diving fatality off of Jupiter Inlet, SoFlo

[cappyjon431]

Not many details, but the article suggests cardiac arrest.

Man Dies After Scuba-Diving Off S. Florida Coast - cbs4.com

JUPITER, Fla. (AP)
A 60-year-old man has died after completing two scuba dives from a charter boat off the South Florida coast.

Sheriff's investigators say XXXXXXXXXX was looking for lobsters east of Jupiter Inlet on Thursday, the second of Florida's two-day mini season for the crustaceans.

The diver, said he wasn't feeling well after returning to the charter boat. Officials say he showed signs of cardiac arrest.

He was pronounced dead after being transported to a local hospital.

I am always amazed by the spike in fatalities during lobster mini-season, but probably just a result of the sheer number of divers who choose to dive during this brief two day period. It is just my observation and I have no hard data to support this, but it seems like every year the number of divingfatalities increases during this time.

 

[mselenaous]

There are two threads in the FL forum regarding mini-season.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-conch-divers/345641-casualties-lobster-mini-season.html

 

[DandyDon]

I'm happy to see only one death this year. There are usually a few, often from out of practice divers, sometimes not even certified, with unserviced or unfamiliar gear often involved. At least one organization has really worked hard to get warnings out and help teach divers better...

There are two threads in the FL forum regarding mini-season.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-conch-divers/345641-casualties-lobster-mini-season.html

Accident threads are supposed to go here generally so a wide spectrum of readers can possible learn, but local discussions are inevitable...

Excerpting from Busy last day of lobster mini- season marred by man's death in Jupiter Inlet

The only local lobster-related death reported as of Thursday evening was 60-year-old Frank Jaffe, who complained he felt ill after surfacing from a dive and appeared to go into cardiac arrest on a charter dive boat east of the Jupiter Inlet.

A medic on board the charter boat The Blue Tang treated Jaffe as the boat brought him to shore at the Jupiter Seasport Marina, Palm Beach County Sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera said.

He was taken to Jupiter Medical Center and pronounced dead from unspecified medical complications, Barbera said.

"He said 'My only complaint is I didn't get any lobsters,'" Barbera said, describing Jaffe's final moments onboard The Blue Tang.

More fortunate was a Martin County man named Chris Nelson, who suffered decompression sickness, or the bends, while diving for lobsters Thursday off St. Lucie County.

He survived and was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach to be treated at the hospital's hyperbaric chamber.