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Tourist drowns, local man declared brain dead
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Posted on Mar 29 2006
A Japanese female tourist drowned on Rota, while a local man who went fishing in Tanapag, Saipan, was declared clinically brain dead during separate incidents Tuesday, the Department of Public Safety said yesterday.
DPS spokesman Ken I. Concepcion said the first incident, which was reported at 10:28am, happened at the Teteto Beach on Rota.
Concepcion said that, based on preliminary investigation, the 65-year-old victim and her three children were swimming at the beach between 10am to 10:20am.
The victim left the group and continued swimming south of the beach.
The daughter later saw her mother, who was wearing a life vest, floating on the water. When the daughter checked the victim, she did not respond.
Responding personnel from the Commonwealth Ports Authority and the assistant fire chief performed CPR on the victim.
Emergency medical technicians conducted further treatment and transported the victim to the Rota Health Center.
Dr. Francois Klassen pronounced the tourist dead on arrival at 10:45am.
The second incident, which was reported to DPS at 9:15pm, occurred at the Tanapag Lagoon.
Concepcion said the DPS Boating Safety Unit personnel learned that the victim, a 43-year-old local man, was with five other family members fishing at the lagoon at 7pm.
About an hour into their fishing, some other fishermen heard the victim screaming for help. The victim was observed struggling to stay afloat and coughing at the same time, Concepcion said.
The fishermen swam toward the victim, who asked them to bring him to shore. When they got to the shore, the victim lost consciousness and stopped breathing.
Concepcion said responding emergency medical technicians performed CPR then took the victim to the Commonwealth Health Center.
The DPS spokesman said the victim had no pulse and was not breathing. A doctor later pronounced him brain dead.
On March 6, 2006, former Rota Resident Director for Finance Vicente S. Atalig drowned while fishing at the Swimming Hole Beach on Rota.
Last month, a Chinese male tourist drowned while swimming at Tachogna Beach in San Jose, Tinian.
