Miami man, 50, dies scuba diving off Pompano Beach

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

Miami man, 50, dies scuba diving off Pompano Beach

Sun-Sentinel.com
Posted June 27 2004, 5:36 PM EDT

A Miami man diving Sunday morning on an excursion off Pompano Beach died after experiencing difficulties on a 200-foot dive.

Eric Seibel, 50, of Northeast 21st in Miami was diving with a friend off the charter boat The Miss Conduct, about two miles east of the Pompano Beach pier. Broward Sheriff's Office marine deputies responded to a radio call for help around 9 a.m.

BSO homicide detectives said when Seibel and his dive buddy descended to the Lorance, a 200 foot deep shipwreck, Seibel started to experience complications. Seibel's friend, a medical doctor, brought him back to the surface and someone on the boat called for help via radio.

BSO homicide detectives continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding Seibel's death.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...cuba,0,3791098.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

There's also a discussion on E-Divers, a Yahoo group started by a diver who was with the victim when the incident happened.

From: Christos Koutentis <ccg_dir@y...>
Date: Sun Jun 27, 2004 5:59 pm
Subject: Postmortem

Friends and Colleagues:

Over the next few days you will hear many perturbations and variations of
today's events; In time, I will give a full explanation to those who need to
hear it.

Briefly: One of my best friends and most trusted of dive buddies died on a dive
with me today. I noticed him seizing once we hit the wreck with the regulator
hanging out of his mouth. I pretty much blew all deco getting him back to the
surface, and am tremendously grateful to GUE for the training that allowed me to
take charge and control the situation in a definitive, decisive, and precise
manner. I am also grateful to my girfriend who is an ER doc, who was on the boat
and who heroicly managed the resuscitation. We are at a loss as to what
actually caused this, and I will not venture to speculate in a public forum at
this stage.

Luckily, I did not take a hit myself and am in pretty good shape considering.

Warm Regards,

Christos

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/E-DIVERS/message/26254


My thoughts and prayers to the family.

Marc

 

[MASS-Diver]

There's a very sad thread on The Deco Stop the guys best friend is posting on - really, really tragic.

 

[biggsy]

This is very sad. Eric was a great person and mentor and friend to many. He will be missed.

 

[aquaoren]

My thoughts are with the Family and friends.

 

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

From: Christos Koutentis <ccg_dir@y...>
Date: Mon Jun 28, 2004 1:13 am
Subject: Death of Eric Seibel


Thank you all for all the kind comments.
Here is a brief synopsis of what happened:

Dive planned to 170-190 ft, 30 mins BT on a backgas of 18/45 in PST 104's, 50 mins deco on 50 and 100%. Sand was 210 ft, but profile allowed for a
considerably shallower average depth. We had planned on dropping on the Lowrance wreck, and my buddy being a keen spearfisherman had brought his gun. I did not.

Everything was fine on the boat, there were no signs or premonitions of anything untoward on the surface and on most of the descent.
The current was in excess of 2 knots, and the water temperature was considerably colder than usual for Pompano, about 66F. My buddy dropped faster than I did on this occasion, and I was not able to maintain eye contact. I chose to not swim as fast as him, as I could already feel some CO2 narcosis stepping in. The team ahead of us for whatever reason had chosen to place a down-line, and I saw my buddy take hold of it and descend on it. I can only presume that he would have loaded the four bands of his speargun at this time based on previous observations of his behaviour. It's not hard to imagine that the effort of this at 70 ft or so, compounded with all the other factors would have driven his PCO2 to levels that were not compatible with life.

I had him in clear visual contact all the time, and when we caught up on the
bottom, he started seizing immediately. I could not extricate him from the wreck at once as his manifold was caught up on part of the wreck, so I deflated his wing, purged my 7 cft hose into his mouth as his rig was out in an attempt to clear his oropharyngeal airway, and belted for the surface. Dive time then was 11 mins, we were at 150ft (I think the current took us north of the Lowrance as I did not recognize the wreck... we were probably 300ft N on the "Renegade"). To those with whom I have previously spoken, I apologise for calling the depth 170; This was an estimate based on an assumption that we were on the Lowrance which I believe we missed. Time to surface was 4 minutes, I had switched to 50% en route, and the boat was right on top of us. Even on the ascent, I could see that my buddy was Cyanosed, and that there was frothy material coming out of his mouth. All the way up to the surface, he was having a grand mal seizure, and this stopped at about 40ft. I chose not to wait for his seizures to abait as he was already cyanotic, and I pressed on his belly all the way up in a vain attempt to prevent a pneumothorax. On the surface, there was a massive amount of frothy blood tinged sputum coming of his mouth and nose, I cut him out of his harness, and he was hauled onto the boat. The police were on site in less than 2 mins, I went on O2, and we were were back in dock in less than three minutes. My girlfriend who is an ER doc noted that he had a gash on his cheek, and that he was so cyanotic and mottled that there was no way that
this could have been a 4 minute rescue. She noted in particular that alot of
water was coming out of his airway during rescuscitation. This confirms to me
beyond any reasonable doubt that my buddy had passed out at about 70 -100ft due to overexcertion and CO2 narcosis, as a result of the goal orientated approach of his dream of nailing a black grouper on
the Lowrance. I believe that that he had inadvertently chosen to ignore the
warning signs that that his body was showing him. He most likely scraped his
head onto the wreck, drowned on the way down, and started seizing due to Hypoxia / Anoxia. I sincerely doubt that there was any CO or acetylene in his backgas as the fill station we use is the best run in florida, and the proprietor is extremely anal retentive and methodical.

I would like to thank the member of the other team for giving up on attempting to drag my buddy towards the "upline", and from allowing me to head to the surface when he realised that my ascent was too uncomfortable for him. I would like to thank that team for continuing their dive as though nothing had happened, and for not recovering my friend's speargun.

In particular I would like to commend Captain Conrad Nix for his decisive
action, my girlfiend for an exemplary rescusitation despite overwhelming odds,
and for the Sheriff for getting on site in record speed. In particular I would
like to thank the Dentist member of the other team who maintained mouth to
mouth rescusuitation despite my comments calling for an end to the code. I
declined to go to the chamber and signed out AMA as I was well clear on deco.

I would also like to thank Dean Marshall, Cody Gardner, Bob Sherwood and Andrew Georgitsis for teaching me how to rescue an unconscious diver. I would in particular like to mention Andrew Georgitsis and Tyler Moon for coaxing me into becoming more emotionally cool, smooth, unflinching, and deliberate in my actions. I would also like to thank all of the countless individuals, both Professors, and Patients throughout my fifteen years of Postgraduate Medical Training who taught me the value of life, the dignity of humanity, the art of Medicine and for developing me as a person who functions best in conditions of high stress.

Eric Seibel was one of my best friends, a brilliant man and an exceptionally
talented diver. He just celebrated his 5Oth birthday on Saturday and will always be remembered for his humanity, quick wit and his kindness. Whilst he made some decisions today which I would not have, I will not dwell upon these. He was well loved by many people in South Florida and leaves behind a wife and family. This is the only comment that I will post online in a public forum. There are no learning experiences to be gained from this, and I would only hope that people continue to take heed, and appreciate the limitations of their training and physiology.

Over the next few days I will no doubt increasingly blame myself for "not doing
this", and "not doing that". I do this everytime I have a death in the OR, and
it always runs through the same cycle. There is nothing else that could have
done to have prevented this death besides not diving today. Through the years I have learnt to dissociate myself emotionally from my work, and this is helping enormously right now, although I don't expect it to last much longer as I work through the stages of mourning for my friend.

Enough for now.

Warm Regards to all,

Christos


Marc

 

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

Posted on Mon, Jun. 28, 2004

NORTH BROWARD

Scuba groups mourn diver

Instructor Eric Seibel died Sunday after exploring a shipwreck called the Lowrance, which lies under 210 feet of water near Hillsboro Inlet.

BY ASHLEY FANTZ AND REBECCA DELLAGLORIA

afantz@herald.com

The South Florida scuba community was stunned and saddened Sunday by the death of Eric Seibel, a popular dive instructor who founded a divers' website and bulletin board.

BSO detectives are investigating Seibel's death, which came one day after his 50th birthday, scuba diving in deep water near Pompano Beach.

He was exploring a shipwreck called the Lowrance, which rests under 210 feet of water near Hillsboro Inlet.

According to Broward Sheriff's spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright, Seibel was part of a diving expedition aboard the Miss Conduct, a 27-foot vessel based in Pompano Beach.

Seibel's friend and dive buddy, Dr. Christos Koutentis of West Palm Beach, noticed that Seibel was ''experiencing complications,'' and brought him to the surface around 11 a.m.

In his own boat in the inlet Sunday, John O'Conner watched at least six Pompano Beach paramedics try to revive Seibel.

He said Seibel was bleeding from his ears, nose and mouth. ''The guy was white from head to toe,'' O'Conner said.

Seibel was taken to North Broward Medical Center, where he died around 11:30 a.m.

Laura Fogel Seibel, Eric's wife, said her husband was a ''very experienced'' diver who had been diving for more than 25 years.

''He loved the water,'' she said. ``Scuba diving was his life.''

He had two children, 11 and 13 years old, as well as ''hundreds and hundreds of friends,'' she said.

Heartfelt postings flooded the website of edivers.org, which Seibel founded.

''I am sad beyond belief to report we have lost E-divers #1 today,'' wrote Brian Patrick.

More notes poured in, citing Seibel's helpfulness and dive expertise.

''I'm truly heartbroken. . . Eric was a mentor to me and I greatly appreciated his guidance which he gave without ever making me feel inferior,'' wrote one friend.

Laura Fogel Seibel said her husband was a certified scuba instructor who was also qualified as a technical diver. He always carried all the proper equipment, she said, and performed ''redundant'' safety checks.

In addition to edivers.org, Seibel started a local diving club, ScubaSpearos -- combining his love for scuba diving and spear fishing, she said.

Seibel and his wife worked together in an advertising business, Fogel Advertising, and he also was involved in computer-related businesses.

''He was a wonderful husband and a wonderful father,'' his wife said. ``You could always count on him.''

The Lowrance is a five-story, 420-foot ship that was deliberately sunk as an artificial reef in 1984. At 210 feet, it's not an outing for beginners.

In an Internet posting Sunday night, his dive partner, Koutentis, an anesthesiologist, wrote about what happened. He realized that Seibel was ``seizing once we hit the wreck, with the regulator hanging out of his mouth.''

''We are at a loss as to what actually caused this, and I will not venture to speculate in a public forum at this stage,'' Koutentis wrote.

``Luckily, I did not take a hit myself and am in pretty good shape considering.''

At least four people have died while scuba diving in South Florida this year.

The Miss Conduct charter takes two to six scuba divers to popular wrecks and reefs, according to its website. The boat's captain, Conrad Nix, refused to talk about the incident Sunday.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/9028076.htm?1c

The Miami Herald has also set up a guest book where you can post your condolences.

http://www.legacy.com/Herald/Guestbook.asp?Page=Guestbook&PersonID=2368850

Marc

 

[scbababe]

Thanks for the info!

 

[Cudabait]

Condolences to the family............

 

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

Does anyone here have access to the Quest list? There's been information posted there that I'd be interested in reading regarding this accident. Please PM me. Thx

Marc

 

[Hoya97]

To all the folks who took the time to post news reports and especially to Dr. Christos Koutentis,

Thank you all for taking the time and effort to provide accurate reporting on this tragic event. Although I didn't have the pleasure of knowing Mr. Seibel, I can tell from the various comments he was a valued member of the diving community.

I firmly believe that these accounts serve to keep us all on our toes and not become too complacent about the sport we all love. It's said that the sea is a harsh mistress and I believe that with all my heart and soul.

I sincerely hope that Dr. Koutentis and those intimately involved in the incident continue to dive and not give up the sport due to this tragedy.

Again, thank you all, you've performed a valuable service

Warmest Regards and deepest sypmathies,

Hadley Killough
Kissimmee, Florida
NAUI 38418