Riviera Beach Florida Fatality

[JahJahwarrior]

Article mentions the "Narcissus" but my guess is they are talking about Narcosis?

Scuba diver dies in Riviera Beach

Man, surfaced then descended, pronounced dead at the hospital.


Narcosis is a decent boat. Rated to carry upwards of 30 people, perhaps 34? My experience on her has been that with 34 divers plus crew, the boat is packed, but the crew is professional and nothing seems unsafe. Palm Beach is mostly drift dives, probably split the boat into 3 groups: hunters, group 1 and group 2, with the captain following overhead. They seem to pick people up very quickly and have the art of drift diving perfected to a science.

 

[OneFastEuro]

it was narcosis. We were in jupiter coming off our second dive when we heard the incident on the radio.

 

[Ayisha]

It must not always be packed because we've had just our group of 12 on the Narcosis before. She seems to run a good op, and was very safety conscious.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Unfortunately, this is not the first fatality associated with the Narcosis operation. Wonder what happened?

 

[danvolker]

Any charter boat taking out enough divers, is going to have fatalities. There are heart attacks and other health issue related deaths, and there will always be some divers that made the wrong choice at the wrong time, and underwater can be a bad place for this. I have dived on boats from Palm Beach to the Keys, and have never been on a more professionally run dive operation.

My condolences to the family.

 

[sheeper]

Agree with danvolker. I've been on Narcosis a number of times. very good, professional operation. Accidents and fatalities happen thru no fault of anyone. Let's wait and see if we get more news on this. meanwhile, keep the family of the diver in our prayers during a difficult time.

Any charter boat taking out enough divers, is going to have fatalities. There are heart attacks and other health issue related deaths, and there will always be some divers that made the wrong choice at the wrong time, and underwater can be a bad place for this. I have dived on boats from Palm Beach to the Keys, and have never been on a more professionally run dive operation.

My condolences to the family.

 

[KARLUG]

Agree with danvolker. I've been on Narcosis a number of times. very good, professional operation. Accidents and fatalities happen thru no fault of anyone. Let's wait and see if we get more news on this. meanwhile, keep the family of the diver in our prayers during a difficult time.

My wife and I were on this dive charter when the person died. We were on the surface after our 2nd dive waiting for the boat when we heard distant screems and saw the Narcosis change course and race towards them and tok them to the dock. We were picked up along with 6 Narcosis divers by another dive boat. Took about 20 minutes to be picked up. By the time we got back to Rivera beach the person had been taken to the hospital and the police were conducting an investigation. Noone seemed to know exactly what happened but the man came to the surface without his BC and only 1 fin. Our boat searched the area for his equipment but didn't find it. We were diVing a wreck in 80' deep and the current was pretty strong. We dove on the Narcosis for several days and found them to be very knowledgable and professional. It was amazing how fast the captain got to the man in trouble after we heard the screems. He also had the presence of mind to call other dive boats in the area to pick us up? People that were on board said that the crew worked hard with oxygen, CPR and defribilation to revive him. The man looked to be in his middle sixties and had completed the first dive with no problems. I know that some will blame the Narcosis but it wasn't their fault and they reacted quickly to this emergency. I would not be afraid to use them again. They are pros. This was a very unfortunate day of diving, condolences to the man that perished and all involved in this.

 

[Splitlip]

Really too bad.
I missed this yesterday. Too much going on with the dead Jupiter officer.

I'm with Dan. We really can't jump to conclusions that the op was at fault. I guess we wait and see, but as we all know that can take months or more.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

My wife and I were on this dive charter when the person died. We were on the surface after our 2nd dive waiting for the boat when we heard distant screems and saw the Narcosis change course and race towards them and tok them to the dock. We were picked up along with 6 Narcosis divers by another dive boat. Took about 20 minutes to be picked up. By the time we got back to Rivera beach the person had been taken to the hospital and the police were conducting an investigation. Noone seemed to know exactly what happened but the man came to the surface without his BC and only 1 fin. Our boat searched the area for his equipment but didn't find it. We were diVing a wreck in 80' deep and the current was pretty strong. We dove on the Narcosis for several days and found them to be very knowledgable and professional. It was amazing how fast the captain got to the man in trouble after we heard the screems. He also had the presence of mind to call other dive boats in the area to pick us up? People that were on board said that the crew worked hard with oxygen, CPR and defribilation to revive him. The man looked to be in his middle sixties and had completed the first dive with no problems. I know that some will blame the Narcosis but it wasn't their fault and they reacted quickly to this emergency. I would not be afraid to use them again. They are pros. This was a very unfortunate day of diving, condolences to the man that perished and all involved in this.

WOW so the charter boat Narcosis left half a dozen customers floating in the ocean and went to shore with the injured diver, leaving the other customers to be picked up by other boat(s). They must have realized the situation was very serious to leave you all floating out there.

Did they tell you they were leaving you to drift off in the strong current or did it only become evident when they left? Sounds like a terrible situation.

 

[letterboy]

sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-palm-diver-death-20120910,0,5339481.story
[h=1]South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com[/h] [h=2]Experienced diver dies in Riviera Beach, deputies say[/h] By Ed Komenda and Brett Clarkson, Sun Sentinel
4:22 PM EDT, September 10, 2012

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An experienced diver unexpectedly died while diving near the Riviera Beach Marina with friends Sunday, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
Donald Dessert, 66, of Palm Bay, surfaced from 15 feet of water with a group of fellow divers – but they knew something was wrong when he unexpectedly descended again.
Fellow divers grabbed Dessert, pulled him to the surface and got him on the boat, reportedly named "Narcissus." There, a diver performed CPR on Dessert.
Another called 911.
A Riviera Beach Fire Rescue crew then took Dessert from the Riviera Beach Marina to St. Mary's Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead just after noon.
Dessert, a retired Air Force pilot, was an experienced diver with an Advanced Open Water Diving Certification. The Sun Sentinel reached Dessert's immediate family by telephone Monday, but they did offer comment.
The cause of Dessert's death is unclear, but an autopsy has been scheduled by the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner.
"We are simply investigating a death," said Teri Barbera, spokeswoman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. "That does not mean there is any foul play whatsoever."
Hearing the story of Dessert's death, dive experts said it's hard to tell what went wrong Sunday morning.
"It sounds like something other than a diving accident," said certified scuba instructor Jonathan Dickinson, who owns Florida FreeDivers in Lake Park. "It could have been medical – but it could be so many different things."
A 2011 report produced by the Divers Alert Network at Duke University cited running out of air, entrapment or entanglement, buoyancy control, equipment misuse, rough waters and emergency ascent as some common factors of diving fatalities.
Drowning, air embolism and heart attacks are the principal causes of death.
But one-quarter of all diving deaths are associated with cardiac arrest, mostly in older divers, the report says. Older, previously certified divers may be at greatest risk, the report said.
Staff researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report
ekomenda@tribune.com, 561-243-6531, Twitter: @ejkomenda

Copyright © 2012, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Posted 3hrs ago