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Jeff Hirschman wrote: assist him. He was beginning to panic and may have exhausted his bottom > gas. Before I > could get to him with my octopus, Mike began breathing off his travel mix. WHERE IS HIS INSTRUCTOR WITH THE LONG HOSE THAT IS MANDATED BY TOM MOUNT FOR THESE DIVES. WHY DOES A STUDENT HAVE TO GO TO HIS DECO GAS AT DETPH??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????? WHY DOES THE OTHER DIVER HAVE TO BE DOING THE INSTRUCOTRS JOB?????? > Due to the > great depth and high partial pressure of oxygen in the mixture he was now > breathing, his > "central nervous system oxygen toxicity" level was dangerously high as was > the chance of > oxygen induced convulsions. I grabbed Mike by the tank manifold and inflated my > buoyancy compensator (vest) fully to try and drag both Mike and Andre to the > 100 fsw > level where we could more safely handle the problem. We got to > approximately 150 fsw, > when I felt a shudder in my hand. I was hoping Andre was shaking Mike > instead of the > onset of his convulsions. When I looked down Mike was not moving. I now > ran out of > air, stopped swimming and tried to get Andre's attention for air or to > signal him to meet > me up higher. Andre may have been trying to share his own air supply with > Mike, but my > view was blocked. We had now sunk back down to180 fsw at which point I lost > my hold > while trying to get around Mike to Andre. Since my buoyancy compensator was > fully > inflated I could not stay with them. > > While I was trying to control my ascent, I saw John above me and attempted > to join him. > He had his liftbag out and was preparing to inflate it. I caught up to him > but could not stop > my rate of ascent until 80 fsw. I looked down and saw John, he still > appeared fine. I then > began to descend down to my first decompression stop at 100 fsw. While > stabilizing > myself I lost sight of John. > > Since I was now alone, I deployed my liftbag and began my decompression > schedule while > I tried to determine how best to modify it, in view of the problems. I > tried to signal the > boat with my bag while I looked for the others. Later I heard a boat > engine revving at high > RPM. I hoped the others had surfaced and were heading for the beach. After > about 30 > minutes a boat drifted up to me and then moved out of my view. Later I saw > another boat, > that stayed with me. It pulled up on top of me and I then knew it was the > Minnow. I > finished my new decompression schedule and surfaced after 125 minutes. > > Once onboard, I found none of the other divers onboard and briefed the > Captain on the > situation. Captain Cooke told me that Andre's liftbag had come up before > mine, but no > one was with it. There was only about 90 minutes of daylight left, so I > suggested we > request a USCG helicopter and then helped Captain Cooke organize a search > pattern to > find the lost divers. Search conditions were excellent and the sea state > low. The Coast > Guard data marker beacons (DMB) were easily visible on the surface, making the > probability of finding a surfaced diver very high. We searched until 0400 > the next day, > returning only once to refuel. USCG assets joined immediately and searched > through > January 15th and Sheriffs department through January 16th. > > Conclusion: > A search was attempted on the bottom of the accident site on Thursday, > January 15th but > was aborted due to weather conditions. An extensive search was conducted on > the bottom > of the accident site on Saturday, January 17th. The teams consisted of: > 1) RV Ocean Window (561) 252-2526 > 2) Captain Ed Cooke of the SS Minnow with > Trimix Divers: Jeff Hirschman, Renee LaChapelle, and Mike Haverstock > Safety Divers: Major R.T. Keegan, Sergeant G. Webb, and Officer D. Howard > 2nd Support Team: Larry Roth, Pete Winston, Douglas Frederick > > Results of the surface and bottom searches: > There were no discoveries or recoveries made. > > We would like to thank the following groups and individuals for all of their > help in this > tragic event: > USCG Station Lake Worth > Helo Golf November > Captain Bob Johnson of Rampage Dive Charters > Palm Beach Sheriffs Department - Dive teams, boat crews, and air search units > RV Ocean Window (561) 252-2526 > West Palm Police Department and dive team > Captain Ed Cooke of SS Minnow > And all of those who have gone out of their way to help > -- > Jeff Hirschman > > -- > Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. > Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'. -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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