San Diego diving accident

[Daniel101]

August 30, 2008
Diver runs out of air off Point Loma
Paramedics rushed two scuba divers to UCSD Medical Center for treatment in a special chamber after they were forced to make a dangerously fast ascent from a depth of 70 to 75 feet Saturday afternoon off Point Loma, San Diego city lifeguards and firefighters reported.

The two divers, a man and a woman believed to be in their mid-30s, were diving about one to two miles off the point when the male diver ran out of air, said lifeguard Sgt. John Everhart. His dive partner aided him in breathing as they made their way back to the surface, but they had to make their ascent so fast that it put them both in danger, said Everhart.

Divers who return to the surface too fast from substantial depth run the risk of decompressing too rapidly, causing a condition commonly known as "the bends." Nitrogen is released suddenly in the bloodstream, which can be very painful or fatal.

A high-speed lifeguard boat transferred both victims to lifeguard headquarters at Quivira Basin, where ambulances were waiting to take them to a hyperbaric chamber at the hospital.

"Both divers were conscious, but the male wasn't doing as well as the female," said Capt. Bill DeGranier of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

[Looka]

Doesn't sound like a deco obligation. Sounds like an uncontrolled air sharing ascent with DCI related to the speed of the ascent. Who knows, may also have involved AGE for one or both.