Yukon Diver Dead - San Diego

[DandyDon]

Diver dies after being rescued off Mission Beach - San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com

SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - A local diver is dead Saturday after being pulled out of the waters off Mission Beach.

It happened just before 1 p.m. San Diego lifeguards got a distress call from the Yukon diving site about a mile and a half offshore.

Lifeguards performed CPR on the unconscious diver on their rescue boat as they rushed him back to shore.

Despite their best efforts, the man was pronounced dead on the docks of Mission Bay.

"At this point, we don't know if his issues occurred on the surface or underwater. And so we don't even know if it's diving related at the moment," Lt. Nick Lerma of the San Diego Lifeguard Department said.

So far, the diver's identity has not been released.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_18399975

SAN DIEGO—Authorities say a scuba diver has died off Mission Beach in San Diego.

Lifeguard Lt. Nick Lerma says the diver was among four who planned to dive Saturday to a sunken Canadian destroyer.

Lerma says the man did not feel well and stayed behind while others dove. When they surfaced he jumped into the water, started to struggle and fell unconscious.

It is unclear whether the man ever performed a scuba dive, because investigators can't account for the time the others were under the water.

The other divers tried to help the unconscious man as the group drifted some 300 feet from their boat in a strong current.

Paramedics arrived and attempted to resuscitate the man, whose identity has not been released, but he was declared dead at the dock.

 

[Blackwood]

Wow. Weird. Sad, but weird.

 

[santafejoe]

Very Sad :depressed:

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Here's a link to more info regarding the incident on the local ABC News 10 website: Friends Mourn Death of Diver off Mission Beach.

According to the news story, the experienced diver was on a local dive outing on a private boat with friends. The boat arrived at the Yukon dive site, and divers began gearing up for the dive. The victim hadn't even entered the water before he started feeling ill, vomited, and then fell face-first into the water. The story doesn't specify how much dive gear the diver had on prior to falling into the water. Unfortunately, his buddies couldn't pull him out of the water on their own. They had to wait for emergency responders for that. This likely delayed resuscitation attempts.

Ryan Wilbarger, the owner of a local dive boat (who happened to be a friend of the deceased), was interviewed for the story. Although he was not on the boat when the accident occurred, his comments imply that he spoke with others who were present during the incident. He seemed to be fairly certain that the victim had been afflicted with a dire medical condition prior to entering the water (likely a "heart attack"). If that turns out to be true, the victim was pretty unlucky to experience a myocardial infarction without immediate access to emergency responders and/or medical facilities.

The investigation into the incident is pending. I believe that an autopsy is being conducted. It's still too early to determine the root cause of the accident.

Despite our lack of knowledge about what really happened, perhaps this incident should be a reminder to all of us that:

• Medical clearance for diving is important. We don't know if the victim was aware of having any pre-existing medical issues. In order to take the necessary precautions, one has to identify that there's a problem in the first place.
• The process of gearing up for diving can be physically taxing.
• Cardiovascular fitness is critical for mitigating the risk of dive injury. If diving is the most strenuous physical activity in your life, then your exercise regimen is inadequate. There is no information regarding the victim's fitness level, but I thought this point was worth mentioning. It also goes without saying that here are other non-diving-related benefits to being in good physical shape.

 

[SoCalSwami]

I still in shock over Jim's passing, it hard to believe he's gone.
I'd like to hope he's been reunited with his old friend Steve, allowing them to dive their old stomping grounds together for all eternity.