Volunteer diver dies after installing artificial reef off Phuket

Eakkapop Thongtub

 

Lakkhana Sakunphong, from Krabi, was rushed by to Chalong Pier, where Phuket rescue workers and medical staff were waiting for her. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

 

PHUKET: -- Police are hoping to confirm the cause of death of a 35-year-old volunteer diver who fainted soon after resurfacing from assisting in a government project to install an artificial reef at Racha Yai Island, south of Phuket, yesterday (June 18).

 

Lakkhana Sakunphong, from Krabi, was among 26 divers working together under a project by the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) Phuket office to install an artificial reef at Kon Kae Bay, The Phuket News was told.

 

The dive team were working under the direction of four Phuket DMCR officers.

 

Full story: http://www.thephuketnews.com/volunteer-diver-dies-after-installing-artificial-reef-off-phuket-62635.php

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2017-06-19

Apparently she was recently certified. If correct, she had no business at all doing that kind of task under water.

Also the boat the DMCR was using lacked all basic safety equipment like oxygen.

Apparently she was recently certified. If correct, she had no business at all doing that kind of task under water.
Also the boat the DMCR was using lacked all basic safety equipment like oxygen.

The article said they gave her oxygen on the boat.

13 minutes ago, jerojero said:

The article said they gave her oxygen on the boat.

Yes, they got that from a properly equipped diveboat nearby.

 

They had nothing on their boat, nothing.

diving is inherently dangerous if you don't what you are doing, or if you just forget the basics or did not have them drilled into your head during your certification process. something as simple and instinctive as holding your breath during an emergency could prove fatal.  

 

I wonder at what depth they were working and for what duration or how many days?

 

RIP.

 

“At about noon Ms Lakkhana’s oxygen tank was almost empty."

Either she was using heliox (mix of oxygen and helium) for a prolonged dive time or the article misused the term "oxygen tank" for "compressed air (roughly 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen, and 1% other gases) tank."  Being recently certified for SCUBA she had no business using Heliox. Furthermore, oxygen in heliox has toxic effect on the body and post-treatment with pure oxygen might have hastened her death if she was using heliox.

 

Seeing her tank was almost empty(lack of dive experience), she may risen too quickly to surface that would mean she had no diving buddy to share heliox or air for a properly-timed ascent that could have contributed to bends. No treatment for bends was apparently considered or available.

This was all over Thai social media this past weekend... My wife read it to me... It said they were relatively shallow, you had to be an advance diver or better, she had a low air incident and got to her dive buddy... it appears she had already ingested water into her lungs.. they surfaced and she was able to speak before she fainted... Water was coming from her lungs during CPR... I wonder why all of this wasn't report to the news.. or did they not understand the value of the information... She could have been a recent advanced certified diver... Who knows for all that goes on here, she could have been a friend of someone that allowed her to dive with a new open water cert... Regardless a sad way to end one's life, trying to volunteer for a good cause... RIP !!!!