Diver Incident at Dutch Springs Nov 6 2010

[mcjangles]

I was not allowed to check it but its possible the the qd swagelog was not fully engaged..

Were you able to check the O2 valve?

 

[padiscubapro]

Were you able to check the O2 valve?

both the dil and o2 pressure guages showed good pressure.. from memory one was 2700psi the other was 2800.. give or take a few psi

 

[dive_chic]

coldsoul1, really good to hear you've recovered. I was talking to your daughter off to the side to get details, but more to distract her so she didn't have to watch CPR being performed on you by the Dutch Springs rescue staff. Your daughter's reaction to summon help swiftly is to be applauded. You regained consciousness in the ambulance. Padiscubapro (Joe Radomski), examined your equipment while the officers wrote down his findings. It was sobering to watch this transpire. After all calmed down, I went back to my table to go over my CCR checklist (again) prior to my dive.

 

[padiscubapro]

update... I was pretty sure the Meg indicated on the handset when it was in manual mode but I wasn't 100% sure as I havent dived a meg in about a year... I confirmed it today, if the controller is set to manual solenoid the SP is indicated as MAN instead of a setpoint.. The controller had the setpoint at 0.7 contrary to the divers statement..

 

[deep in jersey]

Thanks padiscubapro.I was going to question if you put the rebreather in manual mode that it would not allow the o2 to drop to 0.I am glad the diver is going to be ok.Also to kpdivers I dont think anybody jump to a conclusion .Divers will learn from this ,I know I have.It may have been diver error or a rebreather malfuction,I am still not sure.One thing we can all learn is that are buddy may one day need to save are life so we should all try to be a good buddy.

 

[coldsoul1]

My daughter is an advanced certified diver but an advanced level headed young lady. She was upset but knew that she had to act first and be upset later. She cried later and then took pride in what she did. Later after some additional reflection she milked it a little and I abliged her, no dishes for the week.Most of her life I have taught her that it is ok to get upset and emotional but there are times when that is a luxury that can not be afforded at the moment. I learned that as a Green Beret Medic and she must have listened to my Army rambling. Kids are sponges and some time we take for granted there capabilities. In many parts of the world a 14 year old is an adult member of society. As far as diving she wants to take a break for awhile , most due to the cold. I will give her some time then back in the saddle when she is ready.

In summary, her pride in her own actions took care of the fear.

 

[coldsoul1]

Padiscubapro is correct about the hand set. I retrieved the unit from the police today. It was still on. I went and checked both bottles and they were on. I then went to the hand sets and both were set at .7. I did not put it in manual as I thought must have happened. I then hit the ADV and the O2 and both were operational. I went to the head and looked at the O2 connection on the head. It appeared to be connected. When I pulled on it it came out voila.

My assessment:
1. When I did my prebreath I had the unit lying down. I set it at .7 I saw it climb, breathed on it and watched it rise to a little above .7 hearing the solenoid fire. I continued to breath the unit watching the PO2 drop and hearing the solenoid fire and watching the PO2 rise back to the set point of .7. At this point the O2 connection on the head was still attached otherwise the set point could not have been maintained.
2. Somewhere between my prebreathing and donning the unit the O2 connection on the head was loosened. Perhaps when I uprighted the unit from laying flat to being upright so I could don it.

 

[Jax]

Coldsoul, I realize that this was all very stressful, but would you please consider sharing what you think went wrong or discovered later?

I may not be a CCR diver, but stories like yours only enforce that the very necessary attention to detail that we all need to practice.

Edit . . . cross-posted . . . thanks so very much! The smallest details . . .

 

[deep in jersey]

Coldsoul1 Thanks for the up date.I was there and it put a scare in me.I thought your daughter did a great job and kept it together great.Also thanks for joining in ,a lot of people would not.Dive safe

 

[DandyDon]

You two posted at the same time.

Cold, have you talked with the manufacturer about the O2 connection on the head coming loose on you?

Hope DAN covers your dry suit ok, presuming you have their middle or top dive insurance - or similar. The chart says that lost equipment in accidents are covered, but this should qualify.