Fatality Cabo San Lucas March 3

[Graeme Tolton]

A quarterly air test is nothing more than a snapshot. It is done right after all the maintenance has been performed. It can be likened to taking a picture of a busy highway, while it is closed for construction. Someone sees the picture a month or two later and decides it is a good idea to cross the highway, based on the best information available.

Another indication of the state of repair of a compressor is humidity. If it has wet air, the filters aren't working. Would it not be a good idea to be testing the dew point of your fill?

In addition to asking for air test results, should we not be asking to see a maintenance log? Some may show that certain things are only done when its testing time.

 

[bleeb]

Another article:
Instructor of Calgarian who died while diving also felt sick

 

[Ayisha]

Instructor of Calgarian who died while diving also felt sick - Calgary - CBC News

Instructor of Calgarian who died while diving also felt sick

Ronda Cross's family claims she was overcome by carbon monoxide in her air tank

Posted: Mar 7, 2012 3:38 PM MT

Last Updated: Mar 7, 2012 5:13 PM MT

Family blames Mexican diving company in woman's death

Diving death in Mexico6:46

Diving death in Mexico6:46

The dive master who was underwater with a Calgary woman who died when scuba diving in Mexico says he's not sure what went wrong.
Jorge Duchateau took Ronda Cross and her cousin on a dive off the coast of Cabo San Lucas on Saturday.
Cross's family believes she was overcome with carbon monoxide — and blames the company that filled the tanks.
Duchateau says he also started feeling sick about 15 minutes into the dive.
Cross's cousin, Roxanne Amundson, says it was a bad experience from the start.
"I didn't feel like I was getting enough air, but the reason I surfaced was I couldn't clear my mask," she said.
Amundson says her cousin appeared fine when she and the dive master surfaced together, so she shrugged it off as being a new diver.
Cross was an experienced diver. According to her husband, Colin Cross, she had done more than 200 dives around the world.
Something was wrong

"I wasn't going to finish the dive but I knew she was down there waiting for us, so we went back down," she said.
But when they did Ronda Cross was gone.
Dechateau says it wasn't until the second time the two surfaced that he noticed something was wrong.
"I was feeling terrible," he said.
"I was dizzy. I don't remember much, but I can tell my eyes were closing at some point and right before we reached the surface I had a pain in the chest.”
Authorities are now investigating whether the trio were suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Cathie McCuaig, with the Alberta Underwater Council, said a faulty air compressor could have been the problem. She said its rare, but it happens.
"The compressor is usually the cause of it, or the compressor air intake is too close to another piece of machinery that's letting off carbon monoxide fumes," she said.
Duchateau says he gets his tanks filled by a local company — and he's used the same one for the past three months. He is also certified as part of the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI).

 

[Rkelleyj]

That settle it, I'm buying a CO analyser tomorrow.

YES. Same here.

 

[Ozwald]

Ordered mine.

 

[DandyDon]

Well, we still have not seen any real evidence of CO. It might have been in the tanks, but we just don't know. Somehow the family got that idea, and they are being quoted in several stories, but we don't know where they got the idea. Actually I am curious why this story is getting as much press as it is, so much more than many others similar? I do certainly feel that a personal CO analyzer is as important to personal dive gear as having your own O2 analyzer, very important - and I'm glad to see some divers taking this as a reminder to get one now. We just don't know here yet, and may well never...

Another article:
Instructor of Calgarian who died while diving also felt sick

From that article: "The compressor is usually the cause of it, or the compressor air intake is too close to another piece of machinery that's letting off carbon monoxide fumes," she said. Well, that did not adequately address the risk I don't think. Keep reading...

Not related to this accident, but one cause of high CO is compressor flashover from high operating temps. Not every compressor runs a high temp expensive synthetic oil. A flash over is not a continuous event. It can last for 5 seconds, or 5 minutes and even on/off/on/off for the same tank fill. These same high temps are dangerous for the filter system too. If Hopcalite gets much above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, it will no longer convert CO to CO2.This is the reason why 2 tanks filled from the very same compressor sequentially can have one tank full of CO and the very next tank perfectly fine.

Yep. Some ill informed like to claim that electric compressors are safer since they don't produce exhaust fumes of their own, but I suspect that is the most common cause.

And this is worth pointing out as very important to understanding the risks...

A quarterly air test is nothing more than a snapshot. It is done right after all the maintenance has been performed. It can be likened to taking a picture of a busy highway, while it is closed for construction. Someone sees the picture a month or two later and decides it is a good idea to cross the highway, based on the best information available.

Another indication of the state of repair of a compressor is humidity. If it has wet air, the filters aren't working. Would it not be a good idea to be testing the dew point of your fill?

In addition to asking for air test results, should we not be asking to see a msintenance log? Some may show that certain things are only done when its testing time.

 

[Ayisha]

From that article: "The compressor is usually the cause of it, or the compressor air intake is too close to another piece of machinery that's letting off carbon monoxide fumes," she said. Well, that did not adequately address the risk I don't think. Keep reading...

The Alberta Underwater Council is a non-profit organization run by volunteers just like our Ontario Underwater Council. Kudos to them for making any statement this quickly.

This was just on our 11:00 news. The husband said that he was told that there was "poison in the tank". He is assuming that CO is the only "poison". I recall Hydrogen Sulfide was an issue in combination with a case of multiple CO poisonings some years ago, and it has the rotten egg smell to it, which hasn't been mentioned. The link to the news report is here:

Probe into Calgary woman's diving death in Mexico | CTV News

 

[DandyDon]

The Alberta Underwater Council is a non-profit organization run by volunteers just like our Ontario Underwater Council. Kudos to them for making any statement this quickly.

This was just on our 11:00 news. The husband said that he was told that there was "poison in the tank". He is assuming that CO is the only "poison". I recall Hydrogen Sulfide was an issue in combination with a case of multiple CO poisonings some years ago, and it has the rotten egg smell to it, which hasn't been mentioned. The link to the news report is here:

Probe into Calgary woman's diving death in Mexico | CTV News

It could be the reporting in the article, and editing in that video as well - mentioning how a compressor can suck in exhaust fumes, but ignoring how hot compressors partially burn their lubricating oil producing CO internally.

It's certainly a sad loss, for the diver, the husband and the rest of the family. I hope that she was a DAN member and that they are helping get her home. I guess the Canadian Consult will assist with that, but both helping would be better.

One of many articles includes "The owner of the small dive shop refused to comment on the incident, and the family says that Mexican officials have not been forthcoming with information. So far, the family has gleaned most of the details from the funeral home in Mexico dealing with the death."

 

[Patti Analox]

It could be the reporting in the article, and editing in that video as well - mentioning how a compressor can suck in exhaust fumes, but ignoring how hot compressors partially burn their lubricating oil producing CO internally.

It's certainly a sad loss, for the diver, the husband and the rest of the family. I hope that she was a DAN member and that they are helping get her home. I guess the Canadian Consult will assist with that, but both helping would be better.

One of many articles includes "The owner of the small dive shop refused to comment on the incident, and the family says that Mexican officials have not been forthcoming with information. So far, the family has gleaned most of the details from the funeral home in Mexico dealing with the death."

Divers,

This took by breath away...as did the last fatality. Collectively, as a diving community, our thoughts are with her family.

We don't have confirmation of the cause of her death. The issue remains..we all know Carbon Monoxide is a real and present danger. We know this contamination can occur at any time, even to the best maintained compressor.

At the end of the day, it remains our individual responsibility as divers to make it to the end of the day.

Divers, you know I don't sell on this forum. Buy a carbon monoxide analyzer. There are several very knowledgeable contributors to this forum with feedback on a variety of analyzers available to you. Read up, make an informed decision and protect yourself. If you have questions, I am happy to help on this forum or by private message.

Safe Diving (please)

 

[ocdiver1]

My condolences go out to the family of the deceased as well. I'd like to echo what several posters have said about Sunshine...it's a good, professional dive operation. I have dove with them for years and have always highly recommended them to anyone going down to Cabo. It will be interesting to hear how this turns out but I wouldn't be surprised if they are completely exonerated.