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Student drowns in scuba class off Pompano
By Shannon O'Boye
Staff Writer
Posted August 21 2003
A 60-year-old New York woman drowned off Pompano Beach on Wednesday morning after her scuba instructor lost contact with her at the start of a lesson, a Broward Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said.
Cynthia Kratter had not yet connected to her air tank when she tried to adjust one of her fins, said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Liz Calzadilla. At the same time, Paride DeCalice, her instructor from the American Dive Center in Boca Raton, was untying a buoy and lost sight of her.
He searched for Kratter for 10 minutes in a driving rainstorm before swimming back to the beach to dial 911 about 8:40 a.m.
DeCalice, 32, went back into the water to continue the search. Pompano Beach firefighters Greg Gurdak and Pat Bradley, who dived into the water and started swimming toward the dive flag as soon as they arrived, joined him.
DeCalice and Gurdak found the woman floating in 10-foot-deep water and pulled her to shore. Other medics who were waiting on the beach started CPR and rushed Kratter to nearby Imperial Point Medical Center, but doctors there pronounced her dead, Fire-Rescue spokeswoman Sandra King said.
Gurdak, who is also a pool lifeguard, had to go to the hospital as well because he was exhausted and swallowed a lot of water during the rescue attempt, King said. He was treated and released.
Kratter, of Forest Hills, got hooked on scuba diving when she tried it on a cruise six months ago, her son, Russell Kratter, said.
"She was in great health," he said. "How did she just float away?"
Reached by phone Wednesday, Edward Murphy, the dive school owner, said he knew no details of the incident and declined further comment. Sheriff's Office homicide detectives are investigating, and the Medical Examiner's Office will conduct an autopsy.
Kratter loved to travel and took walks or swam every day, her son said. She also traveled to Boca Raton monthly to visit her mother. She had flown in Tuesday night and had a diving lesson scheduled for Wednesday.
"She woke up early, she was all gung-ho, and that was it," her son said.
It was raining Wednesday morning, but the weather may not have contributed to the accident, several dive instructors said. Wind and waves are the key factors.
"Early in the morning, the water is usually the flattest and calmest, which is why you'd plan dives then," said Cindy Rosen of Lauderdale Diver in Fort Lauderdale.
Kratter and her instructor started their dive by carrying their gear across the beach and swimming into the ocean. That sort of "beach dive" is more difficult than going out on a boat, donning your gear while seated, and going into the water fresh, Rosen said.
There are no lifeguards in the area where Kratter was taking lessons, but it's popular with divers because there is a reef nearby.
Florida is the most popular state in the nation to learn scuba diving, according to the Professional Association of Diving Instructors web site. In 2001, 18 divers drowned in Florida, said Jon Rogers of the Divers Alert Network.
One of them was 55-year-old Michael Yargates, of Margate, who was taking scuba lessons from American Dive Center in Coral Springs, at the same location as Wednesday's drowning, just south of the Pompano Beach fishing pier.
While underwater on his second dive, Yargates motioned to his diving partner that he was ascending, officials said then. He swam away alone, and everyone assumed he was returning to shore, but they never saw him again. A helicopter spotted his body floating hours later.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...aug21,1,452168.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
What's really scary is that this outfit killed another student two years ago. That location was the one that wouldn't let me take my classes with them because I bought my equipment on line instead of through them. Thank goodness.
Marc
By Shannon O'Boye
Staff Writer
Posted August 21 2003
A 60-year-old New York woman drowned off Pompano Beach on Wednesday morning after her scuba instructor lost contact with her at the start of a lesson, a Broward Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said.
Cynthia Kratter had not yet connected to her air tank when she tried to adjust one of her fins, said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Liz Calzadilla. At the same time, Paride DeCalice, her instructor from the American Dive Center in Boca Raton, was untying a buoy and lost sight of her.
He searched for Kratter for 10 minutes in a driving rainstorm before swimming back to the beach to dial 911 about 8:40 a.m.
DeCalice, 32, went back into the water to continue the search. Pompano Beach firefighters Greg Gurdak and Pat Bradley, who dived into the water and started swimming toward the dive flag as soon as they arrived, joined him.
DeCalice and Gurdak found the woman floating in 10-foot-deep water and pulled her to shore. Other medics who were waiting on the beach started CPR and rushed Kratter to nearby Imperial Point Medical Center, but doctors there pronounced her dead, Fire-Rescue spokeswoman Sandra King said.
Gurdak, who is also a pool lifeguard, had to go to the hospital as well because he was exhausted and swallowed a lot of water during the rescue attempt, King said. He was treated and released.
Kratter, of Forest Hills, got hooked on scuba diving when she tried it on a cruise six months ago, her son, Russell Kratter, said.
"She was in great health," he said. "How did she just float away?"
Reached by phone Wednesday, Edward Murphy, the dive school owner, said he knew no details of the incident and declined further comment. Sheriff's Office homicide detectives are investigating, and the Medical Examiner's Office will conduct an autopsy.
Kratter loved to travel and took walks or swam every day, her son said. She also traveled to Boca Raton monthly to visit her mother. She had flown in Tuesday night and had a diving lesson scheduled for Wednesday.
"She woke up early, she was all gung-ho, and that was it," her son said.
It was raining Wednesday morning, but the weather may not have contributed to the accident, several dive instructors said. Wind and waves are the key factors.
"Early in the morning, the water is usually the flattest and calmest, which is why you'd plan dives then," said Cindy Rosen of Lauderdale Diver in Fort Lauderdale.
Kratter and her instructor started their dive by carrying their gear across the beach and swimming into the ocean. That sort of "beach dive" is more difficult than going out on a boat, donning your gear while seated, and going into the water fresh, Rosen said.
There are no lifeguards in the area where Kratter was taking lessons, but it's popular with divers because there is a reef nearby.
Florida is the most popular state in the nation to learn scuba diving, according to the Professional Association of Diving Instructors web site. In 2001, 18 divers drowned in Florida, said Jon Rogers of the Divers Alert Network.
One of them was 55-year-old Michael Yargates, of Margate, who was taking scuba lessons from American Dive Center in Coral Springs, at the same location as Wednesday's drowning, just south of the Pompano Beach fishing pier.
While underwater on his second dive, Yargates motioned to his diving partner that he was ascending, officials said then. He swam away alone, and everyone assumed he was returning to shore, but they never saw him again. A helicopter spotted his body floating hours later.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...aug21,1,452168.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
What's really scary is that this outfit killed another student two years ago. That location was the one that wouldn't let me take my classes with them because I bought my equipment on line instead of through them. Thank goodness.
Marc
