Fatality Cabo San Lucas March 3

[caboticket]

the shop in question is conquest divers

 

[DeepSeaDan]

FYI...

Canada News: Canadian scuba diver dies while on vacation in Mexico - thestar.com

Regards,
DSD

 

[Belmont]

Two of my friends bought Analox's Co monitors las week before leaving for Bonaire And Cancun.
I would not leave home without mine.

 

[caboticket]

this is what was reported on monday, this is what happened... the first post..
Canadian woman dies scuba diving in Cabo San Lucas

and the official coroner report from here in cabo put the cause to drowning.

 

[Jax]

this is what was reported on monday, this is what happened... the first post..
Canadian woman dies scuba diving in Cabo San Lucas

and the official coroner report from here in cabo put the cause to drowning.

Of course he did. It wasn't the carbon monoxide that killed her. It was the resultant drowning.

 

[markmantei]

This may or may not turn out to be CO, and I would be shocked if we had any updates after further testing from the authorities or others in the know to substantiate or disprove this conjecture. Nevertheless it certainly reinforces the need for increased awareness regarding the dangers of CO contamination in breathing gas. There is another thread here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/co...ving-2-26-12-had-one-tank-read-12-ppm-co.html indicating that cozumel has likely not completely resolved their issues either, although some shops have started using handheld testers (Dave from Aldora has confirmed they do) to supplement measures put in place on the compressors. More shops need to start testing tanks, or even better educating divers and having CO analyzers on hand for divers to use similar to O2 analyzers that shops supply for use by their customers getting nitrox fills.

 

[markmantei]

this is what was reported on monday, this is what happened... the first post..
Canadian woman dies scuba diving in Cabo San Lucas

and the official coroner report from here in cabo put the cause to drowning.

There are probably relatively few SCUBA fatalities that are not ruled drownings. That may be what killed the diver but does not rule CO contamination out as the cause of the drowning.

 

[Chris12day]

High-jack

We as divers have a few choices...

1) Analyze our own tanks for their content: oxygen, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, water, organics, etc. Anyone have a portable gas chromatographic?

2) Analyze our own tanks for oxygen and carbon monoxide. I hope the tank doesn't contain anything else....

3) Require the company who fills our tanks to have an inline carbon monoxide testing system. I hope the tank doesn't contain anything else....

4) Require the company who fills our tanks follow Good Manufacturing Procedures (GMPs) for breathing air including independent testing and auditing.

5) Lobby our certifying agencies to audit their "approved" dive shops for compliance and posting of the analytical test results from their audit on their websites.


Maybe it is time, we as a group (divers...), demand higher standards from the industry as a whole. I mean, we are required to have our tanks inspected and certified, why do we not demand the same of our air suppliers.

Safe diving.....

 

[markmantei]

High-jack

We as divers have a few choices...

1) Analyze our own tanks for their content: oxygen, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, water, organics, etc. Anyone have a portable gas chromatographic?

2) Analyze our own tanks for oxygen and carbon monoxide. I hope the tank doesn't contain anything else....

3) Require the company who fills our tanks to have an inline carbon monoxide testing system. I hope the tank doesn't contain anything else....

4) Require the company who fills our tanks follow Good Manufacturing Procedures (GMPs) for breathing air including independent testing and auditing.

5) Lobby our certifying agencies to audit their "approved" dive shops for compliance and posting of the analytical test results from their audit on their websites.


Maybe it is time, we as a group (divers...), demand higher standards from the industry as a whole. I mean, we are required to have our tanks inspected and certified, why do we not demand the same of our air suppliers.

Safe diving.....

Good list. I don't think any one of these is the answer by itself, more likely a combination of divers taking more responsiblity for ensuring the safety of our breathing gas and operations being more diligent in their safety and monitoring practices.

Most nitrox divers would not consider diving a tank without testing it. Maybe the same should be true of CO. You are correct though in stating that CO is not the only other contaminant and we will probably never be able to be 100% sure the gas we are breathing is safe. That said the technology to be able to test for CO is readily available, reliable, and relatively inexpensive. It does not take a rocket scientist to test for CO and anyone who is capable of running dive tables certainly has the wherewith-all to be able to accurately measure CO levels using a handheld tester.

Dive ops and fill stations as a group will only implement inline sensors if we as the broader diving community demand it. That certainly involves the certifying agencies as they set standards for some/many of those businesses, and train new divers in what to expect. Not to pick on PADI, but their removal of the quarterly testing requirement is certainly a step back in that regard. My communication with SSI from a year and a half ago indicated that "SSI still has air tests done on systems" but that may only be a Canadian policy, and even then I did not see an official policy document. I do not know of any other agencies stance. As long as the vast majority of divers are not aware and are not asking what the fill policies are, we will be relying on the good nature of individual business owners to ensure our safety. There certainly are good, responsible, business people out there, sometimes its just difficult to tell the good from the bad when obvious issues that hit the front page of the paper happen as infrequently as they do with contaminated breathing gas.

 

[Ayisha]

Here is a link to another article from today and the text for posterity: Calgarian dies while scuba diving in Mexico

Calgarian dies while scuba diving in Mexico

Family says tank contained carbon monoxide

By Sean Myers And Clara Ho, Calgary Herald March 7, 2012

A Calgary man is devastated after his wife died in a scuba-diving incident now under investigation by Mexican police.
Ronda Cross, 41, was diving Saturday with her cousin off Cabo San Lucas when she died, overcome by carbon monoxide in the scuba tanks, according to her family.
They are blaming faulty rental equipment.
"The carbon monoxide levels that were in her, she basically just fell asleep," said her husband Colin Cross, who was golfing in Florida with his father at the time.
"My life has just been torn apart and ripped in half.
"I can't even fathom what next week or the week after will look like. I thought growing old with her was all it was going to be. Continuing diving together and enjoying our vacations together," Cross said.
Ronda's cousin, Roxanne Amundson, and the pair's dive master felt sick and had trouble breathing when they surfaced.
Ronda did not surface with them.
Her body was pulled out of the water by the crew of a nearby boat who found her floating in the water.
The group had been diving at a depth of about 23 metres.
Both Ronda and Colin have undertaken 200 dives and have travelled around the world for scuba experience.
Colin Cross said it was Sunshine Dive and Charter that filled the tanks for the group, but a staff member who answered the phone denied his shop had anything to do with the tanks.
The company lists itself as a five-star facility certified by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors.
Cross said he believes whoever filled the tanks was negligent and he's warning anyone considering a dive trip in a developing country to ensure the rental tanks have been properly filled and inspected before using them.
"The blame has got to be put squarely on who filled up those tanks," said Cross. "I just want people to know. My wife would want to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else."
The couple met in Calgary in 1999 and married in 2003. Cross moved from Ontario in 1994 while Ronda arrived from Fort Nelson, B.C., that same year. They have lived in Elkford, B.C., for the past four years.
Cross said he has a teenage daughter from a previous marriage and he and Ronda were planning to adopt a child.
He works as an IT technician and she worked part time as a dental assistant.
"We tried to take at least two months' vacation a year," said Cross. "We just felt, you may as well do it now when you're young and can enjoy it."
Ronda's body is expected to arrive in Calgary today.
A memorial service is planned for Saturday in Elkford.