Canadian diver dies in Cape Town

[Dive Bug Bit Me]

Canadian man dies at Cape Point

Canadian man dies at Cape Point

52 minutes ago

Tammy Petersen

Cape Town - An inquest docket has been opened after a Canadian man died after surfacing from a scuba dive without a pulse at Cape Point on Sunday.

NSRI Simon’s Town station commander Darren Zimmerman in a statement said its rescue crew were activated at 12:15 following reports from a dive centre and scuba diving operator of CPR being conducted on a diver at Smitswinkel Bay.

“CPR efforts were underway on the dive boat and they reported to be heading towards Millers Point,” he said.

Two sea rescue craft were launched and paramedics from Cape Medical Response responded by road, Zimmerman confirmed.

“We rendezvoused with the dive boat half a nautical mile off-shore of Millers Point and NSRI medical crew were put aboard the dive boat. CPR efforts continued and once brought ashore at the Millers Point slip-way paramedics took over with continuing CPR efforts,” he said.

 

[sweir]

A second media report said the man had received CPR from Pisces Dive Charters. I am unfamiliar with Pisces and the location Smitswinkel Bay. Is this a difficult dive site? Is Pisces a large outfit?

 

[Dive Bug Bit Me]

I haven't dived in a while. Pisces was a good shop when I last dived. I'm pretty sure that I would trust them to teach my kids. Their DMs were high quality. You had an option to dive with the group or go off in buddy pairs. The boat is fully equipped for medical emergencies and held a proper briefing on each launch.

As for the dive it was probably one of the wrecks in the bay. They're pretty deep down to the sand and I almost always ended up doing deco on the dives. Otherwise they are straight forward cold water dives. Decent enough visibility and I've never seen meaningful current.

 

[aquarat]

Pisces is a good dive shop - in fact I'd say it's the best in Cape Town. They run a clean, efficient and safe business. They're a responsible operator. I don't have any affiliation with them beyond having done some dives with them (I generally dive with a more technically-oriented operator).

I was at the ramp when their boat came in. There was nothing they could have done to have changed the outcome. It was really impressive how quickly the emergency response crews got on the scene... they tried for a long time to resuscitate the unconscious diver. The Pisces boat arrived with a medical professional onboard and she was performing CPR on the unconscious diver.

The diver in question looked overweight and had arrived at the shop earlier without a buddy (Pisces paired him with someone else). His buddy apparently lost him during the first few minutes of the dive. He was found unconscious on the surface by the skipper, who issued the recall signal. I remember the paramedics at the scene said something along the lines of "he had elevated glucose levels" and they believed he had suffered a heart attack.

 

[sweir]

Thank you Aquarat. Unfamiliar with South Africa protocol regarding dive fatalities. Will any reports be it govt or dive groups be issuing a report? I help with the Ontario Underwater Council regarding fatalities involving Ontario (Canada) divers

 

[tridacna]

I've dived with Pisces many times. Whenever I go back "home" to CT. Outstanding outfit. Problem here is that Cape Point is quite remote. A longish boat ride back to Simonstown and even longer drive in a vehicle from the lighthouse.

I used to dive there (Cape Point) when I was younger (and fitter) but would not do so now. It's quite demanding (like most of Cape Town) and certainly no place for anyone out of shape at all. Trust me, you don't want to be carrying extra weight getting back on the rubber duck. (Hint: No ladder).

What wreck were they diving? IIRC the Oratava or the Rockeater were at about 35m and the Pietermaritzburg at 20m.

 

[RainPilot]

Pietermaritzburg at 20m.

PMB is/was at 27m on the sand at the stern, we used to use it for AOW classes back in the day.

 

[aquarat]

@tridacna is correct: I've dived the SAS Pietermaritzburg wreck several times and I've never seen more than 20m on my dive computer. It's a fun wreck, a generally easy dive. 27m is more the "Smitswinkel" wrecks (like the Orotava, Goodhope, Rockeater, Princess Elizabeth).

@sweir : I highly doubt our government has prepared or will prepare a report, but DAN-SA probably will. I'll check.