Wreck
Guest
I'll try to sum up what I observed first-hand and heard yesterday from others that were also on hand. Please pardon the ommission of any details - perhaps someone with more familiarity with the incident will be kind enough to fill those in so we can all learn from this.
In the late morning, a surfacing diver in the 60' area called for help from the lake. If memory serves me correctly, I think the diver requested a backboard. The first reaction of those around me was that the diver was stress and rescue class student in the middle of an exercise. At this point, just about everyone on shore was looking to see what was going on. The first thing I thought of was that a student should never be making realistic pleas for help for a class. (This had happened within the past year at the same location) Maybe everyone can see the irony already.
A couple canoes were on the lake and helped tow the male "rescuer" and female victim to shore. The victim was not breathing when removed from the water. Two doctors happened to be on hand and began examining the victim, although it did not appear that either knew standard diving accident protocol & procedures. An affiliate of Chesapeake Bay Diving offered their oxygen kit, which they had at hand, and set it up for use on the victim. Although not breathing, the victim had a pulse. The victim's wetsuit was cut off. The victim apparently had a few spasms to spit out water, and began sporadic breathing again. Eye and voice contact were established. The victim was able to flex muscles as asked, but weakly. A few periods followed where the victim stopped breathing and would start again. The victim knew her name, aware of where she was at, and the day(?) The victim experienced a few emotional moments as well. A stretcher/board was brought down to the shore. The victim was placed on the board and taken to the Lake Rawlings office to await transport out by ambulance. I was later told it took 35 minutes before a volunteer(?) ambulance was sent down from the Petersburg area. During the entire episode, I don't recall seeing anyone making notes of the accident, recording the victims conditions, observations, etc.
I was later told that there was a Rawlings employee on the floating dock, but she did not have an oxygen kit at hand.
Everything from here on is second/third-hand information so please treat it as rumors only, and take them with a grain of salt - we all know how rumors and misinformation spread! The victim was in an advanced open water class at the time of the accident. The victim and her buddy were swimming together when he noticed she was not keeping up with him. He looked back and saw her motionless in the water with her regulator out of her mouth. Her buddy then ascended with her to the surface rather quickly and called for help. The victim's instructor had a handlebar mustache and may have been affiliated with a shop named "... (Ad)ventures" Whoever they are, they have the real scoop.
Safe diving~
In the late morning, a surfacing diver in the 60' area called for help from the lake. If memory serves me correctly, I think the diver requested a backboard. The first reaction of those around me was that the diver was stress and rescue class student in the middle of an exercise. At this point, just about everyone on shore was looking to see what was going on. The first thing I thought of was that a student should never be making realistic pleas for help for a class. (This had happened within the past year at the same location) Maybe everyone can see the irony already.
A couple canoes were on the lake and helped tow the male "rescuer" and female victim to shore. The victim was not breathing when removed from the water. Two doctors happened to be on hand and began examining the victim, although it did not appear that either knew standard diving accident protocol & procedures. An affiliate of Chesapeake Bay Diving offered their oxygen kit, which they had at hand, and set it up for use on the victim. Although not breathing, the victim had a pulse. The victim's wetsuit was cut off. The victim apparently had a few spasms to spit out water, and began sporadic breathing again. Eye and voice contact were established. The victim was able to flex muscles as asked, but weakly. A few periods followed where the victim stopped breathing and would start again. The victim knew her name, aware of where she was at, and the day(?) The victim experienced a few emotional moments as well. A stretcher/board was brought down to the shore. The victim was placed on the board and taken to the Lake Rawlings office to await transport out by ambulance. I was later told it took 35 minutes before a volunteer(?) ambulance was sent down from the Petersburg area. During the entire episode, I don't recall seeing anyone making notes of the accident, recording the victims conditions, observations, etc.
I was later told that there was a Rawlings employee on the floating dock, but she did not have an oxygen kit at hand.
Everything from here on is second/third-hand information so please treat it as rumors only, and take them with a grain of salt - we all know how rumors and misinformation spread! The victim was in an advanced open water class at the time of the accident. The victim and her buddy were swimming together when he noticed she was not keeping up with him. He looked back and saw her motionless in the water with her regulator out of her mouth. Her buddy then ascended with her to the surface rather quickly and called for help. The victim's instructor had a handlebar mustache and may have been affiliated with a shop named "... (Ad)ventures" Whoever they are, they have the real scoop.
Safe diving~
