Pompano Beach Fatality Sunday April 16th

[kensuf]

So not really information at all?

As of Friday when I left sofla, after attending his funeral the day before, the autopsy report had not been released and the equipment was not released yet. There's really nothing to say at this point beyond what was already posted: something happened that caused him to black out at 160-180' during the descent of the dive, his two dive buddies tried valiantly to save him.

As both Mike and myself said, Joe would have wanted the circumstances to come out, especially if there was something to be learned by his loss that could save another person. That will be honored when there is something to share.

 

[Johnoly]

... There's really nothing to say at this point beyond what was already posted:

I'm not an RB'er. But I also appreciate those friends of Joe's that provide "denials" of details. Like these in the picture { so they can't be quoted & wrongly used }

 

[Altamira]

Many of the older (50-60+) diver deaths I read about are from heart attacks. Clearly scuba diving is causing heart attacks.

If the conditions for a heart attack are imminent, it does not matter whether the individual is diving, playing golf, tennis, hiking, having sex, or any other activity that stresses the heart. I do not think it is appropriate to say diving is causing heart attacks. The individual’s life medical history, genetics, and lifestyle are the cause. Where it happens is incidental.

 

[L13]

I'm not an RB'er. But I also appreciate those friends of Joe's that provide "denials" of details. Like these in the picture { so they can't be quoted & wrongly used }
View attachment 781677

You know people can just re-type the quotes, right?

 

[Seaweed Doc]

If the conditions for a heart attack are imminent, it does not matter whether the individual is diving, playing golf, tennis, hiking, having sex, or any other activity that stresses the heart. I do not think it is appropriate to say diving is causing heart attacks. The individual’s life medical history, genetics, and lifestyle are the cause. Where it happens is incidental.

As any real estate agent says, it's all about location, location, location.

(Survivable medical events on land can become very deadly under water.)

 

[doctormike]

If the conditions for a heart attack are imminent, it does not matter whether the individual is diving, playing golf, tennis, hiking, having sex, or any other activity that stresses the heart. I do not think it is appropriate to say diving is causing heart attacks. The individual’s life medical history, genetics, and lifestyle are the cause. Where it happens is incidental.

That's completely untrue. The vast majority of survivable cardiac events have a far greater mortality underwater, even in a swimming pool.

Yes, if you have a massive myocardial infarction with significant loss of pump function, it probably doesn't matter. But a limited MI which might cause loss of consciousness or even just severe pain and disorientation? On the surface, you can make it to the cath lab. Lethal underwater.

Also, shockable rhythms? Why do you think so many states mandate the presence of AEDs in nursing homes, schools, etc..

Near syncope from non-shockable rhythms? Not great underwater.

And that's just cardiac stuff. Epilepsy? Stroke?

I mean, I get that underlying health factors contribute to all sorts of underwater injuries, includng DCI. But to imply that there is no excessive mortality related to diving is simply wrong.

 

[doctormike]

Not a cave diver, but from what I understand, the risk of cave diving among properly trained cave divers is pretty low. Probably because the cavers did better in optimizing and standardizing their training thatt the CCR world has done so far. Plus, organized caving can protect sites from untrained divers. Hard to do that with the ocean.

Solo diving is awesome, and i love it. I don't do it on CCR, but nothing better than a solo macro dive.

《Mod edit》

 

[rjack321]

That's completely untrue. The vast majority of survivable cardiac events have a far greater mortality underwater, even in a swimming pool.

In my area out of hospital (dry) resuscitation rates are in the 62-67% range depending on the year.
In water they are 0%, and that's with an AED at our most popular dive site.

https://www.globalresuscitationalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/King_County_It_Takes_A_System.pdf

 

[Altamira]

@doctormike and @Seaweed Doc. I was responding to a comment made by @jeffsky29 stating "...Clearly scuba diving is causing heart attacks." That statement is not true. However, I totally agree if you have a heart attack underwater, your survival rate is significantly reduced to probably near zero. As Seaweed Doc stated "location, location, location" is spot on. Like being underwater, if you have a serious heart attack solo hiking in a very remote area, your survival rate is probably significantly reduced as well. However, scuba diving, solo hiking, or any other recreational physical activity are not likely to cause heart attacks. But I fully agree that where you are, and what you are doing have a lot to do with survivability.

 

[doctormike]

@doctormike and @Seaweed Doc. I was responding to a comment made by @jeffsky29 stating "...Clearly scuba diving is causing heart attacks." That statement is not true. However, I totally agree if you have a heart attack underwater, your survival rate is significantly reduced to probably near zero. As Seaweed Doc stated "location, location, location" is spot on. Like being underwater, if you have a serious heart attack solo hiking in a very remote area, your survival rate is probably significantly reduced as well. However, scuba diving, solo hiking, or any other recreational physical activity are not likely to cause heart attacks. But I fully agree that where you are, and what you are doing have a lot to do with survivability.

Got it...

And of course, the most important sentence in medical school is "there's a bell curve for everything". Some people are just getting by with nearly occluded coronaries. All it takes is a little excessive demand in the form of exertion to pull the trigger. And some forms of diving definitely involve exertion...!