A former employee for a snorkelling company on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula has told a coronial inquest into the drowning death of a woman that he believed oxygen should have been on board the boat.
41-year-old Ms Chua drowned while on a snorkelling tour near Port Lincoln in 2017.
The family of the woman has requested for her to be named as Ms Chua.
Ms Chua was visiting South Australia with her brother and sister from the Philippines and took part in a Swim with the Sea Lions tour hosted by Adventure Bay Charters.
During Tuesday's inquest, former employee, Sam Hamood-Smith — who was aged 17 at the time of the incident — told coroner Naomi Kereru that he was under the impression Ms Chua was comfortable and confident in the water.
He said Ms Chua gave a "big smile" and "thumbs up" in the water with snorkel apparatus fitted.
Around 40 minutes into the tour, she was found five metres from the group unresponsive and with her face down in the water.
There were 19 guests and four crew members onboard the Adventure Tour Charter when it visited a reef near Blyth Island.
The court previously heard that there were eight inexperienced swimmers on the tour on the day of the incident.
The court heard that Ms Chua told the employees on the tour that she "could swim but had not snorkelled for a long time".
Counsel assisting the coroner Emma Roper told the inquest oxygen wasn't made available on board the boat.
Mr Hamood-Smith, who is now a fully qualified diver, agreed with Ms Roper that oxygen wasn't on the boat.
"I believe that oxygen should have been on board," Mr Hamood-Smith told the inquiry.
There is currently no mandate for South Australian tour companies to have a defibrillator, oxygen, or adrenaline on board.
Mr Hamood-Smith told the court he believed it was the passenger's duty of care to tell crew members if they had any pre-existing health conditions.
Ms Roper told the court that there's evidence the group wasn't taught hand symbols for emergency situations.
Mr Hamood-Smith told the counsel assisting that a course on how to deliver snorkelling training wasn't made available to the crew members.
On Friday, tour passengers William Ledger, who is the head of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of New South Wales, and his wife Catherine Ledger who is a nurse, gave evidence to the inquiry.
Ms Ledger said that the resuscitation mask she used on Ms Chua was expired with perished elastics.
Mr Ledger said he could not find an EpiPen on board.
The inquiry heard Adventure Bay Charters did not have a defibrillator on board when Ms Chua died but it had since been fitted with one.
Mr Waller said he had arranged for 10 defibrillators to be purchased for tour operators in the Eyre Peninsula.
'Not prepared'
On Monday, Ms Roper told the inquest that an affidavit filed by a fellow passenger had accused the crew of "not being prepared to deal with an emergency situation" after Ms Chua's death.
Former employee, Elise Lavers, also agreed in hindsight that more safety training and procedures would have been "useful".
"Having those face masks for resuscitation, having oxygen on board, having a rigid body board to be able to bring a casualty straight to the vessel if any incident occurs," she said.
According to Ms Lavers's affidavit, Ms Chua and her family were the first group to arrive on the day of the tour and "were all very excited and friendly" and "understood English quite well".
"I don't recall any specific issues with Ms Chua and her group," she said
"I don't recall them needing any specific instructions from me."
Ms Lavers, told the inquest that as a "host" of the tour she was tasked with keeping a "look-out" on the group from the boat, as well as washing dishes and putting away wetsuits.
Ms Lavers agreed with Ms Roper that a dedicated "look-out" on snorkelling tours was a "good idea".
Ms Lavers's report stated that 30 minutes after the group got into the water, she heard yelling and looked over to find a crowd of people surrounding someone receiving chest compressions in shallow water.
She stated that she jumped into the water and swam over to them before she checked for a pulse and couldn't find one.
Ms Lavers, who had completed her full first aid training, help carry Ms Chua back to the boat and took turns completing chest compressions.
"Every few rounds of CPR she would bring up some fluid, which we would clear before continuing with CPR," her report read.
