2 Hospitalized in Separate Scuba Incidents

Two men were briefly hospitalized over the weekend following separate recreational scuba diving incidents off the Channel Islands, federal authorities said Sunday.

The latest case occurred about 9:30 a.m. Sunday when Dennis Hoffbuhr, 52, of Medford, Ore., signaled to a dive buddy that he was having trouble breathing while underwater on the north side of Santa Rosa Island.

Hoffbuhr ascended on his own but was unconscious when boat personnel pulled him on board, according to the Coast Guard.

He was given CPR and revived, then helicoptered by federal authorities to Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo, where he was treated and released, a nursing supervisor said.

A day earlier, veteran scuba diving instructor Bob Frappia, 65, of Tarzana was taken by helicopter to the same hospital after suffering shortness of breath while diving at a popular spot called “Little Scorpion” off Santa Cruz Island.

Frappia told authorities he began feeling ill while guiding a group of recreational divers on the island’s north end, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Dawn Butler.

After Frappia returned to the surface, he began coughing up blood and needed oxygen to help with his breathing, authorities said. Butler said Frappia may have ascended too quickly, which can contribute to the bends.

A Coast Guard boat that was in the area testing its marine radios picked up Frappia and headed toward Oxnard. While en route, a helicopter hoisted him from the boat and took him to the hospital.

Frappia, who has 30 years of diving experience, did not require treatment in a hyperbaric chamber but was admitted overnight for observation. A nursing supervisor said he was released Sunday.