Woman dies during scuba dive off Wilmington

[DandyDon]

Joe, I commend you for this first step; for looking that demon in the face and not blinking. Small steps are the key.

And good for the friends too...

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

lone wolf I know that was a very hard step but a necessary one for the healing process .

 

[kimbalabala]

I'll be 50 next week, am a woman, just got certified in March, and have a healthy respect for the unexpected things that can go wrong. (I'm also new to scubaboard). I'm so sorry for your loss LoneWolf. My husband took a specialty course in "administering oxygen" last week - and I teased him about just wanting to be at the dive shop, hanging out with other divers - after all, when will we ever need to know how to administer oxygen? Isn't that the captain or divemaster's job? Will be looking at his notes ... and will be the nerd who asks the captain about his first aid equipment on the boat.

Good for you for getting back in the water.

 

[Lone Wolf]

I'll be 50 next week, am a woman, just got certified in March, and have a healthy respect for the unexpected things that can go wrong. (I'm also new to scubaboard). I'm so sorry for your loss LoneWolf. My husband took a specialty course in "administering oxygen" last week - and I teased him about just wanting to be at the dive shop, hanging out with other divers - after all, when will we ever need to know how to administer oxygen? Isn't that the captain or divemaster's job? Will be looking at his notes ... and will be the nerd who asks the captain about his first aid equipment on the boat.

Good for you for getting back in the water.

In my opinion, every diver should be trained in basic first aid, CPR, and O2. If it wasn't for the other divers on the boat who took turns doing CPR, we wouldn't have been able to keep it up for as long as was nesacary. The crew on the boat were well trained, but you can only do CPR for so long before you are exhausted. Now, on to the next subject. The Coast Guard returned Corrine's gear to me this past week. I am really dissapointed in th e coast guard. The Chief warrant officer in charge of the investigation delegated the packing and shipping of the gear. A bad mistake!! They took a large card board box, much larger than was required. They dumped the two tanks, her two regulators, her dry suit, her mask, and her weights loose in the box. They did not use any packing. When I recieved the package, both tanks were sticking out of the box, and both top and bottom were coming untaped. The valve stem on one tank is bent, and will have to be replaced. One pressure guage was broken and will have to be replaced. I do not know if the drysuit has been damaged, but being loose with all that heavy metal doesn't bode well. These are the people you pay to protect your shores and save your life, GOOD LUCK with that!!! I don't expect perfection, just competence. I am not saying that all coast guard units act in this manner, this is the only one I have experience with, but be careful who you depend on when your life is on the line!!

 

[DandyDon]

Bad that they had to make worse.

 

[Jax]

<snipped>

Edit - PS. Diving is a dangerous sport, and medical help may be hours or days away from the dive site. You really do take your life in your hands when going on a dive excursion. To berate a dive operator for only carrying the required equipment or the Coast Guard for not showing up immediately just isn't fair. I have clients who would never show up on this boat without their own O2, ATLS kit, and EMT, even though we have our own. These are the folks who take responsibility for their own medical safety. It is not reasonable to expect the dive operator to exceed requirements, although it is nice when you find one who does.

Hey, Wookie; as a boat captain, what would be your take on a customer wanting to bring their O2 cylinder on board? Just Curious.

 

[stakanak]

Lone Wolf, you are really carrying a torch for yourself and many others who have lost a loved one. Your strength and courage should be commended!
Dandy Don, the USCG is on call for Immediate Oceanic Response! That is what they are trained for and that is their job. They need to get to the scene ASAP period...that's what our tax dollars pay for. As for showing up with ill working safety gear and lack of knowledge...well that is just terrifying!
Stay Wet!

 

[chuck34gboro]

...every diver should be trained in basic first aid, CPR, and O2...

Absolutely. I'm fairly new to diving but I do know a few things.

Diving is dangerous. These dangers can be abated by good training, experience, and good buddy ettiquette. Therefore, it IMO is every divers responsibility to be well trained in diving and rescue skills. Divers should also advance their experience as much as possible while not to overstep their abiilities. And we should all be good buddies. From the few dozen dives i've been on, I know its really easy to get wrapped up in the moment and forget that someone else with you is relying on you in an emergency.

So maybe not right our of open water, but eventually, we should all learn rescue diving skills. I would rather have 20 divers trying to save my life than 1. We owe it to our buddies, to the divers lost, and to their surviving family.

 

[tddfleming]

An article I ran across on the internet.

Maryland
Malfunctioning equipment could have contributed to fatal dive
Autopsy: Corrine Pierce died from &#8216;drowning due to air embolism secondary to rapid ascent&#8217;
By DAN DEARTH
June 18, 2010
dan.dearth@herald-mail.com
HAGERSTOWN &#8212; Malfunctioning equipment could have contributed to the death of a Hagerstown woman who died May 8 while scuba diving off the coast of North Carolina, according to an autopsy report released this week.

Corrine Pierce, 48, of 13439 Resh Road, died from &#8220;drowning due to air embolism secondary to rapid ascent,&#8221; according to the findings of an autopsy performed May 9 by Coastal Pathology Associates, P.A., of Jacksonville, N.C.

The autopsy report was released earlier this week by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

&#8220;It is possible that equipment malfunction may have contributed to this death,&#8221; the report said. &#8220;It is also possible that the individual had become nauseated while under the water.&#8221;

The report said Pierce was nauseated and vomiting before she went on the dive.

According to the report, Pierce was on a commercial dive boat about 20 miles off the coast of Wilmington, N.C., when she entered the water and &#8220;had some difficulty with her dry suit, which appeared to be overinflated. She drifted away from the boat and descended. A few minutes later, she popped to the surface and was unresponsive.&#8221;

A rescue diver said Pierce&#8217;s mask was full of mucous and bloody fluid just before she was lifted onto the boat, the report said. Pierce did not respond to cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

&#8220;It is reported that her dive computer showed that she made a relatively rapid descent to 87 feet, which was the bottom and had been in the water less than a total of five minutes,&#8221; the report said.

Pierce worked as a technician in the USDA&#8217;s apple biotechnology program in Kearneysville, W.Va.

One of Pierce&#8217;s co-workers, Timothy Artlip, said in May that part of her research involved finding ways to fight diseases in apple trees.

Joe Pierce, Corrine Pierce&#8217;s husband, could not be reached for comment Friday.

 

[NeptunusRex]

In the Navy we inspect our AED's every week (check the charge and readiness condition), our ready use O2 bottles every 2 weeks (checking for PSI, corrosion, O-rings, stored bottles every 3 months). This isn't optional it's mandatory. I'm sure the CG does things differant but I would have to imagine there is some sort of oversight concerning taxpayer purchased equipment.

I don't know if this helps.