Diver Dies After Oriskany Dive

[creggur]

Wondering if anyone know's any details about this..
Condolances and prayers to the family!!

http://www.news4jax.com/news/13927054/detail.html

[deepdiver47]

creg this is bad news. It makes you wonder what the dude was doing. Myprayers go out to the family.

[Bill22]

Wow... that's to bad... condolences to the family. They don't confirm that it was DCS. Guy's the right age, maybe it's a heart attack? The symptoms could be similar. If a someone is diving they will automatically go with that as a possibility... won't they? Maybe he didn't do anything wrong. Would be interesting to know what actually happened.

[cgvmer]

Condolences to the family...

of course that news items says nothing.

[fire diver]

Where's the rest of the article? That's just a foot-note.

[chewyjr15]

condolances to the family my prayers are with them

[mike_s]

Originally Posted by fire diver

Where's the rest of the article? That's just a foot-note.

This article in the P'Colsa news is a little longer

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/...EWS01/70819002


This is the same article, but apparently they published it with a different headline
http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/...708200310/1006


Discussion about it also on Deco Stop
http://thedecostop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26554


One of the above news stories has a lengthy statement from someone who states they were on the boat. It's been pasted into Deco Stop forum also.

[Black-Gorrilla]

the worst part of the weekends is some of the stories that pop up... so sad.

[Formerly 45yroldNewbie]

Found this on Yahoo Accidents group am copying users post to give credit where credit is do. Very sad story, also adds more questions then answers. Why would the CG not have O2 o board any of their vessels? How could a helo take so long in an emergency situation? etc etc but at least this provides more information regarding the incident.

I too would like to add my condolences and regret for the family's loss.



Marv Gozum <vze3574g@verizon. net> wrote: http://www.pensacol anewsjournal. com/apps/ pbcs.dll/ article?AID= /20070819/ NEWS01/70819002#

Oriskany Death Sun Aug 19, 2007 10:51 pm

I was on the boat, and this guy had the absolute best care he could
have under the circumstances. 5 of us from Central Illinois, (2 IDC
Staff Instructors, 1 Divemaster / EMT, and 2 Divemasters in training
(meaning we are both EFR and Rescue Certified), Then, 2 more
Divemasters, and the Captain of the boat, Captain Douglas....and
another Divemaster in training, so as far as qualifications of not
only the Captain and crew, but even the patrons, were more than
anyone could ask for given the situation.

The two rebreather divers had dove the Oriskany the day before as
well, and returned a second day. They were familiar with the site,
they were also very experienced techinical divers. I talked to them
at length on the way out and their resume was impressive.

I passed the diver who passed away, while descending on my second
dive at the safety stop depth of 20ft. He seemed fine. It seemed to
be a long extended safety stop. I had been on the surface waiting on
my dive buddy for several minutes because he was having a minor
equipment problem, but I could see down to the diver and he was
simply hanging on to a tether in the moderate current....finally as I
descended, I had to literally skip over him and like I said, he
seemed fine. I understand that once he reached the surface, he
complained of being tired, and then passed out. He was breathing in
his own, but was immediately given oxygen and treated. He was
basically unresponsive. I was the last patron on the boat, so it was
me they were waiting for, but calls had already been made to the
Coast Guard. I was informed were to go, and eventually became
involved helping those immediately attending to him, and holding a
sunshade over the man and the assisting crew, whcih involved the
Registered Nurse from a nearby boat. Since our boat had an EMT, my
friend from Illinois, on board, we left the dive site and she (the
RN) returned back to the boat she came from....

I was informed and overheard radio transmissions that a helo was on
it's way, and we prepared for a helo rescue securing all gear to
insure nothing was sucked up into the rotors while it hovered. The
Captain was in constant contact with the Coast Guard, and they
requested that we head in and meet either a boat or a helo..so we
did, at full speed. The waters were 2 to 3 ft and rollers, so it was
a fairly smooth ride in.

The guy's pupils were reactive, and he moved his right foot several
times. A constant vigil stood over him and the EMT maintained
constant contact and administered oxygen, vitals were checked at 5
minute intervals and constantly noted to aid the extended rescue. At
about15 minutes into the trek in, the captain asked for an ETA for
the Rescue Boat or Helo, and was informed the boat had us in his site
and was at about 6 miles...but the helo was 30 minutes away.....30
minutes....That means from the time the initial call went out, to the
time a helo could have been on scene was over an hour.....I would
guess that we were literally 10 minutes by Helo, not counting
understandable prep time (meaning engine warm up-systems check etc.)
But it was a Saturday at mid day....not some obscure time.....where
were the Helos? I like to think they were assisting other people, and
it was simply bad luck as far as timing goes. You can't be all places
at once....

I'd just like to say....great Job by the crew of Below H20 in its
efforts to save this man's life. It is still undertermined what was
the cause of death,it could have been a stroke, heart failure or dive
related..... such as "the bends". Whatever it was, I would not
hesitate to dive again right now with Below H20, as a matter of fact,
I feel even more safe with them. The boat had 2 tanks of Oxygen on
board, and we were lucky, because the Coast Guard Boat that met us,
did not have any....Nor was there an EMT on board so our EMT and our
IDC Staff Instructor went with them...We arrived at the Coast Guard
station 10-15 minutes after the Coast Guard boat arrived, and I
question whether that was the right decision by the Coast Guard to
move him to their boat. It probably took 15-20 minutes to move him
over.....if you include the time it took to secure the two boats
together for a safe transfer. Maybe we should have just been allowed
to continue in with him....

In my opinion, Captain Douglas was very dissapointed that the Helo
never arrived as he expected and prepared for it to from the start.

I totally disagree with Maher Sladovic's comment that the Oriskany is
a "Dangerous Dive". It may not be for begginners, but then again,
begginers cannot dive this site, you must be at least Advanced Open
Water Certified, which allows you to go to a depth of 130' safely,
which is the height of the flight deck. There is a lot to see at 65'
though....and you can dive it multiple times and stay above 100',
there's plenty to see...

I'm so very sorry to his family that we talked about on the boat ride
out, and who was waiting for him back at a Hotel on shore. Obviously
the gleam in his eyes when he spoke of you all went to eternity with
him...I'm so very sorry for your loss, he seemed like a very nice man
who was living his dream.....The Golf Business on the East Coast, and
Scuba Diving. A sport that is safer than even mountain biking, with
fewer deaths per 100,000 participants.

I said a prayer for him and his family as we sped into harbor, and I
know God answered my parayers, to look after him, and his
family...God Bless You...again, I'm very sorry.

[thesmoothdome]

Thanks for the additional information. My heart goes out to those involved the rescue as well as the family of the deceased.