SCUBA accident in Pool - Scuba Instructor Drowns While Testing Equipment

[DiveGolfSki]

CO2 monitoring is a hot topic of debate. The monitoring in the evolution, I believe if just a temp sensor that measures where the active region of the scrubber bed is. This is based on the assumption the scrubber is packed properly and the material is working properly. It will not detect channeling or breakthrough and so is only a limited gauge of CO2 activity. Your brain is the most sensitive CO2 detector available and every rebreather diver has to be very tuned into it's effects.

Thanks, I've since found some threads in the RB forum as well as the DecoStop on this hot topic. Seems that it's, hopefully, getting addressed but some have suggested that most sensors are not as accurate as those available from NASA, the military ... et al. I'll stop right here in order to avoid hijacking the thread ...more importantly, I think my CO2 is building up .... :sleep:

 

[wedivebc]

Thanks, I've since found some threads in the RB forum as well as the DecoStop on this hot topic. Seems that it's, hopefully, getting addressed but some have suggested that most sensors are not as accurate as those available from NASA, the military ... et al. I'll stop right here in order to avoid hijacking the thread ...more importantly, I think my CO2 is building up .... :sleep:

Not really a hijack since this topic comes up anytime there is a rebreather accident and it is probably very relevent to the accident.
The topic of CO2 monitoring was hotly debated after the David Shaw tragedy a couple of months ago.

 

[RIDIVER501]

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/apress_050805_scubadrowning.html

 

[GrierHPharmD]

I'm pretty ignorant regarding rebreathers, but they seem to have cause an inordinate number of fatalities, considering the fact that not too many divers use them, and the ones that do tend to have advanced tech training.

I noticed a trend toward promoting rebreathers in several dive publications over the winter, which is a bit disturbing given their safety record. I guess I have the same feeling for them that I do for cave penetration - if you're trained and equipped for it, more power to you, but both types of diving seem to be pretty easy ways to die...

Still, this incident represents a tragic loss.

-Grier

 

[wedivebc]

I'm pretty ignorant regarding rebreathers, but they seem to have cause an inordinate number of fatalities, considering the fact that not too many divers use them, and the ones that do tend to have advanced tech training.

Just bear in mind the types of dives these people are doing. It is like saying NASCAR racers are involved in a lot of accidents. Are they bad drivers? Are the cars dangerous?
Same with rebreathers. Some of them are going places most divers would never dream of.

 

[DiveGolfSki]

I noticed a trend toward promoting rebreathers in several dive publications over the winter, which is a bit disturbing given their safety record. I guess I have the same feeling for them that I do for cave penetration - if you're trained and equipped for it, more power to you, but both types of diving seem to be pretty easy ways to die...

Still, this incident represents a tragic loss.

-Grier

I echo WebdiveBc's comments regarding the risks with RB's and the use for them. Keep in mind, the cost of a RB will keep most of the "general" diving public away (not to mention the risks). Not many people may want to spend over $2-10k for a RB excluding the costs for training (Megladon ... last seen in movie "The Cave" ...will not deliver their unit until the buyer has proof of training.

The tragic part of this story is one of complacency ... testing equipment in a relatively controlled (a pool) and "safe" (4 ft of water?) environment with several instructors nearby. Still, I'm not sure if any of these were factors in the accident but until the final report comes in regading the RB and, maybe, the diver ... let's see.

 

[DEEPLOU]

Just bear in mind the types of dives these people are doing. It is like saying NASCAR racers are involved in a lot of accidents. Are they bad drivers? Are the cars dangerous?
Same with rebreathers. Some of them are going places most divers would never dream of.

Along this analogy, this incident is equivalent to a little old lady driving her car up her driveway.

PS: what happened is still under investigation.

 

[lisa3b]

Hold on!!

The Buddy Inspiration has been available in the UK for 8 years and unless they have added something new for the US market it DOES NOT have a CO2 monitor. It monitiors O2 only.

To date at least 18 and possibly 25 or more Inspiration divers have lost their lives while diving the unit.

 

[lisa3b]

David Rampersan was in a pool, not on a tech dive

 

[caveseeker7]

Somehow I missed this thread.

Lisa is correct, the Inspiration does not have a CO2 monitor, nor did it ever have one.
The new Vision electronics, available on the Inspiration and standard one the Evolution have the TempStick which measures the heat generated inside the scrubber during the Co2 absorbing process. It monitors the hot (active) and cooling (used) area and indicates the absorbant being used up. It does not measure any CO2 that might make it past the scrubber.

The Infinito, build for the military only, had CO2 sensing technology. Tom Rose was just granted a patent for gas sampling that he developed to make IR CO2 monitoring possibel in rebreathers. He published an article about it.

And the press, like usually when it comes to rebreathers, has it wrong.
If the unit used was an Azimuth, it's by no means a high tech device.
Rebreathers have been around and used for diving long before Gagnan and Cousteau invented the Aqualung, and the Azi is a simple mechanical semi-closed unit without any electronic controls whatsoever. Unfortunately it doesn't have any electronic or analog monitoring of pO2, either.