This incident happened in November 2014. I have not posted before now, but it's bothering me and I would like to get a perspective from the group.
My family and I (wife, 2 children 13 and 11) spent a week in Cozumel enjoying a wonderful time diving, relaxing and having fun in paradise. One day about halfway through our trip we returned from the morning dive and had a light lunch and were lounging by the pool. There was a training class going on at the time, and a couple of instructors were in the general area. Across the patio there was a couple in their mid-to-late 50's drinking a couple beers and lounging on the chairs. All of a sudden, the man got up and approached his wife and was talking to her in a concerned voice. She tried to stand up and could not do so without his assistance. We were watching the two of them heading to the hotel lobby, and my wife asked me to go and see if they needed any help. I asked the man if she was OK, and he indicated that his wife was not feeling well. I asked if she had been diving, and he said yes. Being a rescue diver, I knew that she needed oxygen. So I hurried over to the dive shop and explained to them what is going on, and asked them to administer oxygen. They pulled out their kit but left it on the counter, saying they needed the managers permission to use it. I went back to the lobby, and told the man his wife needed oxygen. I also told him to take her dive computer with them to the hospital (the front desk staff had called an ambulance).
Minutes passed and no oxygen was being administered. I approached the instructor who was still somewhat teaching the class and told her that the woman needs oxygen. She said something to the effect that they are getting it, and didn't really stop what she was doing, although she was looking up frequently to see what was going on in the lobby. I went back to the husband and told him again that his wife needs oxygen and that he should insist that the shop administers it.
It took the ambulance a good 15-20 minutes to arrive. As the ambulance was pulling up to the hotel, the instructor I was talking to dropped what she was doing and RAN to the dive shop, grabbed the oxygen kit and proceeded to ready the kit just as the paramedics stepped foot in the lobby. She was cut just short of cracking open the oxygen bottle. At that point the paramedics took over and carted her to the ambulance and they left for the hospital.
Later that evening we got word that she indeed got bent. I shared my story with management the same evening and they seemed aloof in their response as to why oxygen was not administered by the shop.
Had it been my wife or children, I would have grabbed the kit and administered oxygen myself (I am certified).
Does this seem right? Were they worried about liability? Is oxygen hard to come by on the island? I just don't get it.
My family and I (wife, 2 children 13 and 11) spent a week in Cozumel enjoying a wonderful time diving, relaxing and having fun in paradise. One day about halfway through our trip we returned from the morning dive and had a light lunch and were lounging by the pool. There was a training class going on at the time, and a couple of instructors were in the general area. Across the patio there was a couple in their mid-to-late 50's drinking a couple beers and lounging on the chairs. All of a sudden, the man got up and approached his wife and was talking to her in a concerned voice. She tried to stand up and could not do so without his assistance. We were watching the two of them heading to the hotel lobby, and my wife asked me to go and see if they needed any help. I asked the man if she was OK, and he indicated that his wife was not feeling well. I asked if she had been diving, and he said yes. Being a rescue diver, I knew that she needed oxygen. So I hurried over to the dive shop and explained to them what is going on, and asked them to administer oxygen. They pulled out their kit but left it on the counter, saying they needed the managers permission to use it. I went back to the lobby, and told the man his wife needed oxygen. I also told him to take her dive computer with them to the hospital (the front desk staff had called an ambulance).
Minutes passed and no oxygen was being administered. I approached the instructor who was still somewhat teaching the class and told her that the woman needs oxygen. She said something to the effect that they are getting it, and didn't really stop what she was doing, although she was looking up frequently to see what was going on in the lobby. I went back to the husband and told him again that his wife needs oxygen and that he should insist that the shop administers it.
It took the ambulance a good 15-20 minutes to arrive. As the ambulance was pulling up to the hotel, the instructor I was talking to dropped what she was doing and RAN to the dive shop, grabbed the oxygen kit and proceeded to ready the kit just as the paramedics stepped foot in the lobby. She was cut just short of cracking open the oxygen bottle. At that point the paramedics took over and carted her to the ambulance and they left for the hospital.
Later that evening we got word that she indeed got bent. I shared my story with management the same evening and they seemed aloof in their response as to why oxygen was not administered by the shop.
Had it been my wife or children, I would have grabbed the kit and administered oxygen myself (I am certified).
Does this seem right? Were they worried about liability? Is oxygen hard to come by on the island? I just don't get it.
