The Last Dive's Chrissy Rouse -- would he have survived today?

[johnny_bravo]

From what i remember:

They missed their stops because they didn't find their deco bottles they had attached outside the wreck. On the way up they were sharing Chris Sr.'s tank until Jr. freaked out and bolted to the surface.

CHeers.

 

[StSomewhere]

"Friends don't let friends dive air." (TM) StSomewhere

I agree that what got the whole ball rolling was the fact that they were trimix trained but dove air to save money. :shrug: The ocean can be a dangerous place, esp. that far from help, to not take all possible precautions. IMO.

 

[Diver0001]

From what I understand the only real attitudes were the attitudes of the father and son towards each other. ....snip.... but missing the deco stops were their fatal mistakes.

I think we see it differently. The first mistake was the decision to dive air. That decision was made long before the dive. The choose to penetrate what they knew was a fairly cluttered wreck at something like 60 metres while narced. They choose to stage their deco gas outside the wreck but *knowing* that they were going to do this, they failed to stage redundant gas on the upline and although I don't recall anything about it in the book I suspect they failed to lay a guideline to the anchor which may have caused them to get disorientated enough to make a free ascent instead of returning to the upline..... I could go on but you see where it's going. They made a number of mistakes in their preparation and planning that even to the casual observer look pretty sloppy by today's standard.

R..

 

[Sharkbait]

This was not so much a diving accident as it was a darwin moment. Diving air at that depth should be considered suicide. In the book it says they decided to dive air because they could not afford the proper mix. I hate bash the dead, but they nailed down their own coffin.

 

[Chaseh]

This was not so much a diving accident as it was a darwin moment. Diving air at that depth should be considered suicide. In the book it says they decided to dive air because they could not afford the proper mix. I hate bash the dead, but they nailed down their own coffin.

"I hate to bash the dead, but I will anyway" Doesn't really add much does it? Darwin moment? Real nice.

 

[Mark Vlahos]

Accident analysis is a good thing. The careful dissection of what happened and what were the contributing factors. The consideration of what factors were direct or indirect contributors to any accident.

This post is not about that, this post is an invitation to speculation and arm chair analysis. This thread is pointless.

Mark Vlahos

 

[thmoose51]

I have read that book and another one about "Death on the Andrea Doria"(?) and some others. It seems that there were a lot of divers dying during that time period including Sheck Exley who developed and recorded many of the safety rules we take for granted today. A lot of those guys did some stupid stuff (judged by todays standards) and paid for it with their lives. However you look at it IMHO we owe them all a debt for their explorer spirit and willingness to push the limits. I saw a quote one time about the freedoms we enjoy in this country and I think it applies to diving as well. "We all stand on the shoulders of bloody giants". Don't know who said it but I think it fits.
Anyway, I wonder if there is anyone on the "Board" that knew those guys. It would be interesting to hear how they were seen by their contemporaries.

 

[Sharkbait]

"I hate to bash the dead, but I will anyway" Doesn't really add much does it? Darwin moment? Real nice.

Read the book, it was a classic darwin moment. If somebody pulls a stupid stunt like these two guys I call it like I see it. They would have died eventually.

 

[Jason B]

Accident analysis is a good thing. The careful dissection of what happened and what were the contributing factors. The consideration of what factors were direct or indirect contributors to any accident.

This post is not about that, this post is an invitation to speculation and arm chair analysis. This thread is pointless.

Mark Vlahos

Well said Mark.

 

[H2Andy]

The thing that would have saved his bacon today is that attitudes have changed. There is more peer pressure towards safety and control and divers are somewhat less likely to accept those kinds of risks.

yeah... as well as more available and somewhat cheaper trimix

This post is not about that, this post is an invitation to speculation and arm chair analysis. This thread is pointless.

oh, i dont' know about that, Mark... the question seems to be that,
given the advances in hyperbaric medicine, would the Rouses survive
if they had their accident today?

i think the answer is no. they took such massive hits that they would
still die if they had their accident today. medicine hasn't advanced that
much since.