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Diver drowns 6 miles offshore | miles, offshore, panama - The News Herald
And this news story includes an odd statement: 1 Diver is Dead Another is Hospitalized from Off Shore Mishap
PANAMA CITY One of two divers was pronounced dead after being pulled from the water 6 nautical miles offshore Saturday morning, according to Coast Guard officials.
The Coast Guard was alerted to the incident around 8 a.m. The divers were off the shore of Panama City when they went down around 100 feet from a commercial boat. The divers were using the buddy system when, they had an issue, according to Lt. Michael Clausen, spokesman for the Coast Guard.
One diver came up unresponsive, and the other came up exhibiting symptoms of the bends, Clausen said.
After the two surfaced, the operator of the vessel immediately called the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard then dispatched a vessel that met the boat as it headed back in. The Coast Guard performed CPR on the unresponsive 43-year-old man as they returned to the Panama City Marina, where they met EMS. The divers were transported to a local hospital, where the man was pronounced dead.
The other one, from coming up too fast and having air bubbles in his blood, was experiencing symptoms of the bends headache, heavy breathing, dizziness and nausea, Clausen said.
The boat in use during the incident was commercial and the operator had a commercial license. An investigation is pending as to the circumstances, but accounts taken by the Coast Guard said they were out recreationally, according to officials.
Names of the people on the boat are being withheld pending notification of next of kin and due to the ongoing investigation of circumstances surrounding a persons death, according to Clausen.
Most of six people on the boat were identified as being residents of Louisiana. Two others on board also operated commercial vessels.
We have investigating officers with dive equipment in their custody to do an investigation to make sure the equipment was operating correctly and not operator error, Clausen said.
And this news story includes an odd statement: 1 Diver is Dead Another is Hospitalized from Off Shore Mishap
An off shore diving trip turned into a fatal accident for a group of six men on a diving trip six miles out the Gulf.
The US Coast Guard from the Panama City Station was called out to the divers boat, which was anchored off shore. There they found two divers, one was unresponsive without a pulse. The other was in need of medical assistance.
The two men were buddy diving and sharing a regulator when they believed the equipment was malfunctioning or some kind of human error occurred.
C-P-R was administered as the Coast Guard made it back to shore where Paramedics were waiting.
The Coast Guard confirms one of the med has died and the other is currently receiving treatment in the Hyperbaric Decompression Chamber at Bay Medical Center.
Both men were from out of state.
Authorities are presently investigating the groups dive equipment and taking statements from other members of the group to find out exactly what happened.