Indiana Instructor drowns in Keuka Lake NY

[DandyDon]

From: Rescued diver pronounced dead at hospital - Corning, NY - The Corning Leader

Urbana, N.Y. —
A drowning man was pulled from the frigid waters of Keuka Lake on Friday after a swift response by New York State Police scuba divers April 27. The man was alive when he was pulled from the lake, given CPR, and rushed to Ira Davenport Memorial Hospital.
State Police Sgt. Gregory Reep said the scuba team arrived on the East Lake Road scene within five minutes of the call received at 6:20 p.m.. The team located the man and pulled him out alive, Reep said. “I think that’s the fastest we’ve ever done it,” Reep said. "We’re a retrieval team, not a rescue team, but this time we just may have rescued someone.”
Sadly, that was not the case. Despite the quick response and the 49 degree water temperature , the man was pronounced dead at Davenport Hospital at 8:13 p.m.
The victim was identified as Randy R. Rhodes, 55, of Booneville Ind. Rhodes was in scuba gear clearing away zebra mussels from the water line at 10483 East Lake Road when he drowned. Sgt. Reep and fellow diver Trooper Jim Bailey discovered Rhodes almost immediately due to the clarity of the water, according to Senior Inspector Rick Kemp, about 80 feet from shore and 13 feet down.
Rhodes was an experienced diver and scuba instructor, according to Kemp. He believes drowning may be the cause of death, but that there may also be an underlying medical issue that caused such an experienced diver to drown.
An autopsy is being performed by Monroe County Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Paul Gosink. The cause of death will be released by Steuben County Coroner Steve Copp.
Troopers were assisted by the marine units from the Hammondsport and Pulteney volunteer fire Departments and Steuben County Sheriff’s Office, Hammondsport Ambulance, and Rural/Metro Ambulance

 

[Ayisha]

It sounds like he was diving alone. I wonder who made the EMS call? Was he from NY or does it seem like Boonville, Indiana?

 

[AfterDark]

Sounds like he lives in Indiana but was diving in NY. Probably at his summer home I'd guess. Also sounds like another heart attack incident IMO.

 

[DandyDon]

My mistake. He was from Indiana it seems. I can edit the first post but not the title.

These two earlier reports said it took an hour to find him, even tho the team was there in 5 minutes...



http://www.observer-review.com/news.php?viewStory=3069

http://www.observer-review.com/

Edit: There seems to be a number of conflicting reports. This one says the diver called for help on the surface before submerging, that he was found right away rather than after an hour of searching, and credits a different team for finding him...

http://www.eveningtribune.com/newsn...es-state-police-report-of-Keuka-Lake-drowning

 

[R3SSIDiver]

I knew him very well. He was diving alone, and he had a friend on the dock watching and he called EMS.

---------- Post Merged at 08:16 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:13 PM ----------

He did live in Indiana but was clearing Zebra mussles off a water pipe in NY for a friend. We believe that the regulator froze up and cause the tank to freeflow which wouldn't let him air up his BC.

 

[616fun]

I knew him very well. He was diving alone, and he had a friend on the dock watching and he called EMS.

---------- Post Merged at 08:16 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:13 PM ----------

He did live in Indiana but was clearing Zebra mussles off a water pipe in NY for a friend. We believe that the regulator froze up and cause the tank to freeflow which wouldn't let him air up his BC.

That doesn't make sense. A free flow on the first stage would make it push air. It would not halt delivery of said air to the LP hose. Also, swimming up should have expanded the air and caused positive buoyancy.

Very sorry for the family. I don't know him, but the Indiana dive community isn't huge so I'm sure we are not separated by many degrees.

 

[DandyDon]

Another reminder to practice & drill on actually dumping weights so if you ever need to, it will be easy. I would not want to dump weights until surfacing, but would if I had to.

 

[peterbj7]

Another reminder to practice & drill on actually dumping weights so if you ever need to, it will be easy. I would not want to dump weights until surfacing, but would if I had to.

You wouldn't be able to if you went the fashionable route and had all your weight in the form of a SS backplate. But that obviously wasn't the case in this tragedy, as in such cold waters he would have needed far more weight than that. To do what he was doing he may well have been deliberately very heavy, often preferred by working divers.

 

[rjk75]

The article said he was found in 13 feet of water; presumably that was the depth of the water pipe he was cleaning (more or less). Have anyone released autopsy results yet? Got'ta believe now that he must've had a medical issue.

 

[Diver0001]

We believe that the regulator froze up and cause the tank to freeflow which wouldn't let him air up his BC.

My condolences.

Obviously *something* must have happened that overwhelmed him but this particular scenario seems exceedingly unlikely to me.

R..