U.S.Army Colonel dies on Dominican Republic dive boat

[DandyDon]

Col. Jill Morgenthaler, Iraq vet, onetime Dem candidate, dies on scuba trip

Jill Morgenthaler, a retired Army colonel who was Illinois’ homeland security chief under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and a 2008 Democratic challenger to U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, died on a scuba trip Saturday in the Dominican Republic.

Ms. Morgenthaler, 64, who was awarded the Bronze Star for leadership in Iraq and assigned to U.N. peacekeeping forces in Bosnia, also was a a popular speaker.

She was “a true American hero who touched thousands of women through her leadership book” “The Courage to Take Command,” her brother Jeffrey Morgenthaler wrote on Facebook.

Ms. Morgenthaler was in the Dominican Republic to celebrate the birthday of her husband, Kerry Chambers, according to her friend Maureen Cunningham, who described her as a master diver.

“She had finished the scuba dive, and she was on the boat, and she said she didn’t feel well, and she fainted,” Cunningham said. “They could not resuscitate her.”

Ms. Morgenthaler had had a pulmonary embolism about 15 years ago, according to her daughter Jamie. “We suspect that may be what happened while she was diving,” she said.

(In another article, her daughter said the embolism happened while shopping. For more on the Colonel's interesting life, continue reading at the link above.)

 

[Compressor]

Oh. Very sad news.

 

[aviator8]

I didn't even know what IPE was until a few hours ago and then a post about a suspected IPE death.

 

[Dan]

Sad news indeed. She was very inspiring speaker & leader. Condolences to her family & friends.

What diving situation would induce a PE?

One of my dive buddies had a PE after a 2-week diving trip to Indonesia. One of the suspicions is sitting in a long flight home might have caused swelling in his legs and blood clots from the legs migrating to his lungs.

 

[clownfishsydney]

I didn't even know what IPE was until a few hours ago and then a post about a suspected IPE death.

PE is not IPE, totally different things.

 

[Dan]

Pulmonary embolism - Wikipedia

 

[aviator8]

Pulmonary embolism - Wikipedia

yep read about it earlier today.

 

[Dan]

Pulmonary Embolism | The Heart & Diving - DAN Health & Diving

“Effect on Diving
Despite many medical advances, five-year all-cause mortality in individuals who have suffered a PE due to underlying risk factors remains more than 30 percent. And pulmonary hypertension — elevated pressure in the arteries that carry blood from the heart to the lungs, a condition that limits one's exercise capacity — often persists in individuals who have had a PE, even after successful treatment. Thus any determination of fitness for diving by those who have had a PE must include an evaluation of their lung function, underlying conditions, anticoagulation status, exercise capacity and cardiac status.”

 

[DandyDon]

Pulmonary embolism - Wikipedia

yep read about it earlier today.

Similar but not the same as IPE: Swimming-induced pulmonary edema - Wikipedia

Her previous pulmonary edema happened while shopping, as mentioned above.

 

[Dan]

Similar but not the same as IPE: Swimming-induced pulmonary edema - Wikipedia

Her previous pulmonary edema happened while shopping, as mentioned above.

The SIPE article above talks about SIPE leads to alveolar flooding. Some of the symptoms are shortness of breath, crackles and coughing sputum (bloody mucus). It is hard to tell from what is described by Maureen Cunningham in the Chicago Sun Times article: "She had finished the scuba dive, and she was on the boat, and she said she didn’t feel well, and she fainted.", whether that is due to SIPE.