Diving fatality in Guam

[whitepointer]

Very sad news to report from Guam.......

Guam - A 53-year-old woman is dead after she was pulled from the waters near a popular diving spot. Guam Fire Department Spokesperson Captain Ed Flores says search and rescue officials were called around 10:45 Tuesday morning to assist the U.S. Coast Guard on a call of a missing diver near Blue Hole.

GFD rescue personnel found the woman face down in the water and performed CPR all the way to the Sumay Cove Marina, where she was transferred to the Dive Locker Recompression Chamber Facility.

No other information has been provided.

 

[gismonkey]

Interesting to note that this is almost a year (to the week) from our last published diving fatality, and with a similar victim (female, 50s):

Fatal dive accident in Guam off Apra Harbor (May 7, 2010)

The latest (limited) info from the newspaper:

http://www.guampdn.com/article/20100504/NEWS01/100504013/

6:10 p.m. — A 53-year-old female scuba diver was pronounced dead at a Naval Base decompression chamber just before noon today, according to an e-mail from Navy spokeswoman Coleen San Nicolas Perez.

The unidentified woman went missing while underwater at Blue Hole, Guam's most popular diving spot. The Micronesian Divers Association Sun Chaser dive boat reported her missing around 10:43 a.m., said Coast Guard spokesman Lee Putnam.

She was supposed to surface about 18 minutes beforehand, Putnam said.

After the dive boat called for help, two Coast Guard boats and a Navy helicopter searched for the missing diver on the surface while Guam Fire Department divers looked underwater, Putnam said.

GFD rescue divers found the woman's tank and buoyancy control device, or BCD, floating on the surface shortly after arriving on the scene. Minutes later, they found the diver, Putnam said.

“The BCD surfaced first and then she surfaced shortly after that,” Putnam said.

A BCD is the inflatable vest that divers use to manage their movement in the water. A unbalanced BCD can make you float or sink, but, with the right amount of air inside, a
scuba diver will hover at a specific depth with ease.

Putnam said it was odd that the woman was separated from her vest. It is unclear what happened to her, he said.

Acting GFD spokesman Capt. Ed Flores said rescuers rushed the diver to the decompression chamber at the Navy marina, attempting to revive her along the way.

The diver was pronounced dead by a Navy diving medical officer one minute before noon, according to San Nicolas-Perez. Her body has been transferred to Guam Memorial Hospital.

Blue Hole is a natural limestone tunnel in the ocean floor near Orote Point. It attracts more than 100 divers, including tourists and locals, every day.

Jim Miller, the general manager of MDA, could not be reached for comment after multiple calls to the dive shop. Messages were not returned.

 

[robint]

wow, that is very odd.... please keep us imformed on any news into the investigation. Sounds fishy (no pun intended)


robin

 

[Izu]

Kudos to the two guam dive veterans who risked their lives bringing her up from extreme depth. This truly illustrates what can go wrong when folks are paired with an instabuddy and dont stay close and watch each other's back.

 

[Banyan]

A commenter on the news article linked in the OP and a followup article states was on the boat and volunteered to help the boat crew given the possibility the woman diver was still alive underwater. He did a second dive to about 300 ft, retrieving the body on the bottom at a depth of 299 ft, according to her computer. The rescue diver then separated the BCD from the diver and sent them up separately to the surface. (I'm not sure why he had to remove the BCD, but he couldn't go up directly because of deco stops, as he had hit 130' on the Blue Hole dive he had just finished.) Blue Hole, once you drop below the 130' exit to open water, has a bottom at 300'+. Commenter doesn't say if the body was found in Blue Hole or outside.

The commenter states, "Captain and crew did everything possible; diver had a buddy, received the usual safety briefing, but accidents happen." No information yet on if this is a diving death or death while diving.

 

[Banyan]

MDA just sent out the following email announcement:

Yesterday, May 4, there was a diving incident at the Blue Hole that resulted in the death of a diver.

Our thanks go out to the many people who assisted in the rescue/recovery effort, including the U.S. Coast Guard, Navy and Guam Fire and Rescue.

When the diver was reported missing, MDA boat captain, Jim Miller, and "Lets Dive Guam" instructor, Chris Gulick, immediately initiated a search effort to locate and rescue the lost diver. Both Jim and Chris risked their lives in that valiant effort that resulted in Chris locating and recovering the missing diver from an extreme depth.

We will continue to work with the Coast Guard and Guam Police as they continue to conduct their investigation into what may have caused this very unfortunate accident.

We know you join us in our sadness for the loss of a fellow diver and ask that you keep their family and friends in your thoughts and prayers.

MDA Staff and Management

 

[guamrider]

The comments in this article, particularly about Jim Miller, the gm of MDA, are so wrong that I feel compelled to say something.

I know quite a bit abut this accident, and it was a case of the "buddy system" failing in the worst way. Two local divers were diving without a guide, which is what 95% of local Guam divers normally do by their choice, and during the dive one of them went to the boat and told the captain (Jim) that his buddy was following another group.

After all of the divers came to the surface Jim and the crew immediately called the Coast Guard, told them he had a missing diver, and then Jim and another instructor (Chris) who had a dive group from his dive shop on the boat AND who had just been diving, dove to see if they could locate her. Both went down to extreme depths, well below 220' and Chris found her far below.

He went down and attempted to orally inflate her bc, which is almost impossible at 300' (no lift at all), so he amazingly had the good sense to remove it and send her up. She was not breathing. The Guam fire dept found her at the surface and they took her to the chamber. Then her bc came up so they regtreived it.

What is so damned irritating is that absolutely no gag order was issued because both Jim and the other instructor were in the chamber getting treated. Even the dive shop staff didn't know this until very, very late that afternoon. When the local press called and asked for Jim, and then called his cell phone, it was impossible to reach him. He was in the chamber.

The truth to all of this, which really needs to be told, is that the rescue effort by MDA, the Coast Guard, and the Guam fire dept was a textbook operation and all responded extremely well.

Jim and Chris tried to do something that is far beyond the call of duty and was extraordinary. They deserve a lot of "thank you's" instead of horrible reporting by CDNN to make headlines.

Jim had to return to the chamber yesterday afternoon for more treatment but he's cleared now.

Sorry, I need to vent on this.

 

[robint]

thanks for the followup.

 

[Puffer Fish]

Interesting.

I assume (although that would most likely be a mistake), that the reason for trying to blow up the BCD was because her tank was empty. But if one had to remove the BCD to get her up, how did the vest then end up at the surface? I realize it most likely makes very little difference.

Diving to 300ft after already doing a deep dive is obviously a major, above and beyond action.

 

[guamrider]

Although I didn't ask Chris about this, I think whatever air he did manage to get into the bc 'freed' it up after he took it off and brought the diver up. It wouldn't have had enough buoyancy to lift a diver but probably would have after.