Sandals Emerald Bay scuba death

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Bubblez
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7:17p, 5/27/22








Just an absolute horrible series of events for this resort. The police report details a dive trip. As the divers reached an initial depth, the instructors checked up on everyone. One diver failed to respond with the proper hand signal. The instructor went over to the victim, discovered he was incoherent, and had everyone surface. The got the guy back on the boat, he collapsed. After returning to the marina, a doctor pronounced him dead.

Given the prior incident, I'm surprised I haven't seen any more media reports on this.

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CinchAG97
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8:06p, 5/27/22
Sounds like bad air or a medical event at depth. Maybe a stroke?
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AggieAces06
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In reply to Bubblez • 10:54a, 5/28/22
AG
This happens more than you realize. We were in a cruise in Hawaii and one of the guests had a heart attack while scuba diving. We only heard about it though the grapevine.

Medical emergencies happen. Especially when you have people who aren't in the greatest of shape doing something that is way out of their normal activities.
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txags92
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3:17p, 5/28/22
AG
As said above, incidents with cardiac problems in middle aged and older divers or cases of contaminated air tanks are more common than you would otherwise expect. Those would be my first guesses unless we hear more.

ETA: Given that the hotel had guests die recently from CO poisoning, if they fill tanks onsite, bad air is probably a distinct possibility.
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txags92
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11:52a, 5/30/22
AG
Good discussion of the incident currently going on in the "accidents and incidents" forum on Scubaboard.com, including a post describing the incident from one of the divers who was there and performed cpr on the victim. https://scubaboard.com/community/threads/american-fatality-in-exumas-bahamas.621362/page-2#post-9694230
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nosoupforyou
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In reply to txags92 • 11:59a, 5/30/22
AG
txags92 said:
As said above, incidents with cardiac problems in middle aged and older divers or cases of contaminated air tanks are more common than you would otherwise expect. Those would be my first guesses unless we hear more.

ETA: Given that the hotel had guests die recently from CO poisoning, if they fill tanks onsite, bad air is probably a distinct possibility.


Did they ever give an update on why they died? I remember reading about it- food poisoning seems strange to have all of them die
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txags92
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In reply to nosoupforyou • 12:04p, 5/30/22
AG
nosoupforyou said:
txags92 said:
As said above, incidents with cardiac problems in middle aged and older divers or cases of contaminated air tanks are more common than you would otherwise expect. Those would be my first guesses unless we hear more.

ETA: Given that the hotel had guests die recently from CO poisoning, if they fill tanks onsite, bad air is probably a distinct possibility.


Did they ever give an update on why they died? I remember reading about it- food poisoning seems strange to have all of them die
I have not seen a cause of death for the diver, but it will probably officially be listed as a drowning. My guess based on the description would be some sort of cardiac event. I don't think he would have made it to the end of the dive with a tank contaminated with CO. The three hotel guests who died previously were killed by CO, not food poisoning.
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tamc93
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In reply to txags92 • 4:22p, 5/31/22
AG
Dive shop is located across the way from the bungalow that had the issue. I do not recall seeing them hauling tanks from there.

Then again, I never saw anyone going diving (unlike other Sandal's) - (they may have picked up from the front desk and vanned over?)
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txags92
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In reply to tamc93 • 5:02p, 5/31/22
AG
tamc93 said:
Dive shop is located across the way from the bungalow that had the issue. I do not recall seeing them hauling tanks from there.

Then again, I never saw anyone going diving (unlike other Sandal's) - (they may have picked up from the front desk and vanned over?)
Yeah, it may be an operation by operation difference. Some operators have everything onsite including the compressor station, but most have a storefront onsite, while the compressor station is somewhere else with all their spare equipment. In places like Cozumel, most ops do not even have their own fill setup and get their tanks from a central facility. It would be fairly unusual to have a compressor station near any of the guest rooms, simply because the noise would be somewhat annoying, although it isn't unheard of. Some may have a dock out front, but may take divers by van elsewhere at times if they are wanting to dive a different side of the island without running a long boat ride..
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CoppellAg93
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12:36p, 6/1/22
AG
There's no diving around the resort - why is this being attributed to Sandals ? Didn't see it in the statement - the assumption is he was staying there ?
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CoppellAg93
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In reply to nosoupforyou • 12:37p, 6/1/22
AG
nosoupforyou said:
txags92 said:
As said above, incidents with cardiac problems in middle aged and older divers or cases of contaminated air tanks are more common than you would otherwise expect. Those would be my first guesses unless we hear more.

ETA: Given that the hotel had guests die recently from CO poisoning, if they fill tanks onsite, bad air is probably a distinct possibility.


Did they ever give an update on why they died? I remember reading about it- food poisoning seems strange to have all of them die
They died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
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txags92
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In reply to CoppellAg93 • 1:03p, 6/1/22
AG
CoppellAg93 said:
There's no diving around the resort - why is this being attributed to Sandals ? Didn't see it in the statement - the assumption is he was staying there ?
The very first tweet in the thread says a drowning occurred at Sandals Emerald Bay, and I assumed they were referring to the scuba death in the 2nd story. Like was said above, they probably offer diving through the resort, but the dive boat probably doesn't leave directly from the resort.

ETA: Yes, they do list Exuma as one of the locations they offer scuba diving. SANDALS All-Inclusive Scuba Diving Resorts & Vacations
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CoppellAg93
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In reply to txags92 • 1:35p, 6/1/22
AG
txags92 said:
CoppellAg93 said:
There's no diving around the resort - why is this being attributed to Sandals ? Didn't see it in the statement - the assumption is he was staying there ?
The very first tweet in the thread says a drowning occurred at Sandals Emerald Bay, and I assumed they were referring to the scuba death in the 2nd story. Like was said above, they probably offer diving through the resort, but the dive boat probably doesn't leave directly from the resort.

ETA: Yes, they do list Exuma as one of the locations they offer scuba diving. SANDALS All-Inclusive Scuba Diving Resorts & Vacations
I saw the tweet and it's misleading - it says he drowned AT the resort, and unless he died right there in the bay in front of it, he didn't die there. Hence my question.
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txags92
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In reply to CoppellAg93 • 1:49p, 6/1/22
AG
CoppellAg93 said:
txags92 said:
CoppellAg93 said:
There's no diving around the resort - why is this being attributed to Sandals ? Didn't see it in the statement - the assumption is he was staying there ?
The very first tweet in the thread says a drowning occurred at Sandals Emerald Bay, and I assumed they were referring to the scuba death in the 2nd story. Like was said above, they probably offer diving through the resort, but the dive boat probably doesn't leave directly from the resort.

ETA: Yes, they do list Exuma as one of the locations they offer scuba diving. SANDALS All-Inclusive Scuba Diving Resorts & Vacations
I saw the tweet and it's misleading - it says he drowned AT the resort, and unless he died right there in the bay in front of it, he didn't die there. Hence my question.
Ok, if you want to argue semantics, that is fine. But if they were staying at the resort, and went on a diving excursion organized by the dive operation based out of the resort, I think it is fair to link the fatality to the resort, even if they were not physically diving right at the resort when they died.
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CoppellAg93
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In reply to txags92 • 2:35p, 6/1/22
AgOutsideAustin
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3:06p, 6/1/22
AG
Not going there, too much bad mojo.
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LauraH
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3:30p, 6/29/22
This is my husband. A devastating event. It's been a month and we're all still in shock that this would occur to him, a seasoned diver.

I'm hoping that someone who was there will see this and reach out to me. There was, I was told, an MD on the expedition who tried to help my husband. I want to talk to him.

This was a Sandals diving excursion, to answer one of the questions above. The dive master and divers there were employees of Sandals.

To this day I do not know what happened to my husband. I won't say what I think occurred as I don't know it as fact.

My husband had multiple diving certifications.

The Coroner's diagnosis on the autopsy only raises questions, was not an answer to the question, "What happened?!"

I hope there is someone in this stream who may be able to help me obtain answers.

Thank you all for your kind thoughts.
- Laura
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2wealfth Man
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In reply to LauraH • 4:17p, 6/29/22
AG
LauraH said:
This is my husband. A devastating event. It's been a month and we're all still in shock that this would occur to him, a seasoned diver.

I'm hoping that someone who was there will see this and reach out to me. There was, I was told, an MD on the expedition who tried to help my husband. I want to talk to him.

This was a Sandals diving excursion, to answer one of the questions above. The dive master and divers there were employees of Sandals.

To this day I do not know what happened to my husband. I won't say what I think occurred as I don't know it as fact.

My husband had multiple diving certifications.

The Coroner's diagnosis on the autopsy only raises questions, was not an answer to the question, "What happened?!"

I hope there is someone in this stream who may be able to help me obtain answers.

Thank you all for your kind thoughts.
- Laura
So sorry for your loss; saying prayers for you
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AgOutsideAustin
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In reply to LauraH • 4:40p, 6/29/22
AG
Very sorry for your loss and hoping you get the answers you deserve.
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txags92
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In reply to LauraH • 2:20p, 6/30/22
AG
LauraH said:
This is my husband. A devastating event. It's been a month and we're all still in shock that this would occur to him, a seasoned diver.

I'm hoping that someone who was there will see this and reach out to me. There was, I was told, an MD on the expedition who tried to help my husband. I want to talk to him.

This was a Sandals diving excursion, to answer one of the questions above. The dive master and divers there were employees of Sandals.

To this day I do not know what happened to my husband. I won't say what I think occurred as I don't know it as fact.

My husband had multiple diving certifications.

The Coroner's diagnosis on the autopsy only raises questions, was not an answer to the question, "What happened?!"

I hope there is someone in this stream who may be able to help me obtain answers.

Thank you all for your kind thoughts.
- Laura
Laura,

I am very sorry for your loss. As a diver in my 50s, this kind of unexplained death is one of my fears. I think your best chance to get in touch with that MD will either be through the dive operator or maybe via "Sladerer" from the Scubaboard thread I linked above. I saw your post over there where you replied to another poster asking for a DM, but Sladerer was the one who was actually on the boat with your husband. You may want to reply directly to one of his messages so that he will get a notification.

I do hope that you will eventually be able and/or willing to discuss what you do know about what happened from the coroner or anybody else you may have talked to. Particularly at the ScubaBoard community, there is a large community always interested in learning from what has happened to others so that we can be safer ourselves and to allow us to respond better to what may happen to others around us while diving.

Once again, my condolences to you and your family and I hope you are able to get some closure regarding what happened.

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LauraH
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7:10a, 7/1/22
I had a great phone conversation with Sladerer yesterday afternoon. It was great to get another perspective and he's a very kind man, and his sweet wife too who jumped onto the phone as well. I felt better after talking to him.

I'll update as I can with whatever I learn from the Bahamian authorities and the ambassador.

Thank you for your kind words and thoughts. I love how good people are in general. That's an easy thing to forget.

Let's remember that whatever Sandals staff are doing with us is at the direction of their management. It's not them personally.

My son sent his wife to me the day after Jim passed and we basically hung out at the pool and on the beach with the Sandals employees until the 2nd. I love those people. The mistreatment from the organization itself was really just one person and whomever was running her. And maybe they didn't have a choice. They were concerned about being sued, I'm sure. I assume that's exactly what's occurring with those poor people's families a couple weeks before.

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2wealfth Man
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In reply to LauraH • 7:51a, 7/1/22
AG
LauraH said:
I had a great phone conversation with Sladerer yesterday afternoon. It was great to get another perspective and he's a very kind man, and his sweet wife too who jumped onto the phone as well. I felt better after talking to him.

I'll update as I can with whatever I learn from the Bahamian authorities and the ambassador.

Thank you for your kind words and thoughts. I love how good people are in general. That's an easy thing to forget.

Let's remember that whatever Sandals staff are doing with us is at the direction of their management. It's not them personally.

My son sent his wife to me the day after Jim passed and we basically hung out at the pool and on the beach with the Sandals employees until the 2nd. I love those people. The mistreatment from the organization itself was really just one person and whomever was running her. And maybe they didn't have a choice. They were concerned about being sued, I'm sure. I assume that's exactly what's occurring with those poor people's families a couple weeks before.

That's great to hear Laura, I have been thinking about you since your reply above. You sure are a strong person and I hope you can get some modicum of closure on at least the events of that day. Remember that the Aggie family is always here to help whenever you need anything.
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