Fatal dive accident in Guam (off Apra Harbor)

[gismonkey]

Just saw in the newspaper this morning that we had a fatal dive incident last night off Apra Harbor here in Guam. Details are unclear at this point, but I'll update 'em as they come through. For what it's worth, we've had pretty lousy weather the past few days. Storms have been moving through steadily since the weekend (today is nice, though), and my coworkers who dove inside the harbor on Tuesday said that visibility was low, the water was rough, and conditions were generally unpleasant compared to the usual.

Diver dies in accident: Woman, 56, pronounced dead at Naval Hospital

Naval Hospital is the preferred place for emergency treatment and has the best quasi-public chamber on the island (the public hospital is terrible/non-accredited/filthy and the privately-owned chamber is a one-person job w/ limited life support facilities). It doesn't sound like she was in any condition to need the chamber when she arrived at the hospital, though.

Many (most?) of the divers here are Japanese tourists, but there are many local residents and military folks who dive (relatively few Americans/others vacation here). Again, no idea which this diver was.

Edit 5/7/2009 11:59 PM

The victim was a local diver who had been on island for about two years. The newspaper update doesn't have much more information. Word on the dive community grapevine still isn't a lot better. I still don't know which dive site this was.

 

[Kevrumbo]

"When a diving victim arrives at the Chamber without a pulse, chances are unfortunately they will leave post-treatment without a pulse as well", is a saying we have here at the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber in Southern Calif.

Chuuk has a good multi-place Chamber with a separate lock now, but five years ago, all dive accident victims exhibiting DCS symptoms were emergency air evac'd to Guam for treatment (and I hope it was the better facility at the US Navy Hospital).

Sorry to hear about this fatal accident, but would like to learn more about the conditions around the divesite which may have been a factor. (I may be transferring to Guam/Andersen AFB to work for a Gov't Contractor). . .

 

[guamguy]

As of earlier today, I heard the diver had a heart attack while on the surface. As the heart attack progressed, she went under. Another diver went down and brought her back up. CPR was given, I'm not sure if this was a boat dive or not. This was a sad day for our local diving community.

 

[whitepointer]

yes this was a boat dive (through MDA) and she did have a stroke. nobody is really talking about how it went down but i have heard that she was underwater when she had the stroke. Here is a copy from the local paper:


A 56-year-old woman was pronounced dead about 11 a.m. yesterday after being involved in a diving accident outside Apra Harbor.
Advertisement

The woman was brought to Naval Hospital after the accident, said Navy spokeswoman Coleen San Nicolas-Perez.

At 9:55 a.m., Coast Guard Sector Guam Command Center received a report of a diving incident. A Coast Guard boat that was already under way at the time of the call was diverted to respond to the accident, according to a release from Coast Guard spokeswoman Elizabeth Buendia.

After arriving at the scene, the Coast Guard found the woman unconscious.

The woman had reportedly been diving when she experienced difficulties and had to be assisted to the surface by another diver, the release said.

The Coast Guard transported the woman to Sumay Cove, where they were met by a Navy ambulance. The ambulance transported the woman to Naval Hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead

San Nicolas-Perez said the woman's body was then taken to Guam Memorial Hospital.

Neither the Navy nor the Coast Guard could release the woman's name because GMH had taken the lead on the case, Buendia and San Nicolas-Perez said.

The diving accident was the third water-related death this year.

 

[diverrick]

This is not a diving accident. Sounds like diving had nothing to do with it, except that was what she was doing when she died. Could have happened anywhere. But if you died of the same thing while sitting in your parked car, they wouldn't call it an automobile accident. Sorry to hear she didn't make it though.

 

[Cave Diver]

---

---

A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Thread closed to prevent confusion with the recent accident. Thread on that incident can be found here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/334092-diving-fatality-guam.html

---