Diver in distress rescued off Seacrest, taken to hospital

(Photo by Carolyn Newman, rescuers helping diver)
If you saw the emergency response off Seacrest earlier this afternoon: A 19-year-old diver was in distress and brought to shore safely, then taken to the hospital by Seattle Fire medics.

(WSB photo)
They were gone when we got there to check it out, but police who were still there say she was alert and talking when transported.

Heather November 22, 2014 (5:07 pm)

Those emergency response divers are pretty wonderful. My well wishes for the rescued diver – very scary to be in distress underwater.

Lamont November 22, 2014 (6:38 pm)

The “emergency response divers” are almost certainly just divers who have been through a rescue course, and happened to be in the water at the time, helping the affected diver. Every diver should ideally take one of those courses and be able to assist in a situation like that.

WSB November 22, 2014 (7:16 pm)

Lamont – sorry, there is a bit of a disconnect because (a) the photo was added some time after we published this short item – there WAS an emergency response, I meant fire/police, which is the reason we learned about this in the first place. The photo was shared with us on the WSB Facebook page and while I don’t know anything about the people in it, I thought the kindness and caring you could see – and the fact that it didn’t invade the ailing diver’s privacy (we don’t show victims at incident scenes for that reason) – made it worth adding. I should have explained that explicitly. Whomever they are, hats off. 0 TR

K'lo November 22, 2014 (8:30 pm)

It seemed that the divers assisting were perhaps diving w/the distressed diver. They surfaced at the end of the water taxi dock, pulling off fins and throwing them up on the dock. People on the shore ran down the taxi ramp to help w/pulling of the tank out of the water. There wasn’t a good place to get the victim out of the water, so they swam with her to shore. By the time they reached shore, SPD and Fire were on scene.

Lamont November 22, 2014 (9:07 pm)

Tracy – yeah, I think the pic is fine. It shows what looks like a fairly textbook assistance of a diver out of the water. It’ll be familiar to any diver who has taken a Rescue course and is a good example to divers who have not taken a Rescue course. Shows at least 3 divers working together, one doing a fin push and sorta looks like the diver without a hood and gloves (chilly) probably came down from the parking lot to assist.

I was just clarifying that the EMS response was just a normal fire truck and ambulance (without divers), the divers in the water were all amateur rescuers.

WS Diver November 22, 2014 (9:24 pm)

i know one of the divers in the photo and he was not diving with the distressed diver…. BUT he WAS at the same depth in the area and assisted her. Recreational divers can take a rescue diver course, which is what these divers had. Recreational scuba divers also learn basic buddy tows as well. HATS OFF TO EVERYONE IN THE DIVING COMMUNITY FOR ALWAYS LOOKING OUT FOR OTHER DIVERS!!!

Larry November 23, 2014 (5:48 pm)

In a proper old school scuba certification course such as NAUI, “Rescuing a Submerged Victim” and “Self Rescue” are REQUIRED skills. Even with that precursory training divers are strongly encouraged to get “Advanced” and “Rescue” certification. Most of the Open Water courses taught locally are quick and dirty and the Open Water students do not come away with rescue skills. The Sound is a challenging diving environment, anyone who engages in diving in it should avail themselves to a Rescue Class. It sounds like the diver today was very fortunate to have a competent diver in the water. I agree the picture looks like a textbook rescue with good teamwork. Thank goodness this was not another unfortunate and unnecessary death.

R November 23, 2014 (8:57 pm)

I’ve heard from someone involved in this incident that there was an unusually happy outcome and the involved diver has been discharged home from the hospital.

WSB November 23, 2014 (8:58 pm)

Glad to hear that, R, thank you.

Fritz November 23, 2014 (10:43 pm)

I was the diver that ran into them at about 70fsw. They were from a group that came up from Oregon but I was not diving with them, just happen to be there at depth and instinct took over. I got word this morning from someone in their group that she was able to go home and did not require any chamber time. Obviously, I’m very happy to hear that. Controlling her ascent and keeping her from further injury can be difficult, especially since I was on my rebreather and that has its own complexities with rapid ascents. The other 2 divers with her did not panic and the rescue was done perfectly.

Just for some background on me…I’ve been diving for over 10 years with nearly 3000 dives and another 300 hours on my rebreather. I’m PADI AI certified with several other agency certs as well. I can say that the outcome of this rescue was much better than a previous one I was involved in a few years ago and I will sleep better tonight.

Congrats to all those involved, stay safe!