Jacqueline De Haven, a deckhand on a Tacoma, Washington, USA charter dive boat was on the water last October watching divers from the surface. Along with the captain, she noticed another dive charter boat unload divers. Shortly after, they watched as two divers descended and then quickly surfaced. One diver made it to the swim step and then they noticed the captain waving frantically and calling out that he needed CPR.
Motoring over, De Haven rode outside the bow railings and jumped over to the boat in need of aid. She worked with the captain and deckhand of the other vessel to get the injured diver on board and started cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
De Haven and the other deckhand performed two-person CPR for 25 minutes while waiting for the fire department rescue boat to arrive after which emergency services took over. She was gratified to hear from the injured diver several days later when he called to say thanks and tell her that his prognosis is excellent.
De Haven shares, “I was amazed how during the rescue I was calm and I remember feeling almost ‘automatic’. I realize that CPR scenarios do not always end positively, but I truly credit my years of EFR training with contributing to the recovery of this diver.”.
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