SAN PEDRO, Calif. – The Coast Guard and Ventura County Sheriff’s Department responded to a mayday call from a commercial passenger vessel after a 59-year-old woman surface unconscious near Anacapa Island, Calif., Sept. 28, 2012.
The passenger vessel Spectre sent out a mayday call over marine radio at about 10:18 a.m., stating that the female diver had come to the surface unconscious after about 15 minutes of diving. A crewman onboard the Spectre immediately began administering CPR.
The Coast Guard launched an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles and a 41-foot Utility boat from Coast Guard Station Channel Islands Harbor. A Ventura County Sheriff’s helicopter arrived on-scene and lowered a Ventura County paramedic onboard and continued administering CPR.
After continuing CPR for nearly an hour and attempting to defibrillate several times, the paramedic were unable to gain a response from the victim. The Coast Guard utility boat brought the woman and her husband back to shore where they were met by members of the Ventura County Coroner’s Office.
