2 tech students dead: Jacksonville diver training institute is facing consequences after drownings

A Jacksonville diving school that saw two of its students die this year following underwater training incidents continues to come under scrutiny, the latest being a suspension of its authority to certify divers.

"We officially placed the school under membership review" last week due to both fatalities at CDA Technical Institute, said Phillip Newsum, executive director of the Association of Diving Contractors International.

The emergency measure means the institute at 91 Trout River Drive will be audited to determine possible consequences, he said. CDA has not been shut down but for now won't be able to issue professional diver certifications that are important for careers.

A staff member at CDA said "We have no comment at this time" on the institute's recent troubles.

Another strike against the school involves the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. CDA lost its approval to train veterans and other eligible people under the GI Bill following the VA's withdrawal last week.

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The VA told the institute that Victor Leroy Pierce Jr.'s death in February and Fausto Martins' in April were the reasons to withdraw its approval. The decision also came after multiple complaints of unsafe practices at the school by students, the agency said.

"VA takes seriously its commitment to provide oversight and ensure the integrity of the GI Bill program for all GI Bill beneficiaries," its statement said. "VA continues to review and monitor all GI Bill schools’ compliance with applicable statutes and regulations, and when necessary, will take appropriate action."

The GI Bill helps veterans and family members get funding for post-deployment schools or training, and the VA's move means CDA can no longer accept new students under the GI measure.

The VA, through the Florida Department of Veteran's Affairs, said it will notify GI Bill beneficiaries at CDA of the action and what options may be available to them. Students also can contact VA’s Education Call Center at (888) 442-4551.

In addition, a petition drive was started by professional divers to put a halt on student diving operations at CDA following the deaths.

Drowning investigations

The Sheriff's Office has investigated both deaths.

The first included 11 officer bodycam videos released Thursday, some showing rescue personnel trying to save Pierce's life.

Officers and paramedics were called about 10 a.m. on Feb. 12 to the Flamingo Lake RV Park at 3640 Newcomb Road, according to that police report. Divers were in the water as part of their final scuba certification when Pierce's instructor said he noticed him "lagging behind" as they were underwater, then found him with his air tank mouthpiece out of his mouth.

Video from an officer's body camera shows a diving student being questioned and saying the students were supposed to meet in one spot in the lake to do the first portion of their certification. The diver said he was one of the last ones to the spot when he noticed other students pointing.

"All I saw was bubbles," the unidentified student diver said. "The instructor swims out over there, brings him up and all I see is blue. ... We got his head up and it was blue. He had a tank on. He had all of his gear."

The instructor put Pierce's mouthpiece back in, but he was unresponsive. The student said he and others "started getting his head above water" as they and the instructor brought Pierce back to shore.

"That's when the entire class rushed in and we dragged him up on the bank," the student diver said. "We started doing CPR. ... He was under [water] a minute, a minute and a half."

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Another student is heard telling officers that Pierce had no pulse as the victim is seen being rushed to an ambulance in the background. But the incident report said Pierce was breathing and responsive when he was taken to UF Health Jacksonville. The report states that hospital staff said the "victim was possibly intoxicated" and told them "he had an equipment malfunction."

There was no indication of foul play, according to the incident report.

Pierce's sister-in-law posted on Facebook that he remained on life support until his death on Feb. 28. He was 34.

"It saddens me that this has happened to another family," the sister-in-law wrote after the April 14 death of a second student diver — Martins.

That incident occurred just after 9 a.m. on April 14 at the dive academy on Trout River Drive, the police report said. Officers and firefighters were called to a drowning to find Martins "unresponsive" and not breathing at the end of a pier.

School staff told officers that Martins was in the water doing a dive for training purposes when they heard him say "he had water coming in his helmet," the report said. He was told to vent his mask to get the water out but became unresponsive to commands.

All names are redacted on the report, but someone jumped into the water and pulled Martin out onto the pier. That person and someone else began doing CPR immediately, then the fire department took him to UF Health. Martin, 41, was pronounced dead at 10:20 a.m., the report said.

It is unknown if the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the deaths since the divers were students and not employees.

Calls to shut CDA down

However, the incidents did prompt a petition drive by other divers.

"Two student deaths at CDA are currently under investigation and they are still diving students," the petition said. "More deaths will occur if they do not stop diving students before these investigations are complete. This petition also requests grief counseling for students seeking it. Please sign this petition to give care and help us keep divers alive."

The petition had more than 1,100 signatures as of Friday, and also demands a third-party investigation of the two deaths.

A Pierce family friend began a GoFundMe account shortly after his death to help pay the medical bills after he spent two weeks in a medically induced coma and on life support before he died.

Family members for Martins also started a fundraiser to help honor his memory after he was "tragically taken from his loved ones in a preventable accident," that GoFundMe said.

"Our family would like to honor Fausto’s memory and help support his young family as well as others that have lost loved ones training in commercial diving," it said.

A check of police calls to the school in the past four years shows one other death on Aug. 11, 2019, when someone at the school passed out while working on a computer, then died, the report said. That report does not indicate that the victim had been diving.

dscanlan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4549

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville diver training school comes under scrutiny after drownings