...


I am a little confused about this. When a belb burst, the lung collapses because of the air being able to escape into the lung cavity. The lung collapseing had nothing to do with diving or water pressure, it would have collapsed if she were on the surface resting in bed.

I thought the same thing and posed the question in Dr Deco's forum.

 

[Genesis]

here's the problem.

The air escapes into your chest, and collapses the lung.

If you then ascend, even a bit, the air in your chest cavity EXPANDS! Now you've got real trouble, as the further you ascend, the more your lung collapses, and ultimately, the other lung can collapse too, or your circulation can be impaired due to pressure on the heart and arteries in the chest.

So if you had a belb burst underwater, while under increased pressure, you'd be hosed. There's nothing you can really do about it..... if it has truly been an undetected problem then its just "one of those things" that ends in "your clock has run out."

Condolances to her family.... sounds like an inescapable event, and one that could not have possibly been forseen.