2004Jly24 diver death at the breakwater in Monterey, CA?


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Posted by Aviddiver(him) on July 28, 2004 at 01:39:32:

Scanning SCUBA topics elsewhere I found this in Yahoo Groups Messages:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ba_diving/message/20416

From: "in2ch2o"
Date: Tue Jul 27, 2004 1:02 am
Subject: Diver Death at Breakwater personal


I was teaching an Advanced OW class at Breakwater and saw the events
unfold.

First, I've got to commend the actions and swiftness of all the
rescue parties involved. It was reassuring to see the EMT system in
action. From call to arrival could not have been more than a couple
of minutes.

As my students and I entered the water for our night dive (around
8:15P), we were just getting our fins on when we heard a female
voice yell that "(name wasn't clear)had a heart attack, call 911".
There were many neoprene-clad folks on the wall above us and as I
turned to swim out to assist, a diver exited the water at a dead
run, in full scuba gear, across the beach, ostensibly to get help.
I looked back out to see where the victim was and could see that two
other people (I heard that one was the instructor) were bringing him
in. It was hard to see but it looked as if his gear was already
off.

I turned to check on my students and at that moment I saw several
big guys running into the water to assist. They were able to lift
the diver out of the water and begin CPR and the EMT's were there
almost immediately. All of this was happening at lightning speed
and it seemed that only a minute or two had passed.

I had my class exit the water as the EMT's were yelling for all to
clear the area for a rescue boat to come in...which did not do so
afterall.

From the rocks where we gathered, I could see that this diver was a
male, overweight, and not in good shape. I could not see his face
or determine his age. They cut the wetsuit off of him and continued
CPR.

After he was taken to the ambulance, the class decided to continue
with the night dive and we shook off the aftermath of the event by
watching the fireworks from Pacific Grove as we did our surface swim
out to deeper water.

The next day I talked with another instructor who had heard some
detail about the incident. Apparently this was a gentleman around
60 ish that suffered a fatal heart attack under water and apparently
was unresponsive at the surface.

My prayers go out to him and his family. May we all stay healthy
and safe as we pursue this wonderful sport.

Sharna Kahn
in2ch2o@y...


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