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To All,

It is extremely sad to learn that Douglas Missavage’s life was
squandered as result of near criminal negligence and stupidity.  His
death is formally classified as  a TDI "training accident". In any other
venue this "accident" would be characterized as a negligent homicide,
similar to running a red light and killing a pedestrian or more to the
mark "accidentally" discharging a firearm into a crowd of people.    

Douglas’s death was beginning to fade into statistical obscurity (thanks
in part to the active coverup and obfuscation by the involved parties) 
when the shocking report by the Jackson County Sheriff department
exploded the horror of this tragedy back into our awareness.  In the
same way that the real truth trickled out about details surrounding Rob
Palmer’s death we are now learning the shocking truth about that of
Missavage. Unlike Palmer, who obviously made a conscious decision to
deep air dive, Douglas Missavage entrusted his life into the hands of
his TDI instructor.  This TDI instructor , either through complete
ignorance or brainwashing or both, probably believed the great lie that
one could be trained to overcome the multiple sensory deficits and
impairments associated with diving deep on narcotic gas mixtures.

To try to understand what went wrong is a study in the obvious. The
entire adventure was a huge accident waiting to happen before anybody
even entered the water. Anyone who follows these lists of late would
obviously conclude that anyone diving to 200’ on air in a freezing cold
quarry on a training dive should be preemptively detained for
psychological evaluation. But remember, Douglas Missavage was not dead
before he entered the water.  The circumstances which may have initiated
the sequence of events leading to his drowning are not uncommon problems
encountered in introductory scuba. Apparently he had a free flow and a
dry suit flood. Certainly if these things has occurred at 30 feet it
would have been no big deal; however Douglas was at  190’ on air and
probably  blacked out from the narcosis.  When this happened he
aspirated water, which is also not uncommon during narcosis induced
blackouts.  What happened next was unconscionable and tantamount to
murder.

It is well known by anyone trained in the most rudimentary techniques of
openwater rescue that an unconscious diver should be slowly brought to
the surface making certain to keep their airways open to prevent
embolism.  Instead, his instructor/buddies inflated his bc (probably OMS
bondage wings) sending him skyrocketing to the surface. He might well
have survived this trauma had his bc not disinflated allowing him to
sink back to the bottom. The subsequent autopsy showed massive emboli
formation caused either by his first or second ascent from the bottom.

There is no valid reason why Douglas Missavages buddies could not have
assisted his ascent to the surface.  It is a fact that there is little
to no risk of even type 1 dcs on a short duration exposure to 200’.
Nevertheless, his instructor/buddies willingly sacrificed  Douglas’s
life because they were concerned about an almost nonexistent risk. This
is not the first time this has happened. In fact on several well
documented dive related  drownings the surviving buddies were more
concerned about their decompression rather than their companion’s lives. 

Fact: there is an extremely high survival rate for victims of short
duration cold freshwater drownings.

Fact: Douglas Missavage was unconscious and aspirated cold fresh water
in a non overhead situation.

Fact: This crisis was managed incorrectly. Temporary deep air insanity
is no defense because the divers did a safety stop while Douglas sank
back to the bottom.

Fact: This was the second recent "deep air" training death in Lake
Wazee. 

Missavage’s instructor and dive buddies can claim that he was aware of
the risks and that he was co-responsible for his own death. This excuse
does not wash when illuminated by the facts.

Missavage’s error was in believing the lie promoted by the technical
certification agency he had chosen.  No doubt he was led to believe that
a 200’ air dive was a nothingburger routine, "anybody can do it" event,
especially when the director of the agency himself professes to
routinely performing 400’ dives. His instructor more than likely
reinforced this belief by adding that only a "weenie" couldn’t do a 200’
air dive in lake Wazee and that lot’s of others had easily accomplished
this macho challenge. As he descended deeper in the cold and dark water
and the sound of  his air bubbles became tinny and the bubbles of  his
buddies cascaded hypnotically past his eyes  Missavage must have had
second thoughts about the "joys" of the "rapture of the deep".  When
everything came unglued and the Charlie Foxtrot went to full to full
scram Missavage probably mercifully blacked out.  As the coldness and
darkness closed in around him Douglas Missavage knew that his life was
forfeit and that it had been stolen from him on the cheap.

   

George M. Irvine III wrote:
> 
> I just spoke to the Jackson County Sheriff and went over the report of
> the DEEP AIR TRAINING DEATH by a TDI instructor at Lake Wazee ,
> Wisconsin. Here are the facts:
> 
>  This was a training dive. The Sheriff has the TDI training forms filled
> out. There was one instructor for three students. NO MIXED gas was used
> - they were diving AIR. The divers' computers showed 191 feet of depth.
> The victim had a problem at depth, and the instructor inflated his bc
> and shot him to the surface BY HIMSELF - how stupid are these guys? They
> then DECOMCPRESSED instead of helping the victim - what is going on out
> there? How stupid is TDI? How unqualified and stupid can an instructor
> possibly be ? How negligent can these guys possibly get?
> 
>   The victim then sank back down unconscious and drowned, while these
> real tough guy heroes of deepair diving decompressed their weenie little
> incompetent asses.
> 
>  Where is the safety plan here?
> 
>  ANOTHER onlooker had to put on a tank and go after the victim, and then
> these guys went after the body again, and again failed to surface it so
> they could deco from a nothing dive that requires no deco - they are
> incompetent idiots.
> 
>  Dead is worse than bent, but obviously not to these guys. They clearly
> have ZERO understanding of decompression, and how an instructor can be
> taking three students on a deep air dive to 191 while himself on air and
> expect anything different that what happened is beyond my understanding.
> 
>  You know what the Sheriff asked me? He wanted to know what he should do
> about the County wanting to shut the lake to diving. Look what wonderful
> things Brett Gilliam is doing for our sport. I am so sick of listening
> to strokes like Odem, Gilliam and Skaggs run their ignorant mouths about
> deep air while reaking havoc on our sport. These guys need to go, and
> the sooner you all quit covering up for them, the sooner we can get them
> out of our sport.
> 
>  The sooner we put together one of these victims with the right law firm
> (which we have) and the right expert witnesses ( which we have) , the
> sooner it will be over. We need everyone's help in ridding this sport of
> this problem.
> --
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