Two fatalities at Harvard Mine, California

[Tortuga68]

I am no expert on in-water recompression, but the little I know does not include any protocols that require as much as 3.5 hours. Richard Pyle's study of IWR breifly describes three protocols, and as I read them, none comes close to 3.5 hours.

I personally know three people whose DCS was resolved through IWR using the Australian protocol (I think). I was not present for any of them, but all three had their symptoms completely resolved in a fraction of that time.

The Australian table runs between 2.5 and 3.5 hours depending on 'severity'. US Navy is 3 hours plus depending on symptoms (Type I or II)

 

[DandyDon]

Whoa this is news to me. Excerpting...

The Sheriff's Department said that at a depth of 135 feet, Pollard panicked and Dedic came to his aid. Cobb said Pollard was using too much air from his tank and his stepson, Dedic, shared his mouthpiece with Pollard.

Read more: Mine divers weren't rookies - Local - Modbee.com

Dedic was Pollard's step son? I had not previously seen that the two buddy pairs were actually associated? I think the names are misapplied there some tho, as Dedic was not the one who came up with Pollard.

 

[Tortuga68]

Dedic was Pollard's step son?

I don't see that it matters either way, but the article says Dedic was Cobb (the interviewee - who was not in the water)'s stepson

Let's try and stick to the facts - limited as they are


Speaking of mis-reporting (not to mention poor grammar), how's this:

"While authorities still are piecing together what happened, a diving expert said the sport is inherently dangerous.

"It's the same thing as skydiving," said Phil Caterino, dive director of the Tahoe Diving Conservancy. "You can have people with a thousand jumps and nothing happens. You just never know."

/sigh

Moral: never talk to the media

 

[norcalscuba]

"While authorities still are piecing together what happened, a diving expert said the sport is inherently dangerous.

"It's the same thing as skydiving," said Phil Caterino, dive director of the Tahoe Diving Conservancy. "You can have people with a thousand jumps and nothing happens. You just never know."

Well...just because we love diving and do it for fun (recreation), doesn't mean it's not inherently dangerous - it is inherently dangerous. While the probability of harm might be small, the potential gravity of that harm is high (serious injury/death). No diver can eliminate all risk completely, but we take precautions, get training and keep gear well-serviced - what else can you do? I am also a huge proponent of diving year-round and keeping skills fresh.

To me, the pleasure of diving outweighs the amount of risk. When/if that changes, I will no longer dive. $.02

 

[Tortuga68]

A lot of people die in their sleep, so I guess sleeping is inherently dangerous too

 

[ThresherDog]

You know what comes up as a top dangerous sport? cheerleeding. 20000 injuries a year.

 

[Ken Kurtis]

Moral: never talk to the media

Correction - Moral is to learn how to talk to the media.

Having been on both sides as reporter and the one being interviewed, you need to pay attention to what you're saying and understand how it might be re-interpreted by someone not familiar with the specifics. It's definitely an art.

It also possible that Caterino didn't say the sport was inheerently dangerous, but that was what the reporter walked away with from Caterino's comment of "you just never know". There's no control over that part of the story but again, that's why it's a bit of an art when dealing with the media (regardless of what side of it you're on).

- Ken

 

[Ken Kurtis]

You know what comes up as a top dangerous sport? cheerleeding. 20,000 injuries a year.

Not to quibble, but sort of a false argument. How many of those cheerleaders DIE from one of those 20,000 injuries? (The diver number is about 90/year US & Canadian citizens diving here and aboard.)

But if you want to make this an apples-to-apples argument:

1. We need to add in weights dropped on toes, scraped knuckles, urchin spines in the hand, pinched fingers, ear bruises, etc. (none of which we would consider an "accident").
2. Then we have to know how many divers there are that are diving in the given period we're measuring.
3. And to make the comparison, we need to know how many active cheerleaders there are.

With all that info, THEN we could compare accident rates. Without that, it really doesn't mean anything. It's like the dying-in-your-sleep tongue-in-cheek comment previously. Does that really make sleeping dangerous and how does it relate to the reality of the situation?

- Ken

 

[irishsquid]

...Moral is to learn how to talk to the media.
...that's why it's a bit of an art when dealing with the media...
- Ken

More like an "Abstract Art"!

 

[Tortuga68]

If you don't talk to them, you won't be misquoted or misinterpreted