NewScubaDude
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We recently took the kids on a snorkel tour boat the day before a dive in Hawaii and had a worrisome experience…
A seemingly fit young woman in her teens/20’s was suddenly unconscious in the water with no obvious reason. A couple people were struggling to get her onto a surfboard and keep her head above water. The boat crew did a fine job responding quickly and getting her back onboard the boat.
O2 was given and they put her in the recovery position. She regained consciousness briefly before nodding off again. Thankfully she never stopped breathing, though she was completely unresponsive for quite some time. After about 30 minutes we reached a dock with a waiting ambulance. She was now awake, sitting up, though very pale.
A doctor onboard who helped treat her said she’d recently had COVID and believes she experienced POTS as an after effect. Thankfully, she looks like she’ll make a speedy recovery, though without that quick response things could have been much different.
Keep postural hypotension in mind when swimming with others and keep their head above water if anything goes wrong. An unconscious person in water is absolutely helpless and much more difficult to maneuver than someone on land.
POTS: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment
A seemingly fit young woman in her teens/20’s was suddenly unconscious in the water with no obvious reason. A couple people were struggling to get her onto a surfboard and keep her head above water. The boat crew did a fine job responding quickly and getting her back onboard the boat.
O2 was given and they put her in the recovery position. She regained consciousness briefly before nodding off again. Thankfully she never stopped breathing, though she was completely unresponsive for quite some time. After about 30 minutes we reached a dock with a waiting ambulance. She was now awake, sitting up, though very pale.
A doctor onboard who helped treat her said she’d recently had COVID and believes she experienced POTS as an after effect. Thankfully, she looks like she’ll make a speedy recovery, though without that quick response things could have been much different.
Keep postural hypotension in mind when swimming with others and keep their head above water if anything goes wrong. An unconscious person in water is absolutely helpless and much more difficult to maneuver than someone on land.
POTS: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment