I had just located a vessel reported to be disabled just south of the marina when I overheard radio traffic about a possible drowning near Gus's Point at 1108 hours. I informed the two men with the disabled vessel that I would need to leave immediately.

I was en-route at 1110 hours and arrived on scene at 1115 hours just north of Ideal Beach and RV Park on shore. The patient was lying motionless on the motor cover of the red Malibu boat with CPR in progress. I pulled the patrol boat onto shore and informed dispatch I was on scene. There were at least one EMS personnel on scene who had apparently responded in a personal vehicle. A Sheriff's Deputy was also on scene. I neared the patient as the person who was providing ventilation for the patient needed relief. I took over patient ventilation and performed a head-tilt, chin-lift maneuver to help open the patient's airway. The individual performing compressions and I continued until the ambulance arrived. I was told that SUBJECT vomited after CPR began and the cause was unknown.

When the ambulance arrived at 1119 hours, we placed SUBJECT on a backboard and transferred him to the ambulance. The ambulance crew took over patient care at that point and I began speaking with witnesses. I found that several people on the boat including the patient (SUBJECT) were heading out onto the lake. The operator had realized that he had just run over an anchor line near shore and shut the engine off believing the rope was possibly tangled in the propeller. Approximately 15 to 25 feet from shore and with a depth of approximately 6 to 8 feet, SUBJECT decided to swim under the boat to untangle the rope from the propeller. He had snorkel mask on and was reportedly a good swimmer in good physical condition. SUBJECT reportedly resurfaced and told the operator that the rope was free and "only wrapped around one propeller fin". At this point the accounts differ somewhat. Some witnesses reported SUBJECT to have had trouble or difficulty and to have sank below the surface and others reported that he did not go back under and once they noticed him struggling, that they then grabbed him and pulled him onto the boat. Nearly all of the witnesses did comment on how odd it was to hear him surface and tell them the status of the rope, and only then begin to struggle. Some of the witnesses stated that it appeared that SUBJECT was convulsing in the water and then on the boat once he was pulled aboard. When SUBJECT was pulled aboard, witnesses reported that his chest hit the tow pole causing a bruise.

SUBJECT was continuously cared for by the ambulance crew until Air-Med arrived. The ambulance crew used a defibrillator and was able to regain a normal sinus rhythm and a pulse. Once Air-Med arrived, SUBJECT was transferred to the helicopter, flown to Ogden Regional Medical Center and admitted to ICU. I gathered witness statements from all of the occupants of the boat and spoke briefly with the pesron who was on shore but assisted in beginning CPR on SUBJECT. She reported to have some level of nurse training/education. It was reported that the land/lot owner initially called 911. I was told the gathering was a family reunion. On 7/24/2011, I spoke with SUBJECT's wife by phone and she confirmed that he was in ICU at Ogden Regional and was currently under-going 'cooling therapy'. She said the doctors were assisting SUBJECT's breathing and they were still very concerned about him. She was very appreciative of everyone's efforts. On 7/30/2011, I spoke with wife again. She said I would not believe how much better SUBJECT was. She said that he was up and moving around, although, still not 100%. She said he was diagnosed with a ventricular fibrillation and that he apparently had a related episode on the day of the incident, making the initial cause not "near drowning". Wife said he had a defibrillator placed on his heart in an effort to prevent a similar occurrence.

Garden City                   