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Another factor which could have saved one or both of these divers is a surface support system. With safety divers in the water and on the boat geared up and ready to go, Chris Sr. could at least have known that his son was going to be cared for and stayed in his plan. To me, doing dives like this without a surface backup plan is like doing a high-wire act without a net. The amount of extra effort used to arrange safety divers and to work up a plan is minor when you consider the consequences should a diver gets in trouble in these kinds of profiles. As one who has done support diving, I can tell you that it is fun to do and a terrific way to gain knowledge and practice for future dives. Jim Sender: Thomas A. Easop Date: 10/17/98 10:06 AM >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 > > >-- >Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. >Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'. > ------------------------------------------------------------------- Learn About Trimix at http://www.cisatlantic.com/trimix/trimix.html -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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