Pulaski woman dies at Mystery Lake Scuba Park - North Carolina

[DandyDon]

Several news articles on the web about this fatality, but most say about the same thing - not much. Does this sound like immersion pulmonary edema?

Woman dies during scuba diving incident in Wake County

WENDELL, N.C. (WNCN) -- A woman died while scuba diving with her boyfriend in Wendell on Saturday afternoon, Wake County officials said.

The incident was reported just before 1:30 p.m. at 536 Olds Quarry Road in Wendell, which is the Mystery Lake Scuba Park, said Eric Curry, spokesman for the Wake County Sheriff's Office.

When deputies arrived the victim's boyfriend was performing CPR on the girlfriend on the beach of the lake, Curry said.

EMS took over CPR when they arrived at the scene.

A 49-year-old woman from Virginia died, Curry said.

The victims' boyfriend told deputies that while they were underwater scuba diving, The woman began having breathing issues and swam to the surface, Curry said.

As they were swimming back to the shore, the woman lost consciousness, according to Curry.

The incident is being investigated as a scuba diving accident, pending an autopsy by the North Carolina Medical Examiner's Office.

Curry added the incident was not related to flooding on Saturday.

The Wake County Sheriff's Office is investigating, Curry said.

This one names her as 49-year-old Ronda Dalton of Pulaski, Virginia: Pulaski woman dies while scuba diving at former N Carolina quarry

 

[herman]

Nope, too quick. My guess is a heart attack since all the news I see says they had surfaced and swimming back when she passed out. Not much else on the news here. Sad but most likely another heart attack called a scuba accident.

 

[DandyDon]

Sad but most likely another heart attack called a scuba accident.

So, there is no chance that scuba contributed to the event?

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Will be interesting to see the outcome of this incident.

I bet it was a heart attack too.

 

[Diving Dubai]

So, there is no chance that scuba contributed to the event?

With Breathing problems it could be IPE/IPO which is caused by any immersion in water.

However it could have been caused by malfunctioning equipment or a misjudgement underwater, but unless you get a report you'll never know

 

[Steelyeyes]

Sound like it could be IPE to me as well.

 

[DandyDon]

I bet it was a heart attack too.

Is that the most common cause of breathing problems, or is there another reason for that suggestions?

With Breathing problems it could be IPE/IPO which is caused by any immersion in water.

However it could have been caused by malfunctioning equipment or a misjudgement underwater, but unless you get a report you'll never know

I have no medical training and only informal & outdated vet training, so I can only wonder - no claims here. I have relatives who have dealt with asthma so my mind can drift that way, but still wondering. Many seem to bet on heart attacks frequently here, but I don't know if any of them are medically trained.

 

[Diving Dubai]

Is that the most common cause of breathing problems, or is there another reason for that suggestions?

Immersion Pulmonary Edema (IPE) & Immersion Pulmonary Oedema (IPO) are the same thing, just a difference between the American spelling and the (correct) British spelling of Oedema.

You should read up on it's cause and symptoms because it's becoming widely believed that IPE/IPO is the biggest killer of divers. More research is ongoing to fully understand it, the Alert Diver Artical from 2011 is slightly outdated.

Diver Guidance for Immersion Pulmonary Oedema (IPO)

Alert Diver IPE

DAN - IPE

DAN (Dive Lab) IPE

 

[DandyDon]

Immersion Pulmonary Edema (IPE) & Immersion Pulmonary Oedema (IPO) are the same thing, just a difference between the American spelling and the (correct) British spelling of Oedema.

I was asking him...

I bet it was a heart attack too.

 

[infieldg]

... it's becoming widely believed that IPE/IPO is the biggest killer of divers

True, I only recently read that too. I've never drunk more than I felt like drinking before a non tech dive - probably just as well given Dan's stance that "overhydration by well-intentioned divers who have heard the conventional wisdom that dehydration is a risk factor for decompression sickness" is a factor in IPE/IPO, but it's probably worth chugging that extra bottle before exhaling two cylinders of vapour over an hour or more. Wish it was a more exact science