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Hi Everyone: Mike Menduno sent me the following summary of the Key West Rebreather Workshop held last May, and gave me permission to post it. This is a draft of what will appear in the upcoming "HARD" issue. Mike can now be reached at "aquacorps@sh*.co*" He says he'll be on this forum soon. ************************************************************** IN THE LOOP -A Report on aquaCorps' Rebreather Forum by Michael Menduno Key West, FL-Like the "Enriched Air Nitrox Workshop" it hosted three years ago, aquaCorps' Rebreather Forum, held 22-24MAY94, drew industry and tekkie aficionados from around the diving circuit including; Canada, China, Germany, Sweden, the UK, and the US, to clear up the many myths associated with rebreather technology and discuss where it will go from here. The difference was there wasn't much controversy; attendees were interested in getting into the loop. Over 90 industry participants representing the spectrum of end user communities were in attendance including; nine rebreather manufacturers, a host of companies and training agencies including; BSAC, IANTD, IADRS, PADI and Dr. Max Hahn of the German Federation of Sport Divers (VDST), government agencies from NOAA and NMRI to EDU, the US Army Special Forces and the UK's HSE, commercial representatives, scientific organizations, several police groups, and special guests; US Navy physiology guru, Dr. Ed Thalmann, Alan Krasberg-one of the godfather's of closed circuit systems-and forum co-chair and circuit guru in his own right, Tracy Robinette of Divematics, "I have been involved in rebreathers for nearly twenty five years and a meeting like this has simply never happened before." Heady stuff to be sure. Beamed technical dive store owner, Dennis Pierce, Epic Dives, HI "The level of collective [diving] consciousness in the room was almost overwhelming." First conceived of in the 17th century, rebreather technology has a fifty year history of successful use by the militaries of the world and is a fundamental component of commercial gas diving reclaim systems. Now with declining military budgets, inexpensive computer chips and a burgeoning non-military diving community ready to take the plunge, many people believe that rebreathers represent the wave of the future. Observed Krasberg, "Rebreathers seem to come back every thirty years and now it looks like they will remain with us for some time." The forum kicked off with a "No Bubbles-No Troubles" tour of the US Army's Combat Swimmer School where participants were ushered into a room full of rebreathers-racked, stacked, and ready to rock 'n' roll. An appropriate starting point; the school has been training closed circuit divers continuously for over 27 years, and provided a healthy reality check for rebreather wanna haves. From there, the forum got down to business; dissecting the knotty issues surrounding rebreather technology; technical requirements, closed vs. semi-closed systems, market economics, training and liability concerns. Similar to nitrox in the pre-tekkie era, established rebreather manufacturers, whose revenues are derived solely from military coffers, approached the forum cautiously, though those in attendance were seen frantically scribbling notes throughout the 'dollars and sense' session on new market applications and economics. Who wants rebreathers? A lot of divers; public safety officers, scientists, photographers, videographers, harvesters, specialized commercial users and of course, the tekkies. And most of these users appear to have the money to pay, "My clients think nothing of spending US$5,000-10,000 for camera equipment," said photographer and wildlife guide, Amos Nachoum. " I don't think rebreathers are any different." NOT. The market? Confessed, John Sherwood, one of the principals of Fullerton-Sherwood, which builds the CUMA system for the Canadian Forces, "I was the cynic in our company. But it seems clear to me now there's a real emerging market that we had better address." The message from users? Do it now. As always-to-the-point wildlife photographer, Marty Snyderman chided "The world is waiving them [rebreathers] in front of me, but they won't let me have one." (This while threatening the stony-faced panel of manufacturers-pen drawn-with a raised cheque book in hand. Uggh). Later, the Draeger and Carleton Technologies delegations were separately observed wooing Snyderman over conch fritters and key lime pie. No free lunches? Where there's a dollar there's a way. Next, Dr. Thalmann gave a refreshing and enlightening luncheon discourse on diving physiology, sponsored by legal defense heavies, Hruska & Lessor. The bottom line? There's still a whole hell of a lot of diving physiology we just don't understand. Case in point; CNS oxygen toxicity. According to Thalmann, "Convulsions appear to be a random event at PO2s above 1.3-1.4 atm"- this in an era of computerized oxygen toxicity tracking!#? Hmmm. Which algorithm did you say you were using? Think hard. Training? Forum participants learned they'd to be lucky to survive the week with combat swimmer staff instructors, Sgt. Dennis Wardlow and Rob Gardener, as they presented the grueling details of their six week training course. A weekend rebreather certification? How about something in between? Of course, the real problem with training was right there under our nose; or not as the case was. "It's hard to talk seriously about rebreather training, when none of us can even buy one," Ocean Odyssey's Wings Stocks, CA, made his point. Though it apparently hasn't dissuaded some companies from thinking through the loop; offered PADI's Karl Shreeves, "When rebreather technology is ready for the mainstream, PADI will be there to offer training." That should keep those wheels spinning (couldn't resist). Getting down to brass tacks, the hazards and potential liability problems associated with rebreather diving were discussed at length, and included a closed circuit fatality report from Dr. Bill Stone's Huatla Expedition, and a perspective from a different kind of diver, Bill Booth, the inventor of the single point release parachute and avid "skydiver." Overall, the results of the liability session were better than expected. According to diving plaintiff attorney, Bobby Delise of Vosbein, Delise, Amedee, Bertrand, LA "As long as manufacturers and distributors give the end user a full disclosure relative to a rebreathers specifications, limitations, risks and most importantly, the requisite training and maintenance demands, product liability should not present formidable barriers." Divemaster Insurance Consultants of London apparently agrees; the company sent a solicitation flyer to be distributed at the forum. The scariest line of the session?" They're [referring to a particular rebreather] so simple what could go wrong?" The comment was followed by a full 30 seconds of silence. You wanna list? After three grueling days of discussion, attendees had the opportunity to finally dive a rebreather, courtesy of Carleton Technologies and Key West Diver, assisted by JR Hott of NMRI. "It's like going back to the womb of the mother," said Amos Nachoum, "Very natural, very pleasurable." Others were equally enthralled. "Rebreathers are the way of the future. There's no doubt in my mind," asserted London's Health and Safety Executive, Graeme Lawrie. Most everyone seemed to agree. The conclusions ?The consensus at the forum seemed to be that semi-closed rebreathers will likely represent the first wave of product due to their simplicity and relatively low cost. Even so it will be a while before the technology is generally available on a broad scale. Several rebreather start-ups reportedly plan to offer systems within the year; Cis-Lunar Labs, Prism Life Support Systems and Oceanic. Expect to see them offered at the 95tek.Conference and receive some hands-on pool training. Note that training will be an important component of purchasing a rebreather; a typical training course will likely to run about 40-60 hours. Finally, forum participants expressed the desire to form an association for advanced diving technologies, code named, "Deja Vu." After all, there's more to come. Confessed, Bishop Museum's Richard Pyle, "I always figured that open circuit was just a stop gap until I got my rebreather. Then I spent a weekend with Phil Nuytten [inventor of the NEWTSUIT]. Now I'm wondering whether rebreathers aren't just another stop gap along the way." Something to think about. -M2 For more information about the forum or association to be formed, contact aquaCorps, POB 4243, Key West, FL 33041 USA, ph; 305.294.3540, fax: 305.293.0729 or Tracy Robinette, Divematics @ 145 W Whiting Ave. "A", Fullerton, CA 92632, fax: 714.773.0471. We will announce when the transcript of the forum is available.
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