Student Diver Injured - La Jolla Cove, California

[DandyDon]

I hope the Inst had enrolled her in the Free Student DAN Dive Insurance. Some do, some don't bother.

Diver Rescued From La Jolla Cove After Rapid Ascent - La Jolla, CA Patch

A student scuba diver was hospitalized Thursday morning after making a rapid ascent in La Jolla Cove, according to lifeguards. She was conscious and breathing as medics transported her to UCSD Medical Center and is expected to survive, said San Diego Lifeguard Lt. Nick Lerma.

An instructor and a student were diving in the cove when the instructor began signaling for help just before 10:30 a.m. A lifeguard radioed for a personal watercraft to respond before hitting the water with a rescue board, Lerma said. The lifeguard was the first to arrive at the scene near the A buoy and saw the female diver in medical distress due to a rapid ascent.

The personal watercraft soon arrived and the diver was put on a sled and taken to the cove, where medics were waiting. Lerna said lifeguards made a quick handoff to medics and the diver was transported to UCSD.

 

[ajduplessis]

Slightly of topic since I have no more info on this event, but divers generally are more “scared” of deep water/dives than the shallows. It’s the other way around, it’s the shallow stuff that hurts you (recreational & technical) if don’t control/manage you dive!!!

Don't know the dive site but would love to know dive parameters.

 

[NeptunusRex]

Hats off to the Cove Life Guards. They are quick. Anybody know who her course was with?

 

[Peter McGuinness]

The cove is a maximum of 40ft deep unless you swim a looooong way out to the edge of the canyon. At the A buoy it's about 35ft.
Peter

 

[Thalassamania]

It did not strike me that the swim to the edge of the canyon was all that far, but then I was a few years younger then.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Don't know the dive site but would love to know dive parameters.

Rather benign dive site for conducting a scuba class.
Not sure what the entry conditions were like on Thursday. LJ Cove entry can range from super-easy on a good day to rather challenging when there's significant surf. Not surprisingly, when the surf is up, vis is usually crappy.
Some people complain about the "long" surface swim out to Buoy A. I've had a few dives where it was difficult to fight against a rather strong current in the area. It's hard to complain when you see lots of ocean swimmers doing laps between LJ Cove and LJ Shores.

The instructor can choose to have students descend using the chain of Buoy A as a visual reference.
Depth below Buoy A is approx. 33-35 fsw. There's a fair amount of kelp in the vicinity.

On a good day, LJ Cove can be an excellent dive. I've had a few dives there where, on the same dive, I've seen seals, topes (soupfin sharks), and giant sea bass. There have been several recent reports of sevengills cruising that area. Neat place.

Just did a night dive this evening at LJ Shores. Vis was stunning compared to the "regular" 10-15 ft. vis -- about 40 ft. in the canyon.

I hope the student diver has a good outcome. From what I've seen over the last decade, LJ Cove lifeguards have always been on-the-ball.
FWIW, the UCSD Hospital in Hillcrest has a hyperbaric chamber.

 

[Hatul]

I would have thought there would be a chamber closer to shore. Hillcrest is a long drive and helicopter flight could make DCI worse.

Adam

 

[Thalassamania]

I would have thought there would be a chamber closer to shore. Hillcrest is a long drive and helicopter flight could make DCI worse.

Adam

The primary uses of hyperbaric chambers have nothing to do with diving, hence the location.

When transporting a diving casualty helicopters usually do not go above 500 feet above the ground.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I would have thought there would be a chamber closer to shore. Hillcrest is a long drive and helicopter flight could make DCI worse.

As Thal wrote, the hyperbaric chambers at most hospitals have lots of different non-scuba-related uses.

FYI, without traffic, a regular car can make it from La Jolla Cove to Hillcrest Hospital in about 20 minutes.
An ambulance could get there even quicker.

 

[devildoc5]

First I have heard of this. However I was at the shores on that night and conditions were as close to ideal as a la jolla shores night dive can be. I would figure the conditions were better earlier in the day. Hope all is well and we can find out the whole story.

On a side note I am not too sure why someone would do an (OW) class at the cove. It has steep stairs, sometimes tricky entry and exit depending on the tide/wave action, and an extremely long surface swim. While it is a good relaxing shallow dive I feel it may be a little too much stuff for students to contend with when they still are dealing with the stressors of breathing underwater (not natural) and all their skills they have to do (which are difficult for most the first few times). That is just my $.001 (adjusted for inflation)