Freediver accident - Blue Springs, FL

[gangrel441]

One local news station picked it up, but the story is incorrect/misleading in that they make it seem he took a breath on a reg. On the live shot interview with the diver's brother, he clearly said " Air bubble" on TV. Typical sloppy reporting like so many other dive accidents. Looks like the diver went for a chamber ride.

http://www.local6.com/news/9370945/detail.html

Teen Injured After Sucking In Diver's Carbon Dioxide

POSTED: 4:24 pm EDT June 14, 2006
UPDATED: 4:59 pm EDT June 14, 2006

A 17-year-old swimmer was transported to a hospital Wednesday after he accidentally sucked in carbon dioxide from a scuba diver, according to a Local 6 News report.

Authorities said when the teen swimmer surfaced at Blue Springs Park in Volusia he began coughing up blood.

The victim apparently sucked in carbon dioxide from a nearby diver but how it happened is still being investigated, the report said. The teen was not scuba diving, witnesses said.

The victim was transported to Florida Hospital South in Orlando for treatment.

Local 6 News reported that he was fighting for his life and was being treated in a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

From reading that in conjunction with what you said earlier, it doesn't sound to me like he took a breath off a reg. It sounds like he tried to inhale from the exhaust bubbles of a diver. This is not necessarily inconsistant with what you said above, though I wouldn't think one breath in such a manner would lead to CO2 poisoning...

I also have never heard of coughing up blood as a symptom of CO2 poisoning. Sounds more like he embolized.

 

[LiteHedded]

From reading that in conjunction with what you said earlier, it doesn't sound to me like he took a breath off a reg. It sounds like he tried to inhale from the exhaust bubbles of a diver. This is not necessarily inconsistant with what you said above, though I wouldn't think one breath in such a manner would lead to CO2 poisoning...

I also have never heard of coughing up blood as a symptom of CO2 poisoning. Sounds more like he embolized.

he prolly saw a diver breathing from the air pocket in the spring. you have to fill that dome up with your own air. i think it takes about 300 psi from an al80
but the diver breathed all the oxygen and all he got was co2....and then embolized from holding that breath

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I have freedived and breathed off of bubbles on the ceiling in caverns where scuba divers frequent. It is probably stupid since you are breathing stale air and it would be very easy to embolize if you come up and forget to exhale.

I seriously doubt that the bubble had too much CO2 in it because of all the divers. How would they determine the composition of the bubble anyway? My best guess is that he simply embolized, that is why he got a chamber ride.

 

[WetDawg]

OK, here is an interesting headline. Seems the reporter may not have all the facts correct... you be the judge:

From: http://www.local6.com/news/9370945/detail.html

Teen Injured After Sucking In Diver's Carbon Dioxide
POSTED: 4:24 pm EDT June 14, 2006
UPDATED: 6:44 am EDT June 15, 2006

A 17-year-old swimmer was transported to a hospital Wednesday after he accidentally sucked in carbon dioxide from a scuba diver, according to a Local 6 News report.

Authorities said when Taylor Smith surfaced at Blue Springs Park in Volusia County, he began coughing up blood.

Smith apparently sucked in carbon dioxide from a nearby diver but how it happened was still being investigated, the report said.

Park officials said there are underwater caverns in the area and air from scuba divers' tanks can get trapped inside.

Smith may have inhaled an air pocket, thinking it was 100 percent oxygen, Local 6 News reported.

He was transported to Florida Hospital South in Orlando for treatment.

Local 6 News reported that Smith was fighting for his life and was being treated in a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.


Copyright 2006 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and Local6.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

[Lukiedukie]

It looks like this is not a matter of what gas he inhaled but that he inhaled a gas at depth and held it as he surfaced.

 

[dherbman]

I have freedived and breathed off of bubbles on the ceiling in caverns where scuba divers frequent. It is probably stupid since you are breathing stale air and it would be very easy to embolize if you come up and forget to exhale.

I seriously doubt that the bubble had too much CO2 in it because of all the divers. How would they determine the composition of the bubble anyway? My best guess is that he simply embolized, that is why he got a chamber ride.

This makes more sense. Any source of air you can breathe at depth will be compressed. The article is not reliable. It refers to 100% O2, which we all know is inaccurate.

 

[gangrel441]

Apparently now the media now not only believes that we breathe 100% O2 when we dive, but now they believe we have lungs that process 100% of that O2, and therefore we exhale 100% CO2. :shakehead

 

[pescador775]

Lukie is correct. Blood means embolism.

 

[Wildcard]

Why does anyone wvwn listen to the media? They are NEVER right. BTW in Hawaii, it is a rare week not to have someone die while freediving and the media usualy calls them divers or SCUBA divers not free divers.