Off-duty Mountie dies off B.C.'s Snake Island

[DandyDon]

Off-duty Mountie drowns during recreational dive off B.C.'s Snake Island

An off-duty Nanaimo RCMP officer died Wednesday while scuba diving at an artificial reef near Snake Island.

Cpl. Paul Voisine was with five other divers shortly before noon when he was spotted unconscious on the deck of the sunken ship HMCS Saskatchewan.

Other divers immediately tried to help Voisine breathe then took him to the surface to administer first aid. But he never regained consciousness after numerous attempts by emergency crews to revive him.

Voisine was a well-respected member of the RCMP for over 30 years, where he spent many years working at detachments in the Kootenays, said Nanaimo RCMP Sgt. Sheryl Armstrong in a release.

He had recently transferred to the Parksville detachment and then to Nanaimo, where he was serving at the time of his death.

"Paul’s death has come as a shock to the ... detachment, and our extended RCMP family," said Nanaimo RCMP Supt. Norm McPhail. "My heartfelt sympathy goes out to Paul’s wife and family, and all those who knew him, in the many communities he proudly served as a member of the RCMP.

"I will ensure that Paul's family, and the staff of our detachment, receive all the support they need to cope with their loss in the days and weeks to come."

An autopsy has been scheduled.

 

[MurkyRockDiver]

RIP brother.

 

[oem3105]

My thoughts & prayers to his family and co-workers.

Godspeed Brother.

 

[sunkmail]

A couple more articles:

Nanaimo Mountie dies in diving accident in Georgia Strait near Snake Island

[A 57-year-old Nanaimo Mountie is dead after a recreational diving accident near Snake Island on Wednesday.

The Victoria Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre received a call for help around noon on Wednesday and confirmed Thursday a man scuba diving is the area had died. The man was with a group and a dive boat. He was pulled from the water unconscious by divers who found him on the ocean bottom, according to VJRCC David Burneau.

The man was bleeding from the nose and foaming from the mouth, rescuers reported.

Crews with the Canadian Coast Guard and paramedics were called but the man died before rescuers reached the Nanaimo harbour, despite resuscitation efforts.

Police are expected to release additional information this morning. The flag outside the Nanaimo RCMP detachment is at half mast.

Snake Island, off of Nanaimo, is near the 'HMCS Saskatchewan' artificial reef, which is a popular area for divers.

In 2008, an American diver died while diving the reef with a chartered diving group. In 2007, a diver died while diving the 'HMCS Cape Breton' artificial reef off of Gabriola Island.

Nanaimo Mountie dies scuba diving

A Nanaimo Mountie is dead after a scuba diving accident while he was off-duty Wednesday, Nanaimo RCMP said.

On Wednesday around 11:45, Cpl. Paul Voisine was scuba diving with five others at an artificial reef near Snake Island.

During the dive, Voisine became separated from his dive partners and was found unconscious on the sunken HMCS Saskatchewan, a popular dive spot sitting in 40 metres of water.

The divers immediately tried to assist Voisine with his breathing, and first aid was administered once he was brought to the surface, said Nanaimo RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Sheryl Armstrong.

“Cpl. Voisine never regained consciousness despite numerous attempts by emergency personnel to revive him,” she said in a press release.

According to the website divingbc.com, 100,000 dives have been completed since the ship was sunk on June 14, 1997, which is more than B.C.’s other artificial reefs combined.

An autopsy has been scheduled and B.C. Coroners Service is investigating.

Voisine was a well-respected RCMP officer with more than 30 years experience. He spent most his career serving several detachments in the Kootenays before being transferred to Vancouver Island in recent years, where he worked for Oceanside and Nanaimo RCMP.

In a statement, Supt. Norm McPhail, who heads Nanaimo RCMP, said: “Paul’s death has come as a shock to the Nanaimo Detachment, and our extended RCMP family. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to Paul’s wife and family, and all those who knew him, in the many communities he proudly served as a member of the RCMP. I will ensure that Paul’s family, and the staff of our detachment, receive all the support they need, to cope with their loss, in the days and weeks to come.”

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Snake Island, off of Nanaimo, is near the 'HMCS Saskatchewan' artificial reef, which is a popular area for divers.

In 2008, an American diver died while diving the reef with a chartered diving group. In 2007, a diver died while diving the 'HMCS Cape Breton' artificial reef off of Gabriola Island.

That's an interesting description, considering that the two wrecks are virtually within swimming distance of each other ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[northpacific]

Thanks for the condolences everyone, I will make sure the team and family are aware that they supported by divers from all over. It was a hard day and we will all get through it together.

 

[RickyF]

My prayers are with the family and friends! God Bless!

 

[Leroybrown]

There is always a problem when any scuba fatality is reported in the news. The press do not " get " diving and the reporters tend to sensationalize every incident. 

This accident on the HMCS  Saskatchewan does not appear to have much to do with it being either an artificial reef or wreck. It appears to be nothing more than a very unfortunate accident that either involved equipment or some other cause. The fact that it happened on a wreck or artificial reef is more " a fact of location" than a issue of cause.  Unfortunately that is not how these incidents are reported. 

I did a quick search of this board re fatalities on the Canadian artificial reefs. People on this board have a good sense of diving reality, unfortunately the media stories reprinted here have the underlying tone of " sensationalism" ie these artificial reefs are somehow dangerous ..... Look how many heart attacks, equipment failures etc happen here. 

Divers know that this is nonsense. The problem particularly in the US is that the lawyers look at these articles and get their clients scared with lawsuits and insurance claims that generally do not happen.  This encumbers artificial reef development. 

On this board there is not a problem.  Divers know what is and is not real.  Does anyone have a idea how the media can be educated or if it is even possible in the 24 hour news cycle?

 

[Slamfire]

Taken from another forum:

I can shed some light on this unfortunately. It was 6 of us from work and four of us from the same watch. Paul was an avid diver and recreational DM with several 100's of dives. I had previously dove with him and never had any issues and next to me the second most experienced diver on the dive. We descended the down line at the conning tower to about 50' and I had a novice diver who I had recently certified have some bouyancy issues, I dealt with her and got her going on a good path and then directed two of the other divers to buddy up, as we lost a diver due to lost weight belt on descent line. Once they were ok I looked at Paul as I was going to dive with him and the novice diver since plans went to pot. He appeared to be looking in a hatch on the deck, feeling it was odd I looked back and realized he was on his side without a reg in his mouth. I quickly swam to him and shook him and he was moaning, I placed my bail out into his mouth and his hand went to it his reg, as if to hold it in, but I think that was more of an autonomic nervous response. His eyes were closed and he had a mask half filled with water, which made me even more nervous. I used his bcd to get some bouyancy but he was really heavy and it almost filled right up to start to get us up. At 20 feet he started to froth bloody sputum from his mouth. It took us awhile to get him in the boat, luckily we had a diver up on the boat missing a weight belt and a very strong captain on the boat.

One of the major issues is I brought my kids (9 and 7) with me as I thought it would be a fun first day off of school to be on the boat. I managed to get them to the cuddy but they heard everything and the boy saw a lot of what was going on. I told them to plug their ears and put their faces into the life jackets

It is hitting the watch pretty hard and many in the detachment.

The dive was 7 minutes from start to finish on my computer, it took about four or five to get to Paul and start the ascent which includes our descent.

I bought the Apex Meg based on input from local divers and specifically from Rob talking about an incident that he had and how the machine ran itself.

I was the only CC diver using my Apex meg. as one could imagine my hands were very busy and running the machine was the (close to) the last thing on my mind. It worked flawlessly and kept pumping the O2 into the loop at the surface as once there had my work cut out for me trying to get Paul to the boat and fighting the strong surface current.

I can't stress enough of the team effort, the guys on the boat went to work on Paul and as the divers came up and I yelled at them to get in the boat, I have never seen three divers get in a boat that fast. Once they took a second to figure out what happened everyone helped out on CPR, and everything else that had to be done. The Aux CCG met us near New Castle with ALS BCAS on board who was all very awesome.

My kids are good, and getting through it with the help of mom and dad, we had a good chat today and many questions were answered.

The kind sentiment on this local board is nice to see thanks you guys.

 

[JonKranhouse]

From montrealgazette.com, July 2, 2011:

Cause of experienced diver's death still unknown

Off-duty officer died while diving to the 'HMCS Saskatchewan' near Nanaimo

BY DANIELLE BELL, THE DAILY NEWS JULY 2, 2011

A Nanaimo RCMP officer remembered as a quiet man with a strong personality died doing what he loved, said colleagues, who were left reeling by the tragedy.

Longtime officer Cpl. Paul Voisine, 57, died Wednesday during a diving excursion with five others to an artificial reef near Snake Island.

He leaves behind his wife, married adult daughter and grandson.

Police speculate that Voisine suffered a breathing problem during the dive to the HMCS Saskatchewan, the most popular artificial reef in B.C., which sits in about 40 metres of water.

Voisine is not the first scuba diver to die at local artificial reefs that attract thousands of advanced divers each year. An American tourist died in 2008 shortly after diving to the HMCS Saskatchewan, and a 32-year-old man died in 2007 during a dive to the HMCS Cape Breton near Gabriola Island.

During the dive, Voisine became separated from his dive partners, including friends and fellow officers from the Nanaimo and Oceanside RCMP detachments. He was found unconscious on the HMCS Saskatchewan.

The divers tried to assist Voisine with his breathing and first aid was administered once he was brought to the surface, said Nanaimo RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Sheryl Armstrong.

"Cpl. Voisine never regained consciousness despite numerous attempts by emergency personnel to revive him," she said in a press release.

An investigation into whether Voisine's death may have been caused by a medical issue or an equipment malfunction is underway. An autopsy will also be done.

Voisine's death has rocked the Nanaimo RCMP detachment, where the watch supervisor was scheduled to return work on Thursday. Instead, colleagues mourned the loss of a man who served communities across B.C. for more than three decades.

"Paul's death has come as a shock to the Nanaimo detachment and our extended RCMP family," said Nanaimo RCMP Supt. Norm McPhail in a statement.

"My heartfelt sympathy goes out to Paul's wife and family and all those who knew him in the many communities he proudly served as a member of the RCMP."

McPhail, who also worked with Voisine in the Kootenays, described him as a quiet man with a strong personality.

"It is very devastating." Voisine was not a member of
an RCMP dive team but was an experienced diver, according to colleagues.

His death has also shaken the diving community in Nanaimo.
"It's sad that it happened. I feel bad for his family and friends," said Nanaimo Dive Outfitters owner Shirley White, who has explored the HMCS Saskatchewan several times.

"I think any scuba diver will be watching for information on what happened," added White. There's a multitude of things that could happen."

In 2008, an experienced American diver died after diving to the HMCS Saskatchewan. He surfaced having breathing problems and lost consciousness shortly after. The year before a 32-year-old man died after becoming separated from his diving partner while exploring the HMCS Cape Breton near Gabriola Island.

Despite the risks, wreck diving is a popular sport. According to divingbc.com,100,000 dives have been completed at the HMCS Saskatchewan since it was sunk in 1997, which is more than B.C.'s other artificial reefs combined.

Artificial Reef Society of B.C. president Howard Robins was saddened to learn of Voisine's death.
"It's very unfortunate," said Robins. "We just don't know the circumstances."

DBell@nanaimodailynews.com
WITH A FILE FROM POSTMEDIA NEWS

(The posting of this copyrighted news article is protected under the "Fair-use" doctrine of US copyright laws, which allow the re-use of copyrighted matter, without permission, for reasons such as teaching and criticism of issues related to public health and safety. Click here for a further discussion of the Fair-use doctrine)