Training fatality - Washington

[DandyDon]

From Wenatchee man dies during scuba class | The Wenatchee World

AKE CHELAN — A 43-year-old Wenatchee man died this morning after having difficulty breathing during a scuba-diving class on Lake Chelan. Police are withholding the victim’s name until county coroner’s officials question his family. The incident was reported at just before 11 a.m.
The man was diving near Fields Point Landing, on the lake’s south shore. He was about 75 yards out and diving in 17 feet of water. After about 10 minutes, he signaled he was having trouble breathing, said Sgt. Rob Huddleston, Chelan County Sheriff’s spokesman.
The man surfaced with his instructor and said it felt like his wetsuit was too tight. The instructor removed the man’s diving equipment and unzipped the suit. The two were swimming toward shore, when the man lost consciousness and stopped breathing, Huddleston said.
Back at Field’s Point, state Parks Department officials and bystanders began CPR and managed to get the man breathing again. But his breathing was labored and then stopped.
When emergency crews and sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene, the man didn’t have a pulse and couldn’t be revived, Huddleston said.
Orca Scuba Center of Wenatchee hosted the beginner-level class, Huddleston said.
The death is under investigation. Chelan County Coroner Wayne Harris will do an autopsy to determine the cause of death, Huddleston said.

Lake info: Lake Chelan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[decompression]

Another tragedy....not meaning to jump to conclusions but so far looks like a possible cardiac arrest. Very sad indeed.

[jar546]

yeah, that cardiac arrest will get you every time.

I wonder what caused his cardiac arrest?

[stairman]

Sorry to hear this. It does sound like a health issue and a good argument for getting a good physical before training.

[boulderjohn]

I wonder what caused his cardiac arrest?

Lots of things cause cardiac arrest.

This link will give the most common causes. Here is a portion of it:

Causes
Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of sudden cardiac arrest. Many other cardiac and non-cardiac conditions also increase one's risk.
Coronary heart disease
Approximately 60–70% of SCD is related to coronary heart disease. Among adults, ischemic heart disease is the predominant cause of arrest with 30% of people at autopsy showing signs of recent myocardial infarction.

It is similar to a heart attack and can be caused by one.

The most common place and time to have one is in bed at while sleeping at night. They happen to golfers with some frequency. Bowlers have them while bowling. Jim Fixx, author of The Complete Book of Running, died of a heart attack while running. Tim Russert died sufddenly while preparing for the next edition of Meet the Press. Both Fixx and Russert were found to have severely blocked arteries. Russert had recently passed a stress test, and Fixx was one of the most well known runners on the planet.

When people have those kinds of heart conditions, it can happen suddenly and unexpectedly at any time. When it happens as described above, we accept it, tragic and unexpected as it may be.

For some reason, though, when it happens during scuba, there are a number of people on ScubaBoard who see it as proof of the recent decline in the quality of instruction.

[PfcAJ]

Its always a medical....

[DandyDon]

Its always a medical....

It might have been a medical issue, maybe even a cardiac event.

It might have been panic from diving in a cold lake in northern Washington followed by a breath hold on ascent.

It might have been asthma.

It might have been a bad reg, bad gas, or a number of other maybes. Do need to avoid all the risks you can think of.

[Dive-aholic]

Its always a medical....

The article certainly makes it sound medical. The symptoms described are consistent with myocardial infarction. So what's the big deal? A lot of recent scuba diving deaths have been medically related. There are too many people diving that shouldn't be. There are too many people doing a lot of things that they shouldn't be. People don't take their health seriously enough and things like this happen.

[PfcAJ]

Just a casual observation. The real question is are all these incidents really medicals? I'm afraid that more and more incidents are written off as 'medicals' because its an easy out for everyone involved. Attribution errors and such.

[supergaijin]

I doubt that's a reason- If someone's heart is giving out from moderate exercise/stress, then that's medical.

Humans love pointing fingers at others as the reasons for their problems, and have been doing it for centuries.

"The harvest was bad- burn the witches".
"The economy is bad- burn the immigrants" etc.

We will look to blame a person or group before trying to examine the fundamental reasons for perceived problems.