With the death of an island visitor last month after a scuba trip, the diving community on-island and elsewhere is going through a period of self-reflection. Ann Larson, a 69-year-old visitor from Minnesota, died March 23 at Wilcox Memorial Hospital
With the death of an island visitor last month after a scuba trip, the diving community on-island and elsewhere is going through a period of self-reflection.
Ann Larson, a 69-year-old visitor from Minnesota, died March 23 at Wilcox Memorial Hospital after being involved in a diving incident at Koloa Landing March 16.
According to her son, Burke Veazey of Minnesota, Larson was in a coma and died a week later from complications.
Because of an ongoing investigation, Veazey was advised by his lawyer to not comment further for this story.
Larson had been on a group dive arranged by Aquatic Adventures Inc.
A representative from that company declined to comment.
According to a press release from the Kaua‘i Fire Department, a call was placed to emergency dispatch at 9:45 a.m. that the woman was in distress the day of the incident and had been brought to shore by her diving instructor.
Monty Downs, chair of the Water Safety Committee of the Ocean Safety Bureau, said Larson was not breathing but lifeguards on duty performed CPR and resuscitated her.
Larson was then taken to Wilcox Hospital and remained in critical condition until her death on March 23.
According to the Diver’s Alert Network, an online resource, approximately 100 scuba deaths occur each year, nationally.
The cause of Larson’s accident has been speculated upon by other scuba divers on scubaboard.com, where a thread has popped up, discussing the accident and the diving business at large. Some board members, by yesterday, weren’t even sure if Larson was alive or had passed away.
In a forum called Kaua‘i Accident, members recounted what they knew or had heard about the accident.
One divemaster who was at the scene when the incident occurred, had spoken to Larson, another diver and the divemaster of her trip. In his conversation with the three divers, he noticed “no indication of inhibited mental function on the part of anyone involved,” as speculated by other members on the forum.
Acknowledging the difficulty of finding Larson’s release waivers during the incident, a divemaster going by O_Rings on the site said he witnessed Larson sign the medical waiver.
“There have been many different versions of exactly what happened, even among the instructors and divemasters who were at the scene during the incident,” the contributor said in his post. “I could offer some other facts regarding that day or diving conditions at that location if asked, however at this point I would like to avoid speculating.”
O_Rings also posted that some of the comments on the forum “could be construed as damaging towards the operation involved.”
“I would like to point out that in situations like this, it’s the entire scuba community that is harmed instead of a single dive shop or location,” the person wrote further. “I would hope that we could work together to improve ourselves.”
The issue of divers signing medical waivers when they obviously have medical issues was also discussed.
kAIkANE said it is the “Scuba pro’s job and or liability to prevent problems from happening … regardless of the waiver (the client) signed.”
Another board member, Teamcasa, said they “do not believe this rare incident reflects badly on the dive professionals, sometimes bad things happen.”
“What is this thread about?” Teamcasa asks in the most recent post, dated yesterday. “I believe it is about a tragic death of a new diver. Here, in this forum, we should examine and discuss the incident, but only to help others avoid the same. It is useful to discuss how we can avoid these issues in the future.”
Doug Robinson, a contract instructor with the National Association of Underwater Instructors and not involved in the Larson incident, said most diving accidents occur when first-time divers panic. If they haven’t been diving for a long time, they sometimes forget everything they were taught, he said.
Robinson said divers should always ask a lot of questions before their dive.
“If you’re in a strange place with strange people, ask a lot of questions,” Robinson said. “And if you haven’t dived in a long time, take a refresher course.”
• Rachel Gehrlein, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or rgehrlein@kauaipubco.com
