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#4846
dive trip with Olympus
Eve - 6/21/2011 11:54 AM
Category: General
Replies: 14

Does anyone have any idea what may have happened to a diver with the Olympus charter dive center in NC this morning? It appears as if a diver had some trouble since CPR was being performed as the diver was being brought to shore.
#51828
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Greg - 6/21/2011 7:33 PM
I would love for any involved party to post information about this incident so we can all learn from it.
#4846
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Eve - 6/21/2011 7:46 PM


http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/Man_Dead_After_Diving_Accident_Off_Beaufort_Inlet_124306344.html


This is all that I have so far, will post more as it becomes available.


The U.S. Coast Guard says a man died after a diving accident out in the Atlantic Ocean this morning.


The Coast Guard got the rescue call around 9:40 a.m. some 29 miles southeast of the Beaufort Inlet.


They say a 60-year-old man was recovered from the bottom of a 120-foot dive off the Olympus and was not breathing. A crewmember immediately started CPR until the Coast Guard boat arrived. The man died later at Carteret General Hospital.


The Olympus is based in Morehead City and the man’s death is being investigated.


The Coast Guard says this is the fourth diving accident in Eastern Carolina in the last two months.


 
#4846
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Eve - 6/22/2011 7:26 AM
You are correct on many points, Olympus is top notch, and yes at that depth they had to be out a distance from shore, also the returning Olympus boat was full with all of the other divers, so it had to take some time to get everyone boarded.The coast guard was called out to assist. I do not think any one is blaming Olympus, we would just like to know what happened to the diver. At that depth was he diving with nitrox? Was he training with Nitrox, etc. ?
#20384
LatitudeAdjustment - 6/22/2011 7:19 PM


From Eve: At that depth was he diving with nitrox? Was he training with Nitrox, etc. ?



The usual Nitrox mix for there is 28% and most are diving it. If he was remains to be seen.


"Was he training with Nitrox" ? For most agencys you just do the math on the test and they don’t require check out dives so I’m not sure what you mean and for that depth Olympus requires that you already be AOW or better. 
#4846
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Eve - 6/22/2011 9:56 PM


We are just trying to figure out/learned what happened so that we can learn from it. It is very tragic . I may be wrong but I think that I read that there have been 4 deaths from diving this season alone in this area. Our hearts and prayers go out to the family.
#4846
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Eve - 6/23/2011 4:51 AM


The following is quoted from Andy Huneycutt on divebuddy.com/facebook


"The man died of a heart attack. I was on the Olympus Saturday and Sunday.Bobby Runs a first class operation as did his father before him, Wreck diving off the NC coast is an advanced dive at best and physically stressful."


Thank you Andy for your information.
#2788
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meltonart - 6/26/2011 7:57 PM
From what I hear so far it doesn’t sound like anyone did anything wrong, he just had a heart attack. We can speculate that he overexerted himself but that question may or may not ever be answered.

 My prayers and heart goes out to his family and loved ones.
#20384
LatitudeAdjustment - 6/27/2011 1:53 PM


From MarkA: Even the deep dives with Olympus are cake dives. Water temp is 80+ from the top to the bottom and the vis can be better than 100 - 150 feet. Sounds like the thing to learn is don’t go diving with a bad ticker.



 Don’t know about that cake thing, had upwellings drop the water to 54 which in a 3 mil isn’t fun, ripping current and gotten beat up on the surface but I’ll be back again and again.


 Agree that diving with a bad heart isn’t a good thing!
#4846
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Eve - 6/28/2011 6:18 AM


Not sure if you are aware of this or not, Discover Dive is in Beaufort NC and they are also a pretty good bunch of folks . Check them out next time you want to go diving, there are a few dive shops in the Morehead City /Beaufort area. We use both Olympus and Discover dive shops, we try to spread the business so that these shops can stay in business.


Thank you and have a most wonderful day


 
#870
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Muse - 7/02/2011 4:02 PM
Not sure if this is the same incident, but I was diving off fossil ledge with a different NC charter later that week. The boat left with only 8 divers, really unusual since it is a long trip and they need a full boat to justify the gas. I noticed a group "Fin Addicts" on the roster, and none had shown up. The captain told me that one of their group had had an accident earlier that week, and none of them ever wanted to dive again - a whole group walked away from a $140 dive. When I took my tanks to the shop late that afternoon I overheard the owner confirming the story, and adding that the man had died. I must say that if I ever sit on a boat watching someone get CPR I may never dive again, myself. As a diver it does help to know it was a heart attack - could have happened in the mall or anywhere, but it is also a good reminder of how dangerous a sport it really is.
#4846
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Eve - 7/02/2011 5:48 PM


Thank you Muse for your information, it is helpful and appreciated. It is a very unfortunate situation. Our thoughts are with the divers family. As for those divers who walked away from a $140.00 dive I would hope that the dive shop refund their monies, but who knows. We live in the area , and are at the beach’s /islands there often, the family are also divers, it is a dangerous sport, but the way I see it the diver suffered a heart attack, that could also happen on dry land, probably not due to diving.


 


Sincerely