Diving Instructor death - Roatan

[MXGratefulDiver]

Jeez Don, good thing you have elite status on you frequent flyer program. I think if someone did an x-ray of the bag they would want to take a look just so they could ask you questions about why you carry the stuff.

I agree with you on the AED front. They are very expensive and the resorts no doubt do a bit of cost/benefit analysis. Up here in the great white north at the airports there is a sign next to the AED at the airport that warns against using them unless you are trained. I thought that the intent was to design them so that they could be used by following the mechanical voice.

They're pretty idiot-proof ... there's a Ms. Computer voice telling you exactly what to do every step of the way ... complete with warnings about when not to touch the patient, when to check for vitals, etc.

Then again ... we're designing better idiots all the time ... I'm sure you could screw it up if you tried hard enough ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[UTLgirl]

Actually, several resorts I know of do have one, but rarely on the boat. I do have a question though, and maybe one of the medical chatters out here can answer this. Wouldn't there be a danger to others on the boat in trying to use an AED to shock a patient on a wet boat?

I mean every boat I can rememeber being on, except possibly liveaboards, has wet seats/benches, wet floors etc. Unless you had a large shock mat of some sort, and even then I could see a possibility of problems if a hand or foot slipped off with the shock, wouldn't the water be a conducter for the shock & possibly hurt others?

Science wasn't my strongest subject in school, so maybe it's a dumb question?

 

[victor]

Actually, several resorts I know of do have one, but rarely on the boat. I do have a question though, and maybe one of the medical chatters out here can answer this. Wouldn't there be a danger to others on the boat in trying to use an AED to shock a patient on a wet boat?

I mean every boat I can rememeber being on, except possibly liveaboards, has wet seats/benches, wet floors etc. Unless you had a large shock mat of some sort, and even then I could see a possibility of problems if a hand or foot slipped off with the shock, wouldn't the water be a conducter for the shock & possibly hurt others?

Science wasn't my strongest subject in school, so maybe it's a dumb question?

I am sure health and safety would say yes but the reality is no.
The electrical charge is looking for a way to earth, no reason for it to flow into anybody except the patient and, possibly, the operator.
Now a wet salty operator dripping salt water onto the paddles could, just possibly, be a path of low resistence and get a shock.
The new machines are so cheap they are being rolled out into all sorts of unusual locations. It won't be long before insurance companies require them as part of a first aid kit.

 

[Doc]

The new machines are so cheap they are being rolled out into all sorts of unusual locations. It won't be long before insurance companies require them as part of a first aid kit.

In the tropics, the battery maint (corrosion/heat) issues are also a big concern.

They tested them in the field trials in the Las Vegas NV airport and in Branson MO.

After having previously thumped on 3 chests with no positive results I was also recently advised that the AED has an arguably similar ineffective success rate.

It does make the money machine grind on.

....Thanks for buying the AED. Now then, you'll be needing that service/replacement battery contract, Sir.

 

[Rich Poorman]

I was there that week, on the dock when they brought him in, and had many conversations with other divers. It was definitely a dive-related fatality, but there are lots of rumors and speculation, some raising serious questions and concerns. I've just joined Scubaboard .Hopefully, some of the 20-odd divers aboard the boat will see my thread recently posted in this forum (sorry, didn't know this thread was alive — I AM new!) and provide more facts. I've limited my information to what I know to be true from first-person observation and conversation. It was an unsettling event, to say the least, and certainly reminded all in our party to give extra thought to safety, equipment and group awareness while diving.

Rich Poorman