diver death pompano beach

[ponypix]

POMPANO BEACH

Diver dies after breathing trouble

Medical examiners are investigating the cause of death of a 64-year-old diver from Virginia.

BY DIANA MOSKOVITZ

dmoskovitz@herald.com

A 64-year-old Virginia man out diving with friends died on Monday after he started having trouble breathing in the water, officials said.

His is the second death of an out-of-town diver in Broward County this month. A New Hampshire man was found dead in scuba gear in the waters off Fort Lauderdale two weeks ago.

The Broward Medical Examiners Office is investigating the cause of death. The cause may be heart-related, Pompano Beach spokesman Sandra King said.

The man had been diving with a group of people off the Hillsboro Inlet near Pompano Beach, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office.

The trip was on the commercial dive boat operated by a company called Scuba Time, according to a BSO news release. Six people were onboard, including the Virginia man and the captain. No additional information was available about the company late Monday.

The man finished his first dive, but complained about trouble breathing afterward, BSO stated.

The other divers got him back into the boat, BSO stated. They delivered CPR while heading back to shore.

King said the initial call for help came at 12:23 p.m. and was only for breathing problems. While on the way, Pompano Beach Fire Rescue learned CPR was being done, King said.

Firefighters met the divers at 2695 N. Riverside Dr. at 12:28 p.m. They treated the man while taking him to North Broward Medical Center in Pompano Beach.

The man's name was not released Monday pending family notification. He was pronounced dead at 1:20 p.m.

 

[empressdiver]

This death will probably be classed as a scuba diving accident, but so far it sounds more like a typical health-related death. If this had happened on the golf course, it would probably be reported as a heart attack, etc. that happened while the victim was incidentally on the golf course, but the death would not be attributed to the fact that the victim was golfing at the time.

 

[hex92]

I'm 99.9% sure that this story is about a neighbor of mine. I just got an email from the LDS informing club members of his death and decided to see if it had been posted here. A few folks from the shop had headed down to Lauderdale to dive over the Thanksgiving break.
I haven't asked for any further details, but the email stated that his breathing problems started "while making preperations [sic] for the second dive of the day."

Like the previous poster said, this will be classified as a scuba diving accident. But in reality he just had a heart attack while out on the water.

I will express my condolences to his family at the funeral.

 

[MikeFerrara]

I'm 99.9% sure that this story is about a neighbor of mine. I just got an email from the LDS informing club members of his death and decided to see if it had been posted here. A few folks from the shop had headed down to Lauderdale to dive over the Thanksgiving break.
I haven't asked for any further details, but the email stated that his breathing problems started "while making preperations [sic] for the second dive of the day."

Like the previous poster said, this will be classified as a scuba diving accident. But in reality he just had a heart attack while out on the water.

I will express my condolences to his family at the funeral.

If this is true (the part I bolded) it may just be a little scuba related. Some conditions are always fatal even on a nice dry easily accessible by ems golf course while others are far more likely to be fatal if you're in the water. As far as I know, divers are taught to NOT dive if they aren't feeling well. Failure to follow that training seems like it would at least decrease your chances of surviving whatever it is making you not feel well.

 

[WetDawg]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-1130diver,0,5828279.story?coll=sfla-news-broward