Swedish tourist dies while diving in Similan Islands

[webfact]

Swedish tourist dies while diving in Similan Islands

 

Picture: Manager Online

 

KURABURI: -- A 57 year old Swedish tourist died while diving in the Similan Islands on Monday.

 

She is believed to have suffered decompression sickness or the bends.

 

Kim Lien Pettersson was 25 metres down near Koh 8 when staff realized there was a problem. She was buddied up with her husband. She was thereafter brought up to 5 metres depth., reports Manager Online

 

Finally she surfaced and was given emergency treatment by medics but could not be saved. She died in her husband's arms on board a ship called Arunsiri that belonged to the dive company.

 

She was a veteran of 184 dives, said Kuraburi police. The body was taken for autopsy to the local hospital to confirm the cause of death.

 

The local governor of Pangnga province called on local authorities to check that dive companies were all registered and following procedures in the wake of the accident.

 

With the upcoming tourist season about to begin he stressed the importance of making sure that everything was in place and safe for tourists who would visit the area in large numbers.

 

Source: Manager Online

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2016-11-09

[rhythmworx]

R.I.P

Edited November 9, 2016 by rhythmworx

[jerojero]

RIP. Very experienced diver, somehow don't think it was the bends.

[OMGImInPattaya]

Agree..."the bends" doesn't kill in such a manner so quickly...especially if she did her safety stop at 5 meters. A tragic case nonetheless. And I thought the Similan Islands were closed to divers for a year or so to allow the coral to "recover"?

[rhythmworx]

If your having a heart attack or stroke decompressing can be difficult.

[terminatorchiangmai]

What about a dirty oxygen tank ?

[BoonToong]

38 minutes ago, webfact said:

She was a veteran of 184 dives

 

15 minutes ago, jerojero said:

Very experienced diver

 

Sorry mate, gonna disagree on that one, not to be an arse, but just to voice my opinion that I wouldn't class that as 'very experienced'. 

[Balance]

She was at less that 80 feet and not possible to absorb that much nitrogen and it sounds like she was in distress at depth, not after she surfaced, which is when the joint pain would start.  Certainly her husband would not have allowed her to surface faster than her bubbles.   If she had 180 dives she was wearing a dive computer that would have figured all of this out and allerted her to any problems.   Perhaps a stroke?  Whatever the cause I am sure that she will be missed.

 

 

[arithai12]

13 minutes ago, Balance said:

She was at less that 80 feet and not possible to absorb that much nitrogen and it sounds like she was in distress at depth, not after she surfaced, which is when the joint pain would start.  Certainly her husband would not have allowed her to surface faster than her bubbles.   If she had 180 dives she was wearing a dive computer that would have figured all of this out and allerted her to any problems.   Perhaps a stroke?  Whatever the cause I am sure that she will be missed.

 

 

Ditto.

The autopsy should clear things up, could the reporter follow up on that please?

RIP swedish lady and condolences to the husband.

[Pilot3Boz]

I am guessing, heart attack, stroke, blood clot issue.... not the bends for all the reasons stated above!!! Sad to see, but things happen under the water and hard to detect and react to them real-time.... RIP

[SOTIRIOS]

...always blame the victim....when a foreigner.....???

 

...therefore no investigation....???

 

...jeez.....

 

...this is insane........

 

 

[OMGImInPattaya]

2 hours ago, BoonToong said:

 

 

Sorry mate, gonna disagree on that one, not to be an arse, but just to voice my opinion that I wouldn't class that as 'very experienced'. 

For a recreational diver, under 50 would be a beginner, 50-100 intermediate, over 100 advanced (or "very experienced") as long as a minimum of 20-30 dives per year. Not everyone is a dive master or commercial diver with thousands of dives under their dive-belt  

Edited November 9, 2016 by OMGImInPattaya

[12DrinkMore]

1 hour ago, Balance said:

She was at less that 80 feet and not possible to absorb that much nitrogen and it sounds like she was in distress at depth, not after she surfaced, which is when the joint pain would start.  Certainly her husband would not have allowed her to surface faster than her bubbles.   If she had 180 dives she was wearing a dive computer that would have figured all of this out and allerted her to any problems.   Perhaps a stroke?  Whatever the cause I am sure that she will be missed.

 

 

 

1. She was at less that 80 feet and not possible to absorb that much nitrogen.

 

BS. 25 metres is already classified as a deep dive with a no decompresssion limit of only about 20 minutes. BUT it is all the accumulated diving made before that has to be added in as well. We do not know her diving history.

 

2. Certainly her husband would not have allowed her to surface faster than her bubbles.

 

Oh really? You have clearly never tried to slow down a diver in distress trying to get to the surface. 

 

3.  If she had 180 dives she was wearing a dive computer.

 

Why? Wearing a dive computer is not a requirement by any Thai based operation. Other countries are a bit more strict, like Australia.

 

===

 

As she had difficulty at depth it is unlikely that this was pressure related. If she was still in distress at 5 metres the three minute safety stop should have been left out and she should have been brought up to the surface without delay. It is a safety stop and not a decompression stop. Too many people have it fixed into their heads that they will suffer decompression illness if a safety stop is not made.

 

The definition of recreational diving is that you can always safely ascend directly to the surface.

 

 

[bokningar]

8 hours ago, SOTIRIOS said:

...always blame the victim....when a foreigner.....???

 

...therefore no investigation....???

 

...jeez.....

 

...this is insane........

 

 

Did you read the post at all?

 

11 hours ago, webfact said:

The body was taken for autopsy to the local hospital to confirm the cause of death.

 

11 hours ago, webfact said:

The local governor of Pangnga province called on local authorities to check that dive companies were all registered and following procedures in the wake of the accident

 

Who is blaming the victim??

And from what I'm reading, the are controlling the cause of death, and checking up so the company follow procedures.

Time you start reading the OP before posting. 

 

[impulse]

More likely an air embolism than the bends given the rapid onset of death.

 

It's pretty easy to forget to keep breathing when surfacing in an emergency, or disoriented.

 

Edited November 9, 2016 by impulse

[Deli]

22 hours ago, terminatorchiangmai said:

What about a dirty oxygen tank ?

 

If you dive with oxygen to that depth, you most likely die. It is compressed air they dive with and it has 21% O2 only.

 

[webfact]

Police investigate Swedish diver death at Similans

Tanyaluk Sakoot

 

The woman was diving at the Similan Islands when dive tour staff discovered that she was unconscious. Photo: Mathias Krumbholz

 

PHUKET: -- Police investigating the death of a Swedish woman during a dive tour at the Similan Islands on Monday (Nov 7) are waiting for doctors to confirm the cause of death before drawing any conclusions in their investigations.

 

The woman, Kim Lien Pettersson, 57, was on a dive tour with about 30 other tourists, including her husband, when the incident happened, said Pol Lt Col Korkiat Boonplod of Khuraburi Police Station.

 

“Ms Pettersson came with her husband by tour company and stayed overnight on the boat,” Col Korgiat said.

“Her husband was an experienced diver,” he noted.

Full story: http://www.thephuketnews.com/police-investigate-swedish-diver-death-at-similans-59800.php 

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2016-11-10

[SOTIRIOS]

...wait 3 days before beginning an investigation....???

 

...this would only benefit any guilty party....

 

...jeez...

 

 

 

[rosst]

Her husband WAS an experienced diver ?   Hopefully not deceased ? 

More cogent, is what was the level of experience of the deceased ? 

Not much information of value in this report.