Diver dies at Molokai on Maui dive boat

[EricTheDood]

The instructor sent the diver with his buddy to the surface around 10-15 minutes before the rest of us surfaced together as a group. So, the diver made it back on board the boat himself. By the time I made it back onboard, I'd say it had been about a half hour total before his face turned blue. Before that happened, I saw the divemaster Michelle asking him questions while he was able to sit up on his own (his eyes were extremely red and his hand was shaking and that's when I first noticed a problem). Then, dive instructor Nick placed an oxygen mask on his face. A few minutes later, Michelle asked Nick for help laying him down on the deck. The oxygen mask was then removed and Nick placed him in the recovery position facing away from me. I saw this as a red flag and asked out loud twice if he was responsive to no reply. A few minutes later, Nick rolled him on his back and that's when I saw his blue face. The crew did not make any moves after that. I was extremely sea sick so I could only watch and bring the CPR helpers water. So, my friend (a current divemaster) was next to me and she jumped to the diver and started chest compressions. Another customer (who said she was rescue certified) found a pocket mask and started rescue breaths. Divemaster Michelle then sat on opposite site of my friend and switched off chest compressions with her. Nick again tried to place the diver in the recovery position, but my friend pushed him away (CPR had already begun). Nick also switched off rescue breaths with the customer, but disappeared after a couple rounds. Joe, the other dive instructor, dived in the water a couple times and alerted the rebreathers to come up. He said they had a 34 minute deco and largely disappeared upstairs the remainder of the trip. I didn’t see the captain the entire time and neither he, nor the dive instructors managed the crew/customers on what to do. 95% of the CPR that was conducted for over 2 hours was performed by my friend, another customer, and the divemaster (the three least qualified people on board).

My history with Lahaina Divers: My dad was a customer there for many years before I got certified and he introduced me to the company. I dove there as a customer with my dad before I moved to Maui. When I moved to Maui in 2012, I was diving for fun and working in other industries. Then, I did finally work in the shop for Lahaina Divers for 7 months in 2013. I really loved working there and that’s when I dove for free on my days off at Molokai and racked up the 20 dives. I was even offered a divemaster position before I quit to go back to working at those other industries (I originally moved to Maui to pursue art, not diving). Then, in 2014, as a customer, I paid $200 for the Molokai trip again with Lahaina Divers. Also that year, I moved back to the mainland. So, it’s been over 3 years since I worked there. October 2016 was my first time returning to Maui. Since it was my birthday trip, I begged my friend to take a day off and dive Molokai with me with Lahaina Divers. She and I both paid $200 for the trip as customers. There was so much staff turnover since I had worked there that I didn’t know any of the crew that day (other than Joe). But, since I posted that review, crew members I thought were my friends have unfriended me and crew members who weren’t even on the boat that day have sent me nasty messages. They are falsely laboring under the idea that I must be a disgruntled employee.

As a divemaster in training (I'm rescue/oxygen/CPR/EFR certified), I felt I had a moral obligation to warn other divers about what happened and the dangers of this site in general (especially for the newer / older divers) no matter how many friends I lost over it. I had previously taken my dad on this trip and the poor man who died easily could have been my dad. I’m sure this man was someone’s dad/husband and that’s why I had to speak up since no one else would (I did receive approval from my friend who started the CPR to post it). The crew is blaming the victim of course, saying he was physically unfit to dive and had a pre-existing condition. They are also blaming me for being sea sick. There seems to be a pattern here of blaming customers. While my review has been taken as an attack by the crew, it's really management that was my focus (the rebreather policy, the clear lack of emergency training, the lack of useful emergency equipment in remote area combined with rebreather policy). The incident is also being ignored by the news. I don’t care how much money divers bring in to the island, people’s lives matter more.

Because sometimes the dive site is only 6 ft swell, one time it was as flat as a lake, but many times it was like this day and that's what I'm warning divers about. To be mentally and physically prepared to handle a very challenging dive. I'm also an adrenaline junkie and half the age of the diver who died. Before this day, I liked difficult and remote dives. Now, after witnessing all of this and realizing that this also could have easily been me, I don't think it's worth it. I will not go back to that dive site.

Your posts are all over the place.

You say the diver got out of the water under his own power but then suffocated while on deck. This could have been caused by a number of different medical conditions. What's important here is that drowning was NOT the cause of death.

I've only dived with Lahaina Divers twice but found them to be competent. End of the day, I don't have a dog in the fight, but am inclined to take their word. People with heart or respiratory problems frequently die in hospital settings, surrounded by doctors and nurses. Chances of survival on a dive boat?

Superfluous, irrelevant details to the incident, like the conditions that day and your employment history, aren't helping your credibility. It's like your barfed up a bunch of random details and are expecting readers to connect the dots.

 

[paul.mackay.a]

I have dove with Lahaina Divers on many occasions and have always found them very professional and safety focused. I've done this particular dive on two separate occasions and there is no question that it is an advanced dive with potentially challenging conditions.

We are only hearing one person's view on what happened. It's not uncommon in situations like this to have many different and conflicting versions of the same event.

I do think that AED's should be standard safety equipment just like O2 and first aid kits.

 

[Haiku Harlequin]

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[doctormike]

As a divemaster in training (I'm rescue/oxygen/CPR/EFR certified), I felt I had a moral obligation to warn other divers about what happened and the dangers of this site in general (especially for the newer / older divers) no matter how many friends I lost over it.

First of all, sorry you had to witness that, I'm sure it was traumatic.

I have to say, I'm a bit surprised that you attached the message from the crew member that seems to contradict much of your version of things, although you do get points for transparency there! Also, your review was very critical of the dive op, but it sounds like they responded appropriately from the crew members message. Are you saying that this site is so dangerous that you need to warn people not to do it if they aren't in great physical shape? That's really not the OPs fault, it obviously isn't so dangerous if you did it 20 times.

As far as your specific critiques, 1, 2 and 3 seem to be contradicted by the other account from the crew member who managed the situation (you did not, correct?). Maybe the other poster in this thread who was there will chime in? We can't really assess that with the limited information that we have.

As far as an AED goes, I have not seen one on a dive boat, since they really wouldn't help with the vast majority of dive emergencies. They are for shockable pulseless arrhythmia (V Fib and pulseless V tach), and it's hardly a reasonable critique of a dive op not to have one on board.

And as far as your last point, what sort of emergency recall system would you suggest for a diver with a 34 minute deco obligation? In rare cases, someone has to make the hard call to leave a decompressing diver on a mooring ball, alone in the ocean, while the dive boat leaves with an injured diver, but there are a lot of logistical implications of that, and it might have been quicker to wait for the Coast guard.

If your point was that technical diving shouldn't be allowed at this site, then make that case, but other than that, this criticism doesn't make sense. This doesn't sound like the sort of guided recreational single tank dive that would lend itself to everybody descending and surfacing together.

When you go ocean diving, especially at a remote site, you are not guaranteed immediate access to high level medical care in the event of an emergency. That's not a fault of the dive operator.

We don't know what actually happened to this diver - cardiac arrest due to exertion, immersion pulmonary edema, arterial gas embolism or decompression sickness could all be seen in the described scenario. It would be interesting from an accident analysis point of view to get any follow up that is available.

 

[Unhappy]

Your posts are all over the place.

You say the diver got out of the water under his own power but then suffocated while on deck. This could have been caused by a number of different medical conditions. What's important here is that drowning was NOT the cause of death.

I've only dived with Lahaina Divers twice but found them to be competent. End of the day, I don't have a dog in the fight, but am inclined to take their word. People with heart or respiratory problems frequently die in hospital settings, surrounded by doctors and nurses. Chances of survival on a dive boat?

Superfluous, irrelevant details to the incident, like the conditions that day and your employment history, aren't helping your credibility. It's like your barfed up a bunch of random details and are expecting readers to connect the dots.

You're right. You don't have a dog in the fight (although you sound like you do). Someone asked if I was a customer or a pro and I answered. I was also asked about the details of the incident. I answered. I'm not a doctor. I don't know what the cause of death was. Neither do you. I just reported what I saw.

 

[Unhappy]

First of all, sorry you had to witness that, I'm sure it was traumatic.

I have to say, I'm a bit surprised that you attached the message from the crew member that seems to contradict much of your version of things, although you do get points for transparency there! Also, your review was very critical of the dive op, but it sounds like they responded appropriately from the crew members message. Are you saying that this site is so dangerous that you need to warn people not to do it if they aren't in great physical shape? That's really not the OPs fault, it obviously isn't so dangerous if you did it 20 times.

As far as your specific critiques, 1, 2 and 3 seem to be contradicted by the other account from the crew member who managed the situation (you did not, correct?). Maybe the other poster in this thread who was there will chime in? We can't really assess that with the limited information that we have.

As far as an AED goes, I have not seen one on a dive boat, since they really wouldn't help with the vast majority of dive emergencies. They are for shockable pulseless arrhythmia (V Fib and pulseless V tach), and it's hardly a reasonable critique of a dive op not to have one on board.

And as far as your last point, what sort of emergency recall system would you suggest for a diver with a 34 minute deco obligation? In rare cases, someone has to make the hard call to leave a decompressing diver on a mooring ball, alone in the ocean, while the dive boat leaves with an injured diver, but there are a lot of logistical implications of that, and it might have been quicker to wait for the Coast guard.

If your point was that technical diving shouldn't be allowed at this site, then make that case, but other than that, this criticism doesn't make sense. This doesn't sound like the sort of guided recreational single tank dive that would lend itself to everybody descending and surfacing together.

When you go ocean diving, especially at a remote site, you are not guaranteed immediate access to high level medical care in the event of an emergency. That's not a fault of the dive operator.

We don't know what actually happened to this diver - cardiac arrest due to exertion, immersion pulmonary edema, arterial gas embolism or decompression sickness could all be seen in the described scenario. It would be interesting from an accident analysis point of view to get any follow up that is available.

It's not my job to come up with an emergency recall system. That's the company's job. The reason I'm being transparent is because the crew is lying their asses off. I don't expect much medical care, but I expect at least an attempt. From the crew, only the divemaster Michelle gave an earnest attempt.

 

[Skeptic14]

Also no dog in this fight, but this is coming off as someone really eager to attack/blame a particular dive operation and from details provided I really don't understand the criticism...

 

[whysocold]

I see the main issues as the dive op left customers to manage the situation, had faulty oxygen on board, and did not have a procedure in place for what to do if a recreational diver had an emergency while the rebreather are down.

 

[Dan]

I see the main issues as the dive op left customers to manage the situation, had faulty oxygen on board, and did not have a procedure in place for what to do if a recreational diver had an emergency while the rebreather are down.

From unhappy's post # 39, Diver dies at Molokai on Maui dive boat, Nick Estrada, the boat DM, said the O2 bottle was full & he administered it to the victim, when the victim was still conscious. He also did the CPR later on when the victim stopped breathing. So, what faulty oxygen on board are you referring to?

What would be the right procedure in place when such emergency occur? 1) Leaving the CCR divers in the sea while doing the compression in order to take the victim back to shore as quickly as possible & risking more divers lost at sea or 2) waiting for the coast guard & the CCR divers to finish the decompression time, returning to the boat & then going to the shore while waiting for the coast guard to meet on the way to shore?

I think the best way is not to mix the CCR & OC divers in one remote diving trip like this.

 

[whysocold]

I agree about not mixing CCR. I know the CCR divers that were on the boat and they have told the dive shop owner to leave them if there is an emergency while they are down. It doesn't sound like this was communicated to the staff.

unhappy said that the crew stated that the O2 was broken when they took it off the passenger. I'm not sure if she posted that here though. She is emotional about the situation as you can probably tell.