Man drowns at same North Shore beach where snorkeler was fatally injured Tuesday
A 48-year-old man apparently drowned today in the same area of the ocean off the North Shore where a snorkeler was fatally injured Tuesday.
The man was apparently swimming when he was found unresponsive about 4:40 p.m. in the area of Three Tables Beach near Waimea Point, an EMS report said.
Good Samaritans started CPR until first responders arrived and took over. The man died at the scene.
The Medical Examiner’s Office today identified the 60-year-old Colorado visitor who was found unresponsive while snorkeling at Three Tables as Stuart McPherson. The victim was found unresponsive at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
8 responses to “Man drowns at same North Shore beach where snorkeler was fatally injured Tuesday”
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Public education about the importance of Slow Safe Snorkel Breathing (SSSB) could help prevent visitor snorkel drowning death. Unfortunately, the DOH drowning prevention coordinator, Bridget Velasco, has shown no interest in this. So people who don’t know proper snorkel technique keep dying in our waters.
The Hawaii Injury Prevention Advisory Committee’s 2017 drowning prevention plan highlights the importance of visitor education, but gives no specifics and admits it has no idea what to educate them about. It lacks specifics and fails to even mention the #1 cause of visitor drownings in Hawaii – snorkeling.
This is very sad.
see:
http://health.hawaii.gov/injuryprevention/files/2013/09/HIPP-2012-2017-Drowning-Prevention-460KB.pdf
All those fly by night snorkel rentals from the mainland transppants to blame.
Where are the lifeguards? Why is every “rescue” a resuscitation? Considering how small our beaches are, we seem to be seriously understaffed.
3 Table Tops is a small beach and I’ve never seen a lifeguard there and that’s my family’s favorite beach. I’m surprised though that people drown there because it’s protected by reef and the waters are relatively calm, unless these guys are on the outer portion of the reef or are poor swimmers. There simply are not enough lifeguards to go around.
I’m not clear on why they’re saying the snorkeler from Tuesday was “fatally injured”, since the cause of death hasn’t been released but there’s no indication he was bitten by a shark, run over by a boat, shot with a speargun etc. Drowning is a type of trauma but wouldn’t normally be described as a “fatal injury”.
Solution:Make Sharks Cove and snorkeling North Shore off-limits to visitors and tourists alike. Hanauma Bay already ruined so keep them there.
Guards are best deployed where the most number of people are at risk. That changes a lot from winter big waves to summer few waves but lots of flat water activities like snorkeling. Perhaps there could be some guard schedule shifting and a better utilization of the mobile [Truck] units. It is not the guards fault that people drown but it is nice when they can be there for a rescue …or best for prevention. Note a big responsibility for visitor information belongs to the HVB. And what if snorkel gear that gets sold requires some warning or better yet instructions. My gosh this day and age if you but a 5 gallon bucket there is a warning on it that you might drown. Whatever moves forward lets not let the lawyers get into this and really mess it it up.
Excellent comment.