Virginia Beach Diver In Critical Condition

[james croft]

The Virginian-Pilot
© June 20, 2010
By Jennifer Jiggetts

A U. S. Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued two men from a dive boat about 30 miles east of Virginia Beach on Saturday afternoon, according to a press release.

The crew medically evacuated the men, ages 65 and 19, after they surfaced from a dive.

The 65-year-old was taken to Sentara Leigh Hospital in Norfolk. He was listed in critical condition.

The 19-year-old was later taken to the hospital.

Coast Guard officials say this was the third diving incident in about three hours in their fifth district.



Wondering if anyone has any information on these incidents?
Sounds like a bad day for divers.

 

[Bratface]

It makes me wonder what the conditions were. I wish the best to all who were injured.

 

[divengolf]

I was on the Outer Banks of NC this weekend. Conditions were rather mild. I did not dive, but I spoke with a dive op who said conditions were cold, but otherwise good.

On Sunday morning a local TV station reported that the boat was the Miss Lindsey and that the divers were suffering from DCS.

Here's the link to the story.

Coast Guard medevacs 2 divers off coast|WAVY.com|Virginia Beach

 

[robint]

I hope someone from that area can give us more details of both incidents.


robin

 

[Rick Murchison]

Coast Guard officials say this was the third diving incident in about three hours in their fifth district.

Hmmm... makes one wonder if the tanks were all filled at the same place, eh?
Rick

 

[scott&sara]

btw. the tech trip on Saturday was cancelled and the Lindsey went to the Morgan instead (110 fsw). Conditions offshore on Sat. were FLAT.

The divers were bent... not bad gas but maybe bad planning & execution.

Scott

 

[RAD Diver]

And the fact that 2 were in Va. Beach & 1 was in Beaufort NC I think bad gas would be not an issue, though maybe the diver in NC was from VB.

I also heard that the 65yo diver was unconscious at the bottom (no planning for that) & brought up by the 19yo.
The 65yo is an instructor & possibly had the 19yo as a student. If this is true the 19yo did a heck of a job, but should have either went back down or went straight to o2.
Someone on the boat should have said or done something if in fact he was a student & didn't know any better.

I was the only diver signed up to do the deep trip planned (to the Ocean Venture), but bailed on the chance to dive the Morgan for the 10th time this year.

I also know the name of the 65yo diver, but won't say anything until more is known.

 

[RogerAGrimes]

I don't know any of the personal details of the Beaufort diver, but I was on another boat diving the same wreck at the same time as the Beaufort diver. It was either on the Spar or Aeolus (I forget which dive it happened on). Both wrecks sit around 110-115 max.

Waves and current were very light. It wasn't a lake, but waves were probably 1-3 ft. There were at least 2-3 big dive boats on each wreck at the same time (i.e. lots of divers down if someone needed gas or assistance on the bottom. If our boat was on the stern of the wreck, then the other board was on the bow, and vice-versa. I think the max distance between the two dive boats was maybe 100 ft with currents swinging our boat close to the other one. One of those days where you had to make sure you were coming up the right anchor.

Temp was 79F on the top and 70F on the bottom, with thermocline at 30-50ft. Vis was pretty bad (for the area) at 10-30 ft, and full of particulate matter and millions of jellyfish. Lots of big sand tiger sharks, too! Great video dive.

But overall, because of very light waves, wind, and current, it was one of the easier days of diving out there. I heard from a mate on our boat during the situation that the diver got bent coming up too fast. The boat put him on O2 and headed back in (no helicopter called). Later on we heard he had become asymptomatic on the way back in on O2.

This is just what I heard from the mate on our ship, so the outcome and details are probably better heard from someone on the victim's dive boat.

 

[RogerAGrimes]

When the diver on the other boat got bent, it pulled anchor and went back in. A lot of the divers on our boat wondered whether or not the divers on the boat got a refund or something like that. I know it sounds like a morbid question, and the safety of the hurt diver is paramount...but still a question. There were divers on our boat from 6-10 hours away, and one from Germany.

What do most commercial dive boats do in that situation? I mean it really isn't the responsibility of the dive boat if someone got bent through no cause of their own. They shouldn't have to eat any costs or offer refunds. Or is it just part of the business of running a dive boat?

 

[iztok]

Which boat is which?