What's going on at Gitmo?

[king_of_battle]

I just saw this article today and couldn't find it or the incidents referenced anywhere else on SB...

Navy base halts diving after two cases of the bends on the same day

Navy base halts diving after two cases of the bends on the same day

So...any idea what's going on down there?

 

[Cowfish Aesthetic]

"One man went below his approved 60-foot depth, surfaced too fast, skipped a mandatory safety stop at a depth of 15 feet, didn’t know how to read a computerized device that warned him he had an excessive ascending rate and emerged from the water to a 'tissue warning.'

On the same day, a more highly certified diver spent 46 minutes in the water at a maximum depth of 97 feet, surfaced with an extremely painful headache, and went back down 76 minutes later for a 45-minute dive at depths of up to 65 feet."

Sounds like one case of a new diver not knowing what he was doing and one case of an old diver not listening to his body.

 

[kaerius]

It also sounds like they don't have experienced dive staff or well developed dive procedures, including pre-dive procedures. This is likely why they halted diving, to develop a safety protocol.

 

[Johnoly]

On a completely different but related aspect from me being a spearo and bug hunter.
In the states here we follow both state regulations and also our federal council's regulations for just our area. As an example in Jupiter I follow the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council regulations in federal waters.

Since Gitmo is not part of the US mainland....................
Who's regulations do they follow when spearfishing or bug hunting when diving Gitmo ?

 

[Wookie]

The Navy provides "guidance".

 

[wgw04024]

Doesn't the 'NAVY' have tables to follow?

 

[Wookie]

You ever seen Navy tables? The ones written for 22 year old hard bodies? 2 dives a day?

 

[kaerius]

The article points out that these were recreational dives. They probably weren't diving navy tables. Especially the more experienced diver there, with the 76 minute surface interval.

Navy divers practicing for operational dives often get bent by following protocol, they ignore deco stops but have a chamber on the boat. Because you don't have the luxury of waiting for deco in a war situation.

 

[Bob DBF]

My first Caribbean dive was from the rec department dive locker at gitmo.

Bob

 

[JohnnyC]

To reiterate, these were recreational dives that happened to be at Gitmo. It’s no different than if this had happened off Key Largo or Long Beach or (insert place here). They had nothing to do with Navy diving.