Pompano Beach fatality - Florida

[DandyDon]

Pompano Beach Scuba Death Under Investigation « CBS Miami

FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – A scuba dive turned deadly Wednesday in the sea off Pompano Beach.
Around 11:40 a.m., Pompano Beach Fire Rescue received word of a diver in distress aboard a charter dive boat.
As the 35 foot “Sea Dog” made its way to shore, it was met by a Pompano Beach Ocean Rescue wave runner with two lifeguard/EMT’s and lifesaving equipment aboard. One of the lifeguards boarded the boat and started CPR utilizing an automated external defibrillator. They came into the Hillsboro Inlet and docked at the Pompano Beach Marina where paramedics were waiting to meet the boat and continue CPR.
Paramedics were told the diver was found unresponsive at the bottom of the ocean and was brought to the surface by the dive master. The man, who rescue workers believe was in his 60s, was taken to Broward Health North where he was pronounced dead.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office has not released the man’s name as they are still in the process of notifying his next of kin.

 

[iamrushman]

always sad news......especially close to home.

 

[boulderjohn]

As the 35 foot “Sea Dog” made its way to shore, ...
Paramedics were told the diver was found unresponsive at the bottom of the ocean and was brought to the surface by the dive master.

I assume the boat was actually the Sea Dog Diver, run by Odyssey Charters in connection to the Pompano Dive Center. That center has two boats, the other being the Sea Siren. Here is their schedule for that morning:

8:30am SD| Ancient Mariner
8:00am SS|Tenneco Towers/Tracy

My assumption is that the Sea Dog Diver went to the Ancient Mariner, followed by a reef dive. If they had gone to the Tenneco Towers, I doubt they would have returned to the Hillsboro Inlet in an emergency--too far away.

I have used them many times and am familiar with their operation. They do not allow solo diving without solo certification. A typical 2-tank dive starts with a visit to a wreck, followed by a drift dive on the reef. A DM is in the water for the wreck dive, but not necessarily leading anyone unless someone wants to be led. A DM will also be in the water handling the dive flag on the reef dive, and divers are free to go with the DM or handle their own dive flag in a separate group. In the latter case, the separate groups will rarely even see the DM's group during the dive.

The Ancient Mariner dive is not deep at all--easily managed by beginning divers. The reef dive that followed would have been very close to the Hillsborough Inlet.

 

[advlyfe]

Oh man, I just did the Ancient Mariner on Saturday, great wreck.

Sorry to hear about the outcome of this man, always hurts when its close too home. The dive operator is a good one from my dives with them.

Dive safe my friends.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

[sheeper]

the operator is great. Sad news. RIP. condolences to the family

 

[SanDiegoScott]

This event is a real tragedy. Our condolences to the family.
Without knowing any of the reasons or particulars regarding this accident, it should give us all pause to think about dive safety and our training. Our feeling is that the best solution to an emergency is not to have one in the first place. Proper preparation can eliminate some basic errors that can become very serious when underwater.
My wife and I don’t dive a lot (maybe 25 dives per year,) but we have a pre-dive routine that reinforces our training and re-familiarizes us with our equipment before setting foot on a dive boat. This routine starts the day before a dive with our checklists. We have prepared these lists with the idea that we don’t want to forget any piece of equipment or how it works. After going through our equipment list and checking that nothing is visually wrong, we review our computer manuals, our hand signals, and then our dive plan. On the day of our dive we do a “buddy check” every time before entering the water (remember BWRAIF; BC, weights, release, air, instruments, final check), even if we just came out of the water. We inform our fellow divers that our BCs are set up a little differently than most and that they must communicate with us before grabbing our octos. This routine may prevent us from being first in the water, but the reassurance it gives us is vital. We never dive without a buddy; and that buddy stays close during the dive, within communicating distance (even closer at night).
We, too, have dived on the Ancient Mariner with this operator and found both the operator/boat and the wreck site itself to be entertaining. But as this incident reminds us, even a fairly shallow dive site can be lethal. Let’s be prepared every time we dive.