Fatality Off Miami Beach - Florida

[boulderjohn]

It's a pretty bizarre situation. I have been searching news reports, and here is what I have seen. If nothing seems to make sense to you, don't blame me.

• a head count after the dive revealed she was missing.
• divers were put in buddy teams before the dive. After the dive, a person said his/her buddy was missing.
• A search found her scuba equipment.
• Shortly after, the search found her without any of her scuba equipment, but with her weights.
• She apparently did not speak English.

 

[robbcayman]

40 divers.. holy cattle boat op, batman. Very sad for the diver and her family.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Thought I read somewhere that her dive "buddies" saw her on the boat ladder? And that was one of the reasons they descended.

 

[Senecafalls]

I was thinking the same thing when I read the story, 40 divers on one boat???? That is an accident waiting to happen, and it DID! Too easy to loss track of people with such a big crowd. As a single diver I would never go out on a boat with such a large group. So sorry for her and her family. Where was her buddy in this situation?

 

[DandyDon]

I was thinking the same thing when I read the story, 40 divers on one boat???? That is an accident waiting to happen, and it DID! Too easy to loss track of people with such a big crowd. As a single diver I would never go out on a boat with such a large group. So sorry for her and her family. Where was her buddy in this situation?

I guess we posted at the same time. See the post above yours. She just should not have been there without a private DM, IMO.

 

[SC_Hoaty]

She just should not have been there [-]without a private DM, IMO.[/-]

With no ability to communicate? This version is a lot safer.

 

[danvolker]

My personal feeling is that if a boat crew was on duty, they would see the lady dog paddling back to the boat, nervous.....and they would NOT let her back in the water SOLO..which is what apparently happened 15 minutes or so after all the other divers descended. This should be confirmed before amy of us crucify the boat crew---Ari get this 2nd hand from one of the guys that did the CPR....it would really need to be first hand from him, or from the boat crew....

 

[kgallowaypa]

I was one of the divers on the boat yesterday (The EMT) that did CPR on her on the way back to Miami Beach Marina. This really should not of happened yesterday and we did what we could but she was down for at least half an hour. As far as her mask on her head, I was the diver that motioned her to put her mask back on her face but she did not comprehend until she got to the line behind the boat. I think the dive masters should of been checking everyone's cards especially if there was suspicion beforehand that a coupe other guys noticed on the boat that i later found out. To be honest I didn't think much about the mask incident until I knew what was happening.

This is what I believe happened related to the fatality: About 10-15 minutes into her dive, her regulator must of gotten lodged away from her at some point or something dramatic caused her to panic and intend to bolt for the surface. We found the tank with 2400 psi left and the air still on when we began searching for the missing diver. When she was unable to retrieve her 2nd stage by using technique, she panicked in an attempt to get to the surface. She consciously removed her BC straps with the tank attached and possibly her fins as well in the attempt to reach the surface. Oblivious because of panick however the weight belt was still on her waist that made her sink. She was wearing about 12-14 lbs based on her previous buyoancy and wetsuit mm suit when I used the shears onboard the first aid kit to get access to her chest area for CPR monitoring. Due to fatigue she drowned and remained in between the patch at the North end of Emerald Reef and the the beginning of Rainbow Reef. No signs of trauma or foul play on initial assessment. Upon compressions we found that the victim had distension and edema (Fluid) in the lungs and stomach and that she had taken on water for some time during the incident. Based on the GAP of the victim, she was without oxygen for a minimum of 50 minutes to one hour based on dive time, and search response before the body was discovered.

Also if you guys have any other questions you need me to clarify since I was on the boat yesterday and performed CPR for her en route to the marina I will be glad to clear things up seeing as how nobody else from the boat is here on SB.com. I will edit this post as needed when I get more information or questions.

 

[SC_Hoaty]

Kgallowaypa - thanks for what you did.

Someone checked cards - right?

 

[kgallowaypa]

Kgallowaypa - thanks for what you did.

Someone checked cards - right?

No. When I was gearing up for the dive I recall the divemaster asking someone for their C-cards but as we were preparing to be underway the was the last time I heard that. I admit that most people didnt expect something to happen on a reef at max 25' depth but thats what DOES happen. People really and I mean really prepare for a dive they know is close to their limits like when I prep for a 80-100' dive, but when its shallow people let their guard down and feel confident that if they can see the bottom and they can see the surface they will be fine. All it takes is 10 feet to get an injury, and all it takes is less than a foot of water to drown, a few more if you cant stand up and have 12-14 pounds pulling you down.

I'm just upset that we couldn't bring this lady back, it really did not need to happen to her and I hope it wakes the Miami diving community at a minimum to be cautious and always check cards and realize that anything can go wrong if you let it snowball. I don't care if your diving doubles with a halcyon setup, if i was a dive master, you show your card before you board or you don't dive, its my own waiver for competence.

and it was not 40 divers in the water, I tally that closer to 25-30 because i recall the number of divers on the roster list. However, there were 40 persons on the dive boat true, but not all of them dove.