Unconscious diver at Pacific Grove

[dagrath]

I just registered, so the board won't let me post a link to the story, but you can find it searching Google News for "diver monterey".

Anybody know any more details? I just saw the article, was curious if there was any details as to what happened or if the guy made it.

 

[Fataitaa]

Grim news,

The man who was diving of Coral Beach on Pacific Grove on Saturday August 30 did not regain conciousness. I was there and watched as the Pacific Grove Fire Dept Ocean Resuce, California State Lifeguard, and other performed a very expidited and coordinated recovery.

From what I was told and witnessed: It was a beach entry, lone diver into a kelp bed 200 yards off the beach. He was overdue and recue was called. He was located floating face up in the kelp and was brought to shore.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Here's a little more info:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ba_diving/message/39737
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ba_diving/message/39738
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ba_diving/message/39741
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ba_diving/message/39740

 

[dagrath]

Sad news indeed. I had hoped that based off the reports that he was merely unconscious that he might make it with the medical attention he was receiving.

It seems these stories happen too frequently. Be careful out there.

 

[jon m]

dang-
i heard the report of a fatality from another diver after i dove there yesterday.i was hoping the "fatality" part was incorrect. the diver i spoke to said conditions were pretty rough when the accident happened.
our conditions were decent yesterday ,though...

 

[Fataitaa]

Fataitaa, reporting. The man was not concious in the water, no mask on, but BC inflated. Never regained concoiusness. I am an amature photographer and have over 100 shots of the recovery from start ot finish including the recovery efforts, A very grim reminder of the sport we take up.

Keep together, plan your dive and dive you plan. I have had all my near misses on lone dives/hunts for lobsters. The bug was never worth the risk. We seasoned divers need to set the standard. If we show up for a beach entry and we see a lone diver we need to asked them what they are planning. perhaps if they were to wait just a bit they could join a group. I have done this at Lover Point many times. Three works well. It is usally a lone single tank diver that without us would have gone solo. In these case we ask the solo" what were you looking to see" Then we help them get that dive. We are out most weekends here and are most pleases to help you see the best of it. It is usually a 30 minuite level 1-3 dive for all and a good warm up for us and a great experence for our visitor.

All local divers cringe when that hear of a fatality in local waters. We can help, be proactive, be a source of ifo. It is good for them, us and our area.

I others want to see the phots that were provided to the PGFD.

Fataitaa

 

[jupitermermaid]

I just saw this on another site and wondered if anyone here heard anything or read anything else about this accident.

CYBER DIVER News Network by LUTHER MONROE - CDNN Safety News Editor PACIFIC GROVE, California (2 Sep 2008) — An experienced scuba diver who was diving alone died today after he was found unconscious in the ocean off Coral Street Beach in Pacific Grove. Authorities told CDNN that Frank Martinez, 52, was rushed to Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula where he was pronounced dead. Witnesses said Martinez was solo diving while his brother remained ashore. After about an hour, the brother became concerned because Martinez had still not surfaced. He called for help and a kayaker spotted the victim’s body about 100 meters offshore. The brother helped pull Martinez ashore where bystanders initiated CPR and called 911. Paramedics responded to the call and rushed Martinez to hospital but it was too late. The brother told authorities that Martinez was a veteran diver who had recently resumed scuba diving after three years. Police confiscated the victim’s equipment and said the accident is under investigation. It is not known if an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death

 

[gotair?]

I know this is an old thread and I appoligize to any friends or family if it brings up painful memories. I am fairly new to scuba board and have just came across this story. The only reason I bring this up is because even though it is an old thread, I believe there is still leasons to be learned from it. My wife and I were actually gearing up a few parking spots behind Mr. Martinez when he entered the water. I noticed that he appeared to be going in solo and I remember making a comment to my wife about it. As he left his vehicle he walked down toword the water and placed his fins on maybe 10 feet from the waters edge. He then walked straight toward the water. He was having a very hard time because he was walking forward with his fins on and it was a very rocky area. I made a comment to my wife that he does not look like he is an experianced diver. At that time I would not have called myself an experianced diver either, but none the less he seemed like a fish out of water. I could be wrong but It appeared that he may have been using some vintage equipment. My thoughts were that he just picked them up from a garage sale and decided to try and teach himself scuba diving. Being a rookie myself I guess I didn't feel it was my place to say "Hey, you shouldn't dive without a buddy" OR "Hey, wait a minute and we will buddy up with you" These are the words I have regreted not saying since the minute I seen them taking him to shore and seeing his tank floating. I remember seeing who I guess was his brother waiting by his truck when we entered the water. And I remember thinking about how hard it would be to see them pull a friend or family member from the water.

I guess a few things I have learned is, I don't care if you look like you are a dive master, an instructor, or you have a million dives under your belt, I'm going to Say "Hey, you shouldn't dive without a buddy" OR "Hey, wait a minute and we will buddy up with you" If you want to tell me to bug off then I guess I'll bug off but you still may see me underwater following your ass.

Another thing that I think can be learned is that if you take a few years off from diving...Take a refresher course.. My LDS has them for I think $50.00

If any family or friends of Mr. Martinez is reading this Please forgive me for not being a "buddy" and I Pray this post will remind us to be a good "buddy" even to strangers. I Should have done more.

 

[gotair?]

Also I never found out what happened to Mr. Martinez. Does anyone know if he was out of air? or any other info would be appreciated.