Post by L Roebuck on Oct 4, 2005 7:22:43 GMT -5
Better road needed to aid injured divers
A Times Editorial
Published October 4, 2005
Like the bird of prey the site shares a name with, the Eagle's Nest, if you can find it, is in a hard-to-reach place.
But Hernando County's legendary cave-diving spot is posing a hazard to those who are able to locate it and are determined to plumb the intricate underwater maze.
Cave divers assume a great personal risk when they submerge themselves in the Eagle's Nest, which must be accessed through a secluded pond in the woods off County Road 550 between Weeki Wachee and Bayport. The milelong cave is more than 300 feet deep in some places. Signs posted by the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which owns the land, warn of the danger, which a diver described to the Times as "one of the Mount Everests of cave diving."
Two men died there last year and, just last month, a Tampa woman had to be pulled by her diving partner to the surface too quickly because the mix of gases in her tanks was incorrect. She was not breathing and her heart had stopped when she surfaced, but other divers saved her life by calling 911 and then heroically performing CPR on her for 20 to 30 minutes. Judi Bedard has been critically ill in Shands Hospital in Gainesville since the Sept. 11 accident.
Bedard was lucky to be in the company of such level-headed resuscitators at Eagle's Nest. But she could have received better emergency medical care much sooner if the ambulance could have reached her.
Because the pond is in such a remote area, rescuers had to use a sport utility vehicle to pick her up and take her to a spot where the Bayflite medical helicopter could land. An ambulance apparently cannot traverse the dirt road that leads only about half way to the water's edge. That meant Bedard did not receive the lifesaving care she needed for "a good 30 minutes - probably more," according to a report by two diving safety experts who witnessed the rescue.
Knowing there is likely to be another medical emergency at Eagle's Nest one day, state Fish and Wildlife needs to clear a navigable path that will accommodate Hernando County Fire and Rescue's ambulance. The County Commission should declare its support of that project and offer the state whatever assistance it can - the expertise and manpower of its emergency workers and civil engineers, if necessary - to make it happen as soon as possible.
Until that can be accomplished, additional signs should be in place that specifically warn divers that in the event of an emergency, medical care might be delayed.
[Last modified October 4, 2005, 02:15:30]
St. Petersburg Times
www.sptimes.com/2005/10/04/Hernando/Better_road_needed_to.shtml
A Times Editorial
Published October 4, 2005
Like the bird of prey the site shares a name with, the Eagle's Nest, if you can find it, is in a hard-to-reach place.
But Hernando County's legendary cave-diving spot is posing a hazard to those who are able to locate it and are determined to plumb the intricate underwater maze.
Cave divers assume a great personal risk when they submerge themselves in the Eagle's Nest, which must be accessed through a secluded pond in the woods off County Road 550 between Weeki Wachee and Bayport. The milelong cave is more than 300 feet deep in some places. Signs posted by the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which owns the land, warn of the danger, which a diver described to the Times as "one of the Mount Everests of cave diving."
Two men died there last year and, just last month, a Tampa woman had to be pulled by her diving partner to the surface too quickly because the mix of gases in her tanks was incorrect. She was not breathing and her heart had stopped when she surfaced, but other divers saved her life by calling 911 and then heroically performing CPR on her for 20 to 30 minutes. Judi Bedard has been critically ill in Shands Hospital in Gainesville since the Sept. 11 accident.
Bedard was lucky to be in the company of such level-headed resuscitators at Eagle's Nest. But she could have received better emergency medical care much sooner if the ambulance could have reached her.
Because the pond is in such a remote area, rescuers had to use a sport utility vehicle to pick her up and take her to a spot where the Bayflite medical helicopter could land. An ambulance apparently cannot traverse the dirt road that leads only about half way to the water's edge. That meant Bedard did not receive the lifesaving care she needed for "a good 30 minutes - probably more," according to a report by two diving safety experts who witnessed the rescue.
Knowing there is likely to be another medical emergency at Eagle's Nest one day, state Fish and Wildlife needs to clear a navigable path that will accommodate Hernando County Fire and Rescue's ambulance. The County Commission should declare its support of that project and offer the state whatever assistance it can - the expertise and manpower of its emergency workers and civil engineers, if necessary - to make it happen as soon as possible.
Until that can be accomplished, additional signs should be in place that specifically warn divers that in the event of an emergency, medical care might be delayed.
[Last modified October 4, 2005, 02:15:30]
St. Petersburg Times
www.sptimes.com/2005/10/04/Hernando/Better_road_needed_to.shtml