Diver dead at Smøla, Norway

[Storker]

A Hungarian man suffered a cardiac arrest while scalloping at Smøla in Central Norway today. CPR was administered, and the man was airlifted in critical condition to the hospital i Trondheim. He was later pronounced dead.

https://translate.google.com/transl...r-dykkerulykke/a/23345959/&edit-text=&act=url

 

[Storker]

As more facts get out, we now know that the diver was a professional scallop diver, working for a local scallop harvesting company. Thus, the Labour Inspection Authority have been involved, and they are investigating the fatality. Even before the autopsy, the cause of death was given as cardiac arrest, so the cause of death is probably fairly clear. OTOH, I doubt if the trigger will be uncovered and released to the public.

There probably won't be much more info released to the media unless some gross negligence on part of the company, like hiring a diver without a working diver cert, is discovered.

 

[Ayisha]

Maybe a doctor can chime in, but I think cardiac arrest isn't really a cause of death, it is death. The heart stopped. It doesn't really tell us anything about what caused the victim's death.

 

[PfcAJ]

Typically a stopped heart causes one to die.

 

[Storker]

I think cardiac arrest isn't really a cause of death, it is death. The heart stopped. It doesn't really tell us anything about what caused the victim's death.

Cardiac arrest, also known as cardiopulmonary arrest or circulatory arrest, is a sudden stop in effective blood circulation due to failure of the heart to contract effectively or at all. Medical personnel may refer to an unexpected cardiac arrest as a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).

A cardiac arrest is different from (but may be caused by) a heart attack, where blood flow to the muscle of the heart is impaired. It is different from congestive heart failure, where circulation is substandard, but the heart is still pumping sufficient blood to sustain life.

Arrested blood circulation prevents delivery of oxygen and glucose to the body. Lack of oxygen and glucose to the brain causes loss of consciousness, which then results in abnormal or absent breathing. Brain injury is likely to happen if cardiac arrest goes untreated for more than five minutes. For the best chance of survival and neurological recovery, immediate and decisive treatment is imperative.

Cardiac arrest is a medical emergency that, in certain situations, is potentially reversible if treated early. Unexpected cardiac arrest can lead to death within minutes: this is called sudden cardiac death (SCD). The treatment for cardiac arrest is immediate defibrillation if a "shockable" rhythm is present, while cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is used to provide circulatory support and/or to induce a "shockable" rhythm.

I believe the medical personell meant "sudden cardiac arrest (SCA)", not "the man died, so the heart stopped pumping".

See also Cardiac arrest - causes

The fact that people die from sudden cardiac arrest is the reason that simple defibrillators, which are quite inexpensive and can be operated by anyone with a minimum of training, are being installed in workplaces all over the country here.

 

[JimmyboyAAA]

Maybe a doctor can chime in, but I think cardiac arrest isn't really a cause of death, it is death. The heart stopped. It doesn't really tell us anything about what caused the victim's death.

Good point, cardiac arrest can come from a number of causes like sudden rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque or from sudden ventricular fibrillation due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and since I'm a gynecologist I can't come up with any others off the top of my head. Point is having cardiac arrest in the water is a bad idea.

 

[gusser17]

Maybe a doctor can chime in, but I think cardiac arrest isn't really a cause of death, it is death. The heart stopped. It doesn't really tell us anything about what caused the victim's death.

Ayisha, you're right. Cardiac arrest would be considered a mode of death rather then a cause of death. Here is a quote from the Medical Certification of Death handbook here in Ontario.

"Modes of dying should not be entered as the sole entry in Part I or used as the underlying cause of death. These include terms such as cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest, hypoxia, asphyxia, syncope, shock etc."

Here is what the relevant section of the Ontario Death Certificate looks like.

http://www.jamiomar.org/docs/Medical_Certificate_of_Death_Form-16.pdf

So if you if going to report the immediate cause of death as Cardiac Arrest (which we are discouraged from doing) you would be expected to provide the antecedent causes. In the case of a heart attack you might see
Cardiac Arrest
caused by coronary thrombosis
caused by coronary atherosclerosis
with diabetes and hypertension as contributing conditions in part 2

Or in an OOA drowning you might see

Cardiac arrest
caused by hypoxia
caused by drowning
caused by scuba misadventure

So you're right, having cardiac arrest as the sole "cause" of death provides no information on the actual cause.

jesse