A woman died despite the delivery of CPR after a scuba diving accident. The woman was brought to the shore by fellow divers after she was under distress.
Scuba diving accident
The 44-year old Surrey woman died after experiencing severe medical distress while scuba diving at Whytecliff Park in West Vancouver.
A bystander assisted in bringing the diver to the shore and started CPR together with another passerby. The woman had no pulse and not breathing. The 2 good Samaritans administered CPR for over 5 minutes before the emergency crews arrived and worked to resuscitate her for another 30 minutes. Sadly, the woman was declared dead at the scene.
The West Vancouver Police stated that the deceased was a diving student in a multi-day scuba class and was not experienced. The diver indicated to fellow divers some difficulty at depth, around 40 meters below the surface. According to Const. Jeff Palmer, at that point, the woman was clearly under medical distress and brought to shore.
Well-known training site
Whytecliff Park is a popular destination for divers and diving schools due to its closeness to Vancouver. According to Greg Cocher, owner of the Dive Locker shop in Vancouver, the wide range of conditions at the site made it a suitable place for training dives which can be as deep as 40 meters for recreational diving.
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LEARN MORE
Learn how to help by enrolling in a course on CPR and for more information, check out these sources:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/first-aid/first-aid-cpr/basics/art-20056600