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Bill, nobody does it like you - the annelids will be scrambling.

Bill Mee wrote:
> 
> 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.
> 
> 
> 
>
--
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