Umbilical severed at 80 meters in North Sea

[Bombay High]

Akimbo, I wish some company or HSE could get you back to the North Sea in some capacity. It seems criminal to not exploit your depth of experience in sat diving. I am sure you have had enough, but it just seems a big loss to the commercial dive community and especially sat divers.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I have heard of children that fell through ice recovering after 45 minutes, though they probably also had some water in their lungs. I don’t recall any adults going this long in water that was probably closer to the mid 40° F mark than freezing. Do you have any info to the contrary?



(bold red emphasis is mine) I wonder if anyone checked how much gas was left in his bailout? Until you experience it, it is hard to imagine the cooling impact of breathing HeO2 (not Trimix) with oxygen under 10%. Divers have lost hot water many times but were working hard (along with the bellman) to get back to the bell rather than trying to conserve bailout gas.

I have never heard of a diver blacking-out from hyperthermia, though drowning may have been “assumed” when bottles were found empty (which can easily happen after loss of consciousness from dropping the mouthpiece and freeflowing). Do any of you Ice divers know of any?

Akimbo, here are a few examples of papers written on hypothermia (low body temperature, as opposed to "hyperthermia", which is high body temperature).

Wilderness Environ Med. 2006 Spring;17(1):26-30.
Problems and complications with cold-water rescue.

Giesbrecht GG, Hayward JS.
Source

Laboratory for Exercise and Environmental Medicine, the Health, Leisure and Human Performance Research Institute, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. giesbrec@ms.umanitoba.ca

Abstract

A case description is presented of a 9-member rowing team whose scull swamped on a small lake in Victoria, Canada, because of a sudden winter storm, which immersed them in 4 degrees C water for 50 minutes until a small rescue boat found them in darkness. Another 13 minutes of cold exposure in 6.7 degrees C air occurred during boat transport to waiting ambulance paramedics. Two rowers died, one from severe hypothermia and the other from drowning as a consequence of cold incapacitation and hypothermia. The 2 coldest rowers, who were transported 8 km to a major hospital, arrived with rectal temperatures of 23.4 degrees C and 25 degrees C; the first was asystolic and the second was unconscious and in sinus bradycardia. Analysis of all the circumstances of this incident provided an opportunity to observe a continuum of responses in a heterogeneous group of rowers at risk of severe hypothermia. Several practical lessons concerning cold-water survival, rescue, and treatment can be learned. The effects of low body mass were associated with greater cooling rate. Diminished neuromuscular performance in the periphery appeared to be independent of body mass. Rough handling during moving of patients with marked hypothermia introduces the risk of producing ventricular fibrillation or cardiac arrest. Unconscious, nonshivering hypothermia victims who are rescued and insulated from cold could have a further afterdrop of 3 degrees C to 4 degrees C. During transport to a hospital, the use of heating devices concentrating on core regions may increase the chance of successful treatment in the hospital. Cardiopulmonary bypass may be indicated for severely hypothermic patients in asystole.

PMID:16538942 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Problems and complications with cold-... [Wilderness Environ Med. 2006] - PubMed - NCBI

This one is the child you were talking about, but in warmer water:

Chest. 2004 May;125(5):1948-51.
Survival after prolonged submersion in freshwater in Florida.

Modell JH, Idris AH, Pineda JA, Silverstein JH.
Source

Departments of Anesthesiology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610-0254, USA. modeljh@shands.ufl.edu

Abstract

A 2-year-old boy was submerged for at least 20 min in a freshwater creek in Union County, FL. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was administered for approximately 1 h at the scene and during transport to the hospital. On arrival, his Glasgow coma scale score was 3 and rectal temperature was < or = 26.7 degrees C. He demonstrated respiratory failure, intense vasoconstriction, hemoglobinuria, anemia, hypercoagulability, thrombocytosis, leukopenia, and persistent coma. With intensive care, he began emerging from the coma after 72 h and progressively improved. Testing at the Developmental Evaluation Center and clinical observations showed him to be completely normal by 6 months after drowning. Thus, severe, rapid hypothermia can occur during drowning in cold water in any geographic location and at temperatures above those necessary for ice formation. Hypothermia provides cerebral protection from hypoxia, permitting total recovery with appropriate CPR and intensive care.

Comment in

• Immersion in fresh water and survival. [Chest. 2004]Immersion in fresh water and survival.Dueker CW. Chest. 2004 Dec; 126(6):2027-8; author reply 2028-9.

PMID:15136412 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15136412

This one is of a 31 year old woman who survived 30 minutes submersion:

J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 1996 May;2(3):256-60.
Near drowning in frigid water: a case study of a 31-year-old woman.

Huckabee HC, Craig PL, Williams JM.
Source

University of Alaska, Anchorage, USA.

Abstract

A 31-yr-old woman demonstrated intact neuropsychological functioning after being submerged for at least 30 minutes in icy cold water. Following submersion, the patient received CPR for approximately 1 hr. Eight hours after submersion, the patient's temperature was 31 degrees C (87 degrees F). She remained nonresponsive for 2 days after the accident. Extensive neuropsychological testing was completed 3 mo after the accident with no objective or subjective deficits evidenced. This case of hypothermically mediated neuroprotection from anoxia in an adult supports the need for further research on the putative neurophysiological mechanisms invoked and the potential for application of clinically induced hypothermia in the acute management of other types of cerebral insults.

PMID:9375192 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9375192

 

[Akimbo]

... This one is the child you were talking about, but in warmer water...

Not this one, definitely this kid was less than 10 years old, fell through ice somewhere in the US, and "reported" underwater more than 45 minutes. This kid fully recovered at the hospital after controlled re-heating.

There have been a bunch of them reported in the last 15-20 years. Google: "child falls through ice". Incidences like this are so miraculous that survivors would either been burned at the stake or deemed the second coming 200 years ago.

One of the many fascinating aspects of this diver's accident is the super-rapid, and hopefully full, recovery. He should be on the surface by now, but I doubt they will let him join his mates at the pub this afternoon.

For some reason I type hyperthermia when I am thinking hypothermia. I suppose I should be thankful though. It is amazing anything decipherable hits the screen with my pathetic keyboard skills. Correction made (again) :blush:. Thanks.

 

[Bombay High]

For some reason I type hyperthermia when I am thinking hypothermia. I suppose I should be thankful though. It is amazing anything decipherable hits the screen with my pathetic keyboard skills. Correction made (again) :blush:. Thanks.

Not that any of us think that you would make that mistake ... its just that in a diving world a diver would most likely encounter HYPERthermia during blow downs ... or the horrifying incidents you mentioned. I think that is by far the worst death you could suffer ... i'd MUCH rather freeze to death.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

I thought this was the skin diving forum, not the hardhat forum.

 

[Akimbo]

I thought this was the skin diving forum, not the hardhat forum.

This is a diving accident.
He became a Scuba diver after the umbilical was cut.
Do you believe that there is nothing useful in this thread to the members of ScubaBoard?

Saturation diving is not hard hat diving:
What do you call this gear?

 

[DandyDon]

I thought this was the skin diving forum, not the hardhat forum.

Amazing.

It's Accidents & Incidents forum for divers - scuba, rebreather, surface supplied, freediver, snorkeler.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Calm down hardhat sympathizers Just highlighting out the animosity between the hard hats and skin divers when skin divers came about and make those robbie the robot guys look clumsy.

 

[peterbj7]

What does that mean in English?

 

[DandyDon]

Calm down hardhat sympathizers Just highlighting out the animosity between the hard hats and skin divers when skin divers came about and make those robbie the robot guys look clumsy.

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