American tourist dies while diving Cozumel caves.....

[DiverLaura]

my notes in "Efffect on Hemoglobin" from a hyperbaric tech course attended several years ago give the number for affinity as 200-250:1.

the "other mechanisms of Toxicity" are interesting as well as are the longer term effects, such as it takes like 21 days for the apoptotic injury to diminish (maximum injury seen at day 7), although still present and detectable.

 

[WSOPFAN]

So if one of you don't mind could you explain in simple terms what exactly it is you are debating? Are you saying a certain type or all rebreathers should not allow CO poisoning? Or not allow bad air? Or also doubt this incident would point to bad air? Would you agree or disagree with the conclusion of the coroner? Thanks.

 

[Thalassamania]

So if one of you don't mind could you explain in simple terms what exactly it is you are debating?

Y'all should stop calling each other names.

Are you saying a certain type or all rebreathers should not allow CO poisoning?

It is possible to add a "scrubber" that would remove CO if you wanted to. If memory serves we used Sofnocat 423 in the sat systems for that purpose.

Or not allow bad air? Or also doubt this incident would point to bad air?

There are things that make me doubt that conclusion.

Would you agree or disagree with the conclusion of the coroner? Thanks.

There are inconsistencies that make me want more information.

 

[Hatul]

Does anyone have a link to the official coroner's or autopsy report?

 

[Texas Torpedo]

Does anyone have a link to the official coroner's or autopsy report?

Seriously?

 

[WSOPFAN]

Does anyone have a link to the official coroner's or autopsy report?

Here is the news story that some say is a total lie but not the actual report there is no link to it........

Google Translate

 

[Hatul]

I would think if the death was caused by a bad fill, the family would sue the dive operator that supplied the tank. No? I hope it's not Aldora Divers.

 

[DandyDon]

I would think if the death was caused by a bad fill, the family would sue the dive operator that supplied the tank. No? I hope it's not Aldora Divers.

In another country, that lacks the capability of testing the tank? I really don't know how this happened as there is too much confusion, and - I'd suggest a stateside autopsy for any fatality down there, regardless of local autopsy results. Preventing the risk has long been on my personal agenda, but I don't know what happened here.

I don't think Aldora has a compressor.

 

[Texas Torpedo]

I would think if the death was caused by a bad fill, the family would sue the dive operator that supplied the tank. No? I hope it's not Aldora Divers.

Hopefully they will sue.. And just maybe (long shot) more info will come out..

That being said, Aldora had nothing to do with with this dive.. Do you see Expedition Cave Diving listed on their website or anyplace here on SB?
I know they have some very accomplished DM's (cave divers included), however their business model (that I'm aware of) does not include cave / cenote diving.
Very few do, especially when it comes to cenote diving on the Island. They might refer but its not their bread and butter..

Let's not mix things up more than they already have been..

 

[Dive-aholic]

Thanks for the additional info.
Would you care to address any of his other claims?
Such as the news articles are false, the coroner did no test, and a "homemade" rebreather was involved?
Thanks.

I didn't read any claim that the new articles are false so not sure what to say about that.
The coroner did test for carboxyhemoglobin. Not sure what else to say about that.
The rebreather wasn't exactly "homemade". It was a tried and tested rebreather that did not have any problems prior to this incident, and IMO had nothing to do with the death.

I don't really know, but to follow the logic for a moment: an SCR bleeds in diluent at a constant rate, the diluent includes some level of CO, any oxygen that is added to the loop is basically "make up" and does not change the the concentration of CO, but the diluent coming in does replace some of the the CO that was lost as the CO flows out with the gas from the loop that flows out. Some more CO is lost to the blood.

I would infer that CO would stay pretty constant, unless a whole lot of oxygen was added.

CO is taken up by hemoglobin 225 times more than O2 is. Most of the CO in the gas will be retained by the body, at least at the beginning of breathing the tainted gas. Depending on the SCR being used there will be anywhere from 1/3 to 1/8 of the loop gas that is coming from the drive cylinder and the rest is being rebreathed. This will cause a the loop gas to be less concentrated.

That being said, Aldora had nothing to do with with this dive.. Do you see Expedition Cave Diving listed on their website or anyplace here on SB?
I know they have some very accomplished DM's (cave divers included), however their business model (that I'm aware of) does not include cave / cenote diving.
Very few do, especially when it comes to cenote diving on the Island. They might refer but its not their bread and butter..

Aldora has a stake in this in that they get their gas from the fill stations on the island. Any bad publicity, which Cozumel is currently getting with 3 deaths in the past month, will affect their business. It's not surprising that anyone that is part of a scuba business in Cozumel would try to make this and any other death out to be something other than bad gas.