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Date: Sat, 17 Oct 1998 15:06:34 +0100
From: "Thomas A. Easop" <tomeasop@mi*.co*>
Organization: EPI
To: Tech Diver <techdiver@aquanaut.com>
Subject: Re: re six years today
Wahoodiver@ao*.co* wrote:

> I was not there, but have talked with some of the people on the dive and
> several of the people that were with cris jr at the chamber where he died.
> Chris jr and Sr dove air that day because they didnt have the money to make
> mix. chris Jr had his problem in the wreck and came out  and started stufacing
> without using the anchor line Chris Sr followed Jr to the surface knowing his
> son was in trouble and was not letting his asend a lone. they both surfaced
> second apart chris Jr's tanks slambed the boat and air was leaking. while the
> Seeker crew was removing Chris Jr from the water Chris Sr died.  You can beat
> up DEEP AIR diving but not what the father did about his sons problems.

Chris Sr. obviously died trying to assist his son knowing it was a risk to
himself. We should all think about that risk. A diver who was there that day
enrolled in a hyperbaric medicine class afterwards to learn better what to do if
that ever happened again. The doctor teaching the class was pretty emphatic when
posed with questions about this specific incident. He said you cannot spend
around
30 minutes beyond 200 feet and surface without deco and expect to live. I was in
the class too and that one sentence has affected how I conduct my dives more
than
most of what I have been tought in diving classes.

Many divers I know have a saying "You can fix bent, you cannot fix dead." So on
many dives, if its really hit the fan, better to surface than drown. But an
'average' mix exposure of say 25 min at 220 fsw, you have to get back to your
plan
as quickly as possible: fix your problems and get to the right gas and the right
depth and do stops as much as you can.

Surfacing with a stricken buddy, ommitting lots of deco should not be done. You
will only stress those trying to rescue the stricken buddy with another rescue.
If
you were climbing and your partner fell from the top of the cliff, you would not
jump off the cliff to help him, and if you did you would only make things worse
for the rescuers. Understand that the deeper mix dives are like standing on the
cliff. You must safely get to where you need to be to do anything good.

> How
> would Chris Sr  go home that night and tell his chris jr mother he watch his
> son die and did nothing and how would he have been able to look in the mirror
> every morning.

In reality, after a good bottom time beyond 200fsw, if your buddy headed for the
surface there is nothing you can do for him. Don't anyone else try it. The
surface
is not an option, period.

Tom
--
The Guns and Armour of Scapa Flow Scotland
1998 Underwater Photographic Survey of Historic Wrecks
http:www.gunsofscapa.demon.co.uk


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