Woman dies during scuba dive off Wilmington

[Doc Intrepid]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

************* Mod Note ***************

Be careful what you post on international forums. Assuming that all statements made are true, you may still wish to provide a citation or other attribution for statements of fact - unless you yourself were present...in which case you have other issues to consider.

Not calling anyone on anything.

Just something to consider in threads such as this one.

Doc

************* /Mod Note ***************

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[Rick Murchison]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

I suppose it's time to review the rules for the A&I forum... emphasis added
Rick

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The purpose of this forum is the promotion of safe diving through the examination and discussion of accidents and incidents; to find lessons we can apply to our own diving.
Accidents, and incidents that could easily have become accidents, can often be used to illustrate actions that lead to injury or death, and their discussion is essential to building lessons learned from which improved safety can flow. To foster the free exchange of information valuable to this process, the "manners" in this forum are much more tightly controlled than elsewhere on the board. In addition to the TOS:

(1) You may not release any names here, until after the names have appeared in the public domain (articles, news reports, sheriff's report etc.) The releasing report must be cited. Until such public release, the only name you may use in this forum is your own.
(2) Off topic posts will be removed and off topic comments will be edited.
(3) No flaming, name calling or otherwise attacking other posters. You may attack ideas; you may not attack people.
(4) No trolling; no blamestorming. Mishap analysis does not lay blame, it finds causes.
(5) No "condolences to the family" here. Please use our Passings Forum for these kinds of messages.
(6) If you are presenting information from a source other than your own eyes and ears, cite the source.
(7) If your post is your hypothesis, theory, or a "possible scenario," identify it as such.

 

[DenaliX]

Not saying you're wrong but from my experiences with the CG, I find that difficult to comprehend.

Having a rescue boat not ready to sail would be like the fire department going on a call then asking to borrow water and hoses.

Actually, I can second that information. The CG boat was delayed first off waiting on an EMT. And once the CG met the dive boat their O2 bottles were empty and the battery on the defibrillator was dead.

Oh... and the nearest CG helicopter that day was Charleston SC.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I guess I missed the boat on this one. I didn;t even look for details. But was just made aware that she was the wife of a friend and member of this board. I did not see her name in this thread and therefore did not put 2 and 2 together. She was the wife of the diver known on here as LoneWolf. Joe is a friend of mine and I have dove with him and met his wife. He just PM'd me today. I'm trying get in touch with him. He was the first person on this board I called when my wife died and he graciously informed everyone here at my request. Damn this sucks.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I just got off the phone with her husband. I will not be going into any details of our conversation save to stop some of the guessing. Her suit was not filled with water. The inflator was not stuck but at some point air was added to the suit. It was an AGE. As for the Coast Guard they did have to wait for an EMT. There was none on the CG boat. This is to me a serious issue. Also when the CG got there they did not know how to hook up the O2. The husband of the deceased actually had to show them how to do it. Then it turned out their bottle was empty. Another serious issue. The boat actually furnished a new bottle. That is all I'm going to say unless more speculation about the accident itself is posted and is faulty.

Otherwise by all means discuss the conditions and how they would have affected YOUR decision to dive or not dive. Speculate on what you would have done or what you think could have happened if it will help others. But do not question the decision of the diver. She was experienced, highly competent, knew her gear, and made an informed and educated decision to dive. This was a tragic accident. No one knows exactly what happened but there are ideas that I will not discuss at this time.

And as a last word thanks to Cape Fear divers for what you did for my friend in the days immediately after. Not out of anything more than real human compassion did they do a great deal for him. Thank you for that.

 

[biscuit]

Thank you for the clarifications, Jim.

Do you happen to know if anyone is following up with the CG? And by follow-up I don't mean berating them, but offering educational assistance re O2. It sounds like this unit doesn't typically respond to diving emergencies; do you know if that's so? There do seem to be CG rescue units that are on call for boating accidents or stranded boats and whose personnel are excellent rescue swimmers but they have no diving experience.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

There will be some follow up with the CG. What form that will take is not yet certain. I have volunteered to be part of it but in what way that will occur is still undecided. I'm a pretty good writer and it may be along those lines. I wish I could say more but simply do not have the details and there are things of a more personal nature that need to be addressed now.

One thing I will say is that in general it concerns me that any emergency response unit does not have a person on board that can hook up an O2 bottle. It also concerns me that they would not have some procedure in place to verify that the bottles are full. This is an agency that may have to respond to an emergency on or near the water at any time. They do not need to be diver specific. It is not that hard to hook up a bottle, hook the mask up, turn it on and apply it. O2 is basic response skill.

 

[Instructor C]

So after reading the rest of this thread do you still find my info difficult to comprehend?

 

[Instructor C]

Not all small boat stations have EMT's on hand. They use the EMT's from the local fire departments. Most of the USCG EMT's are AST (rescue swimmers) and a good many of the AST are at air stations, not boat stations. Also, it was mentioned that they went out on a 41 boat. I believe that Wilmington Beach has only 47's. Dont believe all the rumors nor what you read all the time. It would be nice for you to cite where you are getting your information before you go off bashing the USCG with only 4 post.

See the following posts for verifacation of my information.

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

Not all small boat stations have EMT's on hand. They use the EMT's from the local fire departments. Most of the USCG EMT's are AST (rescue swimmers) and a good many of the AST are at air stations, not boat stations. Also, it was mentioned that they went out on a 41 boat. I believe that Wilmington Beach has only 47's. Dont believe all the rumors nor what you read all the time. It would be nice for you to cite where you are getting your information before you go off bashing the USCG with only 4 post.

the coast guard unit that was station there was on another call along with the helo the next closes crew was dispatched as per protocol.

yes some things went wrong but doubt very seriously would changed anything .
suit has excessive air and there was some water in suit not enough. personally the valve may have became stuck , who knows all I know we lost a diver and for that I am sorry.
know for some info the coast guard crew just went through a entire first aid course , including diving emergencies , AED and oxygen therapy .