Diver dies after being rescued in Jupiter

[HalcyonDaze]

I can say from experience that getting on Emeralds boat in 5 to 8 foot seas is a challenge for just about anyone. I can't imagine how much harder a rescue would a person, especially a 400lb person.

If it was the standard dive on Emerald, everyone lines up and they are told go go go. Then everyone quickly gets in the water and drops down as soon as your in, getting down to 80 feet as quickly as possible due to the current. If this occurred and he didnt descend he would have been most likely by himself and there wouldn't be anyone extra to help the captain and deck hand. This could explain the 30 mins delay.

I was not there so I am speculating. Maybe some else that had a friend on that day has more information.

That is my experience as well, and generally speaking on most Palm Beach Dive boats when doing drift dives - you form two lines, start jumping off the boat, and as soon as you hit the water you start down. If you can't make it down with the group, you're typically instructed to abort your dive and reboard the boat rather than try to catch up.

 

[makologic]

I haven't been diving long (2 years now) but dive quite a bit out of Jupiter. I'm a bigger guy (6'2", 225), but I routinely run 3-5 miles and I'd say I'm in good health. But I have to say, I'm shocked at the condition of the typical weekend diver here off palm beach on the head boats. I would say that the average diver here is much older, and more obese than I would have ever imagined. I'm not judging, but seriously there should be limits. Horrible what happened in this case, and I'm not blaming the victim, but people should realize that when they are in higher risk groups they put other divers at risk as well if they have to respond to an emergency. I'm hoping to do less diving on the charters and more on my boat with people I know for this reason. I used to think it's safer on a charter boat because of the equipment, divemaster, and training they have but seriously there are some scary divers on those boats. At some point I think we need to be honest with ourselves if we are just too out of shape, poor health or too old to be partaking in this sport any more so you don't put others at risk.

 

[Johnoly]

... I would say that the average diver here is much older, and more obese than I would have ever imagined. I'm not judging, but seriously there should be limits. ....

Trust me, more people die on golf courses than diving in Florida. Should we refuse to give them a tee time, or not fill their dive tanks. No one wants it to happen and it's a crushing blow to the crew also.

Nothing to do with this incident, but I have seen the crew of Emerald a few times have a passenger suspended from the rest of the day's dives for safety concerns. If you don't follow the rules, your not diving.

 

[makologic]

Ya I get that....I was not implying that the operator or the scuba shop should police people. I was implying that we as divers need to be honest with ourselves and the risk we are putting our fellow divers in when we choose do dive sick, unhealthy, morbidly obese or otherwise in a high risk category. A lot of divers act like it's their risk alone when they dive but really if something bad happens in the water anyone who tries to help you is at risk as well.

either way this was a sad story, I watch all of these closely for details to learn from them and hopefully avoid any bad situations myself.

 

[Herb-alaska]

Most Large People know their size and understand the issues associated with it. I work in pre-hospital emergency care and have had many patient say you will never be able to lift me. They understand the issues associated with their size. I am sure that the deceased diver knew his issues and he accepted the risks associated for diving. Did it have a negative result yes but keep in mind he died doing what he enjoyed doing and did not allow his size to send him to the recliner. I am not advocating that should not have worked on his medical issues I am advocating for "that people allow him to make his own life choices." As for lifting him out of the water that is what a life sling and lifting tackle is for. I would expect that any larger commercial boat would have one on board because they are very common in recreational boats.

 

[tekkydiver]

Trust me, more people die on golf courses than diving in Florida.

Surprisingly the number is very small. And....golf in Florida is custom made for the eldest senior citizens who sit in an shaded electric carts sipping cocktails with minimal activity. No analogy there.

 

[tekkydiver]

I haven't been diving long (2 years now) but dive quite a bit out of Jupiter. I'm a bigger guy (6'2", 225), but I routinely run 3-5 miles and I'd say I'm in good health. But I have to say, I'm shocked at the condition of the typical weekend diver here off palm beach on the head boats. I would say that the average diver here is much older, and more obese than I would have ever imagined. I'm not judging, but seriously there should be limits. Horrible what happened in this case, and I'm not blaming the victim, but people should realize that when they are in higher risk groups they put other divers at risk as well if they have to respond to an emergency. I'm hoping to do less diving on the charters and more on my boat with people I know for this reason. I used to think it's safer on a charter boat because of the equipment, divemaster, and training they have but seriously there are some scary divers on those boats. At some point I think we need to be honest with ourselves if we are just too out of shape, poor health or too old to be partaking in this sport any more so you don't put others at risk.

You are 100% correct I see the physical condition of many divers around here and it is frightening. I see folks who have to tie their shoes before they put them on, boarding dive boats and even certifying divers. I remember meeting a former frequent poster on this forum who claimed to be a world class cyclist. Turned out to be a tub of lard. LOL Luckily I have my own vessel, and while we are not all hard bodies everyone is in condition that an event mentioned in this thread is unlikely

 

[kelemvor]

Ya I get that....I was not implying that the operator or the scuba shop should police people. I was implying that we as divers need to be honest with ourselves and the risk we are putting our fellow divers in when we choose do dive sick, unhealthy, morbidly obese or otherwise in a high risk category. A lot of divers act like it's their risk alone when they dive but really if something bad happens in the water anyone who tries to help you is at risk as well.

I saw a diver the other day that had to be at least 30 years old getting onto a dive boat and just shook my head... People ought to know diving is only for 18 year old triathlon champions by now....

It's just funny to hear people going after general health.. except when it's time to sell an open water card. When it's time to sell cards, many (most?) instructors will tell you that as long as you can swim, you're good to go. Some may not even be told that, as I've seen people post on scuba board outraged do discover they needed to know how to swim for scuba.

There may very well be a disconnect on health requirements, but it surely isn't limited to the guy who did this dive. Given the number of people who dive and aren't in great shape, I think the place you're drawing the line doesn't make any better sense than taking it to the other extreme as I did in the sarcastic comment above.

 

[tursiops]

I am not advocating that should not have worked on his medical issues I am advocating for "that people allow him to make his own life choices."

Right. I think the issue here is that he also made some life choices for others (like the helpers and other divers); is that OK too?

 

[makologic]

I saw a diver the other day that had to be at least 30 years old getting onto a dive boat and just shook my head... People ought to know diving is only for 18 year old triathlon champions by now....

It's just funny to hear people going after general health.. except when it's time to sell an open water card. When it's time to sell cards, many (most?) instructors will tell you that as long as you can swim, you're good to go. Some may not even be told that, as I've seen people post on scuba board outraged do discover they needed to know how to swim for scuba.

There may very well be a disconnect on health requirements, but it surely isn't limited to the guy who did this dive. Given the number of people who dive and aren't in great shape, I think the place you're drawing the line doesn't make any better sense than taking it to the other extreme as I did in the sarcastic comment above.

I don't know anything about the guy in this case, so I apologize if this is really a thread hijack to talk about responsibility and general health. I think you are missing my point. I'm not sure why its so preposterous to propose that we should be responsible thoughtful adults and make an honest assessment of our risk factors before we go do a dive.

Diving is a sport that is pretty fault intolerant. If you are in a high risk category for blackout, over exertion, heart issues, strokes, and other traumatic events you should seriously think about not only the risk you are willing to take, but how much risk are you exposing your dive partner or fellow divers to. Any decent human being will try to help a diver in distress. Once you do that, you are being exposed to risk. if you are at 90 feet which is common here, and someone has a cardiac event, hyperventilates and panics, or has one of 100 other issues that can occur, I am at a much higher risk if I help them. Can come up too fast and get bent, panicked diver can grab your air, etc etc etc. I don't think anyone would argue that assisting a diver in distress can be extremely dangerous.

Anyone can have an incident and that's inherent risk in this sport, but look at the stats of incidents. I'm not making this up - 75% of fatalities due to being overweight or obese:

4 Reasons Divers Die

A large number are due to health/physical conditions that could have been avoided if the diver was honest with themselves and knew when to hang it up. Its not the operator or the dive shops responsibility, in the end its personal responsibility. That's my point. People should be reasonable and understand its not just THEIR risk levels that they are making decisions on.

Again I'm sorry about hijacking this thread about this specific incident to talk about a larger topic...