Error OOA rescue - New South Wales, Australia

[DandyDon]

One should not run out of air at 11 meters/36 feet below, but I've done it deeper. That's why we train for CESAs. I came up slowly while slowly exhaling, ran out of lung air around 10 feet but found air in my tank at the shallower depth so stopped ascending to inhale, then resumed the CESA. I had enough back gas to inflate my BC but could have orally inflated and my hands were reaching for weight releases if needed - which I practice on the first dive of every trip. I felt dumb about running out of air and my pony still off to be filled on the first day of a trip.

Diver runs out of oxygen - Northern Beaches Advocate

A diver was taken to hospital after running out of oxygen underwater at Manly.

www.northernbeachesadvocate.com.au

A diver was taken to hospital after running out of oxygen underwater at Manly.

Shortly before 12.30pm yesterday afternoon (Monday, 23 December), emergency services responded to a report of a diver being assisted to shore after running out of oxygen while underwater at Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve, Manly.

The 67-year-old male scuba diver was reportedly at a depth of 11m when he realised his oxygen supply had been exhausted. Beginning to struggle for breath, the man rapidly ascended to the surface in 4-5 seconds.

Several other divers went to his assistance, and using a rescue tube to help keep him afloat on his back, the man was brought in to shore. They were met onshore by NSW Ambulance paramedics, including NSW Ambulance Inspector Christan Holmes.

After assessing the man, who was breathing unassisted and able to speak clearly with paramedics, a Toll NSW Ambulance Rescue Helicopter which was on approach to Shelly Beach with a medical team was called off.

The man was treated for oxygen deprivation, and after consulting with clinicians with expertise in diving injuries, it was determined the man was not suffering from decompression sickness and he was taken to Northern Beaches Hospital in a stable condition just after 1.00pm.

Decompression sickness, also known by divers as ‘the bends’, can occur when scuba divers ascend too rapidly. Gases that are dissolved within the bloodstream can emerge as bubbles inside body tissues, causing a range of symptoms that can prove fatal.

Divers diagnosed with decompression sickness in Sydney are taken to Prince of Wales Hospital at Randwick for treatment at a specialised hyperbaric medicine unit. This involves the patient being placed inside a pressurised chamber and saturated with oxygen.

 

[clownfishsydney]

One of the easiest dive sites in Sydney. To run out at 11 metres means he ran out a huge distance from the entry point. All of the bay is shallower than 7 to 8 metres. You can only get to 11 metres by heading out of the bay and to the north and then back to the east.

See my website page on the dive site: Shelly Beach

 

[fluff_astrid]

I was doing my surface interval during this whole commotion, another diver in another group (not one this guy was diving with) apparently found him struggling at the surface and reported what was happening.

(A) It's unclear whether this man was solo diving or with a group. I have seen far too many people, thinking Shelly Beach is so easy, just go ahead and do the dive on their own. Heck, I've considered it when desperate for a dive but unable to wrangle a buddy, but thankfully logic always wins out. And tends to be the older folks thinking "she'll be right." But just like how anyone can get DCS at any depth, anything can go wrong at any depth and you don't want to be on your own at that time -- esp if 67 when you need to think about things like heart attacks and whatnot moreso than the next guy.

(B) Absolutely astonishing that someone not only ran out of air at Shelly but *never even realized they were low* until it was too late. This really speaks to some pretty poor judgment. I was there that day, there was very little to see and it was a pretty dull day in the water, so I'm extremely doubtful it was a case of being distracted by some amazing piece of wildlife. Perhaps burned a ton on a swim out?

(C) The response time of the paramedics and helicopters was fantastic though so props to all involved in the rescue. When we surfaced and started our swim back was about the time that the authorities were notified, and by the time we were changing our tanks there were two ambulances, 2 police vehicles, and an approaching chopper. They made the assessment pretty quickly that it wasn't a life threatening scenario and the helicopter was waved off fairly quickly.