Woman rescued near San Clemente Island - California

[DandyDon]

Diver rescued near San Clemente Island

SAN DIEGO — A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter rescued a 40-year-old woman near San Clemente Island Saturday morning after she lost consciousness while scuba diving, a Coast Guard spokesman said.
The woman was brought to the surface and revived by other divers on her boat after she lost consciousness about 8 a.m., said spokesman Henry Dunphy.
Her fellow divers asked for a Coast Guard rescue so she could get medical attention as quickly as possible, Dunphy said.
The helicopter arrived on the scene at 9 a.m. and returned with her to San Diego about 11:15 a.m., Dunphy said. Paramedics then took her to UC San Diego Medical Center, he said.
The diving boat had been scheduled to return to San Diego about 2 p.m., he said.
San Clemente Island, the southernmost of the Channel Islands, is just south of Santa Catalina Island and 50 miles west of La Jolla. The woman's group was diving approximately two miles from the island's Pyramid Cove, a Coast Guard news release said.

 

[rjk75]

Glad to read that this was not a fatality. Hope she recovers completely and thank God for attentive and observant dive buddies.

 

[seansrs36]

What boat was she using?

 

[Power Scuba]

I'm happy to report the victim made a complete recovery after a 5 hour chamber ride, assorted tests (CT, Chest X-Ray, Neuro-exam, etc) and an overnight stay to be sure.

All details are not available yet, but I can state this:

1. Victim became unresponsive shortly after entering the water.
2. Crew noticed her descending without her buddy (who was still on deck kitting up) and put out a call for assistance. There were other divers on the surface and they were entreated to go down after her. At least one was able to do so.
3. There were also divers already underwater at approx 80fsw (bottom). Due to the excellent visibility, all four divers (two groups of two) saw the victim descending down through the water column head-first, "rag-doll-style". They witnessed her strike the bottom head-first. Three of the divers (all rescue-trained) made their way immediately to her while the fourth diver made his way to the surface to call for help.
4. The three divers brought the victim to the surface and called for help. They were approx 10 yards from the boat's swim step.
5. The victim was brought aboard, an assessment was performed (unresponsive, non-breathing, lips blue, and blood coming out of mouth), and CPR was immediately initiated. Boat captain initiated a call to the Coast Guard.
6. O2 was called for as well as the AED. I believe they were already being retrieved as the call went out for it.
7. After approx 2-3 minutes of CPR, rescuers detected faint breaths coming from victim. Breaths were determined to not be "death rattle" and breathing increased slightly in strength over the next couple of minutes. O2 was applied during this time as well.
8. AED pads applied for insurance. Victim was rolled onto her left side.
9. Victim began moaning.
10. Victim began crying out in pain.
11. A doctor was onboard and victim was turned over to her care.
12. Coast Guard notified boat captain that helicopter was on it's way from San Diego.
13. Victim was able to open eyes, nod her head in response to a question, and remained in a semi-responsive state for the duration.
14. Victim was picked up and transported to CG Station, San Diego and then transported to UCSD Hillcrest.
15. Victim was taken for a chamber ride and reported to have become extremely lucid once she was at depth.
16. Upon reaching port (about 5 1/2 hours later), her buddy and some passengers went to UCSD Hillcrest. She had just come out of a CT scan, was sitting up in her bed, was responsive, emotional... and could remember nothing of the day except "waking up" in the chamber.

She was released from UCSD Hillcrest Sunday afternoon.

I know many of you will have additional questions, but I won't have much more for you. Causality will be investigated to be sure, but unless she regains any memory of the incident, we may never know exactly why this happened. I have my suspicions, but I'll keep those to myself.

We read so many of these incidents wherein the victim did not survive. I'm so happy to share with you all this one had a happy ending.

 

[dytis-sm]

Great job Bill! Seems like those scenarios you have been running came to good use as it seems that more than one person was instrumental in getting this diver back to life. This is when all that rescue training is worth every second and penny spent.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to the survivor.

 

[Power Scuba]

Great job Bill! Seems like those scenarios you have been running came to good use...

Thanks, Dytis-sm. That very sentiment was echoed by others in Power Scuba.

Full-on, simulated rescue scenarios, like the ones we've done with MV Horizon and Marissa in the past, should permeate our community. I know I'm not the first one to come up with the idea, but it (the notion of rescue scenarios involving local boats, lifeguards, and/or Coast Guard) doesn't get much traction because it takes time and money on everyone's part. But I think it's, as you say, money well spent. Perhaps we could get similar scenarios going in OC, LA, and further North?

All my best,

Bill

 

[DandyDon]

Great report, Power Scuba - thanks, and great results...!

1. Victim became unresponsive shortly after entering the water.
2. Crew noticed her descending without her buddy (who was still on deck kitting up) and put out a call for assistance. There were other divers on the surface and they were entreated to go down after her. At least one was able to do so.

That kind of drives home the idea of buddies entering the water together, etc. - not "meet you there," but nice save for the others there. I thought rolling on the left had been cancelled as a rescue protocol - no?

 

[Wookie]

Great report, Power Scuba - thanks, and great results...!

That kind of drives home the idea of buddies entering the water together, etc. - not "meet you there," but nice save for the others there. I thought rolling on the left had been cancelled as a rescue protocol - no?

That is correct, Don, except for drowning victims. But with the declining ability of the sheeple to comprehend that it's one thing for one casualty and something else for a different casualty, left side down has gone by the wayside for generic first aid/CPR/AED classes. For drowning victims and water rescues, left side down still helps the victim breathe easier.

 

[Power Scuba]

I thought rolling on the left had been cancelled as a rescue protocol - no?

Don, I'm pretty sure the left-side recovery position is still a standard of ILCOR (International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR).

We were concerned she would vomit or bring up seawater, so the recovery position seemed reasonable and within standards.

Bill

 

[Hatul]

One issue I noticed in the report that can be useful in preventing this and other accidents:

Before jumping in the water inflate your BC and stay on the surface with positive buoyancy till you can see your buddy. Give the OK sign with your buddy, then the descend sign and only then descend. It appears from what I read that this procedure was not done here, though I could be wrong.

There was another fatal incident years ago where a diver jumped in the water with BC deflated and valve turned off. He also sank to the bottom and drowned.