Georgia diver collapses dead - Juno Beach, Florida

[Rollin Bonz]

Was this the second dive of the day, or the first?

@islanddream or @Drew Marlar, can you tell us if this was dive 1 or 2 of the day?

 

[uncfnp]

Sad to hear about the loss of someone so young.


Lots of possibilities, brain aneurysm, pulmonary embolus, stroke, heart attack and more.
If the AED was actually finding a shockable rhythm that's pretty suggestive

Yes, most of those could lead to sudden death but none of those would be the result of his fall and hitting his head which has been suggested as the cause of death.

@islanddream Was there a recall for the divers in the water?

 

[Bob DBF]

Yes, most of those could lead to sudden death but none of those would be the result of his fall and hitting his head which has been suggested as the caus

Those suggestions came from this thread, not from the news reports. The possibilities listed could cause the fall.


I was present when a close friend fell. An ER nurse, paramedic, and another friend who also knew CPR were present and we did what we could 'till the ambulance arrived a few minutes later. He died of a heart attack at 40, and if the attending dr can be believed, before he fell.


Bob

 

[uncfnp]

I was present when a close friend fell. An ER nurse, paramedic, and another friend who also knew CPR were present and we did what we could 'till the ambulance arrived a few minutes later. He died of a heart attack at 40, and if the attending dr can be believed, before he fell.


Bob

One would think that a young man would be more likely to survive a heart attack but oddly this isn’t true. The older person has typically had heart disease for years and has at least somewhat compensated by opening and enlarging collateral vessels to supply the heart muscle. So when an artery is occluded during their “heart attack” there may still some blood supply to at least part of the muscle involved.

In a young person the collateral circulation is not there so when a vessel occludes it can cause severe and complete loss of circulation to that section of heart muscle with devastating results.

 

[Bowers]

Knowing only what ive read from this forum im going to bring in my background as a paramedic, and make a speculation. The fact that the description is that he “collapsed” not tripped or something of the sort, along with the very short dive duration, and the rapid digression to cardiac arrest, i would assume that he had a medical event and the fall was secondary as well as what we would call a “distracting injury” to the news reporters.
Ive personally had pt’s as young as 32 have heart attacks btw.

 

[DandyDon]

The fact that the description is that he “collapsed” not tripped or something of the sort, along with the very short dive duration, and the rapid digression to cardiac arrest, i would assume that he had a medical event and the fall was secondary as well as what we would call a “distracting injury” to the news reporters.

Yeah, even tho the news stories all claim that he seemed fine after the dive - they weren't there, and I suspect the original reporter got that part wrong. We have on site witnesses who did not see him fall or before on the boat, but they still give us first hand reports that differ with the news articles, which are often based on one original report. The head injury may have made his condition even worse, but it really sounds like it was secondary to whatever made him call the dive short and eventually fall on deck.

 

[Bob DBF]

...even tho the news stories all claim that he seemed fine after the dive...

I mean what's the bar for "seemed fine after the dive"? If a diver gets back on board, humps his gear to his spot, takes it off and gets up, I'd figure he seemed fine. On the other hand, if one buddy of mine did that I'd be asking if he was OK, I know he's always real chatty after a dive. Without knowing a persons habits, and as long as they don't do something unusual, they must be fine.


Bob

 

[Bowers]

I mean what's the bar for "seemed fine after the dive"? If a diver gets back on board, humps his gear to his spot, takes it off and gets up, I'd figure he seemed fine. On the other hand, if one buddy of mine did that I'd be asking if he was OK, I know he's always real chatty after a dive. Without knowing a persons habits, and as long as they don't do something unusual, they must be fine.


Bob

Absolutely, just because he wasn’t stumbling, vomiting, bleeding out or some other obviously visible ailment, doesn’t mean he didnt have something like chest tightness, sudden onset headache or any number of other concerning issues that he hadn’t gotten around to verbalizing yet.

 

[chillyinCanada]

It's not normal to return to the boat within 10 minutes. Ergo, how could the victim have seemed perfectly normal "after the dive". He didn't have a dive.

 

[DandyDon]

It's not normal to return to the boat within 10 minutes. Ergo, how could the victim have seemed perfectly normal "after the dive". He didn't have a dive.

Oh, it could have been a simple ear block that wouldn't equalize if that was all. If he returned and tried to work thru his feelings of illness, something I'd try to do myself, he might have seemed okay to the skipper until he fell. I've dived with dozens of skippers & crews, and @Wookie is the only one I've known who ever gave me more than a passing glance after a dive.