SCUBA accident in Pool - Scuba Instructor Drowns While Testing Equipment

[blueboy]

Condolences to his family and friends, and I hope the other divers that where there are ok. I met him 15 minutes before the incident. (Shook his hand) I was told he had a heart attack. I guess there is no way to be totally ready for something like this.

If something like this can happen to my instructor’s instructor in 4 feet of water than it can happen to anyone. I signed up for my rescue class 3 days prior. All I can do is hope this never happens again and be as really as I can be.

I can't say enough good things about the instructors that where there. They where fast, smart and didn’t panic. (Panicking could have been very very easy to do)

 

[PB565]

I was certified by David in 2002 in that very same pool. We did check out dives at Beach 9, Far Rockaway. Good guy and very compotent. Condolences to his wife and kids.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lidrow0509,0,6826290.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines

Diving instructor drowns in Mineola pool

BY CHRISTINE ARMARIO
STAFF WRITER

May 8, 2005, 9:06 PM EDT

Water was always present in David Rampersad's life.

When he was a young child he swam in the shores of his native Trinidad. As an adult, he taught scuba diving to thousands in Long Island and took annual diving trips to the Florida Keys.

Saturday, he died in the water: in a Mineola high school swimming pool, when he accidentally drowned while testing out diving equipment.

"He always loved the water," said Nicole Simmons, 42, a longtime family friend and fellow diver. "He was a natural. Safest person you know."

Rampersad, 38, of Richmond Hill, taught lessons at the Chaminade High School swimming pool every Saturday with Scuba Network, a Carle Place company that leases the pool, Simmons said.

At 1:45 p.m., a fellow diving instructor found Rampersad at the bottom of a four-foot deep section of the pool. Two instructors pulled him out of the water, called police and started CPR.

Rampersad was transported to Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, where he was pronounced dead at 2:59 p.m. Police investigated his death and have ruled out foul play.

Simmons said Rampersad seemed to be in the best of health. He worked out every day and always took diving safety precautions seriously.

"He was highly trained," said Simmons, who added that Rampersad had been diving for 10 years and had his own scuba diving instruction company in Massapequa.

Rampersad is survived by his wife, Michelle, and their two children, Simmons said.
Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.

 

[BigJetDriver]

Folks,

We should note that the passing of this instructor, who by all report was a fine man, a very good instructor, and someone who will be greatly missed, is a note of caution to us all. What we do is not without its risks even in seemingly benign situations. My sympathies go out to his friends and family.

 

[baitedstorm]

How very very sad. I'm sure he will be greatly missed. Life is way to short. I'm glad he was doing something he loved.

 

[ParamedicDiver1]

How very very sad. I'm sure he will be greatly missed. Life is way to short. I'm glad he was doing something he loved.

I feel the same way.

 

[sealkie]

I knew David - we did some of our initial instructor training together - very sad to hear this - he was a nice guy

 

[MoonWrasse]

Simmons said Rampersad seemed to be in the best of health. He worked out every day and always took diving safety precautions seriously.

"He was highly trained," said Simmons, who added that Rampersad had been diving for 10 years and had his own scuba diving instruction company in Massapequa.

Unfortunately even the young and healthy can suffer cardiac arrest. This happened to a neighbor boy when I was in high school. He was 19, healthy, and died of a heart attack after climbing 2 steps one afternoon. It was thought to be due to his long Q.

Another friend passed away at my high school, of a heart attack, he was only 17.

 

[Kriterian]

He was 19, healthy, and died of a heart attack after climbing 2 steps one afternoon. It was thought to be due to his long Q.

What is a long Q?

 

[redrover]

What is a long Q?

Q wave, electrocardiogram (EKG)

 

[MoonWrasse]

What is a long Q?

Sorry, reference to the ECG PQRST segments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_QT_syndrome