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Here is the text of the Miami Herald article. Look's like our boy Stone
got caught again with his "retraction" which was nothing more or less
than an outright lie in my opinion. For those of you who do not know
what a lie is, it is anything but the truth.
Once again, I was right, and this article points that out. Where the
entire WKPP was "right" was in having absolutely nothing to do with
these people on any level.
Published Sunday, July 18, 1999, in the Miami Herald
SUSAN COCKING
Finding out the cause of Henry Kendall's death while diving reminds us
of an important lesson:
Safety first, always
The final autopsy report on Nobel Prize-winning physicist Henry Kendall
should carry a lifesaving message to all scuba divers -- beginner,
sport, tech, or professional: You are never above obeying the basic
rules of safe diving.
While diving with a rebreather at Wakulla Springs, Fla., in February,
Kendall, 72, died from lack of oxygen to the brain because he failed to
turn a knob to connect to an oxygen supply, according to the report
issued in May by Tallahassee associate medical examiner Dr. Benjamin
Turner.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor's death was ruled
an accident, with probable contributing natural causes.
Initially, the Wakulla County Sheriff's Department announced Kendall
had died of natural causes -- a hemorrhage in the stomach area. That
cause was changed to a probable contributing factor after Turner
consulted with Dr. James Caruso, diving medical officer with the U.S.
Naval Hospital in Pensacola. Neither pathologist could be sure if the
gastric bleeding started before Kendall died or afterward, perhaps
during efforts to resuscitate him.
The preliminary finding (that Kendall died of natural causes) ignited a
firestorm between rival cave diving groups in February.
Fort Lauderdale's George Irvine, leader of the Woodville Karst Plain
Project, accused Wakulla2 -- the cave explorers with whom Kendall was
diving -- of using unsafe gear and practicing shoddy safety precautions.
Irvine hotly and publicly disputed the medical examiner's findings.
So, why is it important now -- five months later -- to draw the
distinction between accidental death and death by natural causes?
It allows all of us who breathe underwater to learn about and,
therefore, prevent future diving deaths, whether using rebreathers or
standard scuba gear.
Kendall, who shared the 1990 Nobel prize with two other physicists, was
a founder of the Union of Concerned Scientists, devoting years to
keeping scientific and technological advances safe for humans. Yet in
his death, he inexplicably bypassed precautions for using the
cutting-edge technology.
According to fellow Wakulla2 divers, Kendall ignored the pre-dive
safety checks of his equipment, paid no attention to audio and visual
alarms honking and flashing on his rebreather (which his diving
companions pointed out to him) and got into the spring alone.
Divers said Kendall wasn't himself that day; they speculate he may not
have been feeling well before he donned his Cis-Lunar MK-5 and got into
the water.
But Kendall, a lifelong diver who has used rebreathers for decades,
said nothing to his companions.
The MK-5, invented by Wakulla2 project leader Bill Stone, recirculates
breathing gasses using electronic sensors to add oxygen and remove
carbon dioxide. The MK-5 was the gear of choice for the cave explorers
because it enabled them to dive as deep as 375 feet and stay down for
hours. It emitted no bubbles, a handy feature to avoid dislodging murky
silt from cave walls. Kendall, who took underwater photographs of the
expedition, was aided by the lack of bubbles.
The MK-5 has multiple backup safety systems to alert a diver to
gas-supply or -mixture problems and allow him to bail out. Kendall had
been trained extensively in one-on-one sessions with Richard Nordstrom,
president of the company that manufactures the unit.
In the water less than 10 minutes, Kendall was found floating
unconscious in 4 feet of water by a dive team member. Several Wakulla2
members who are physicians performed CPR while awaiting an ambulance.
Kendall was pronounced dead later that day at Tallahassee Memorial
Hospital.
On the day of the accident, the Wakulla2 team issued a news release
stating Kendall did not follow established safety protocols and blacked
out because of the improperly positioned oxygen valve. When the
sheriff's office later released the preliminary gastric bleeding
statement, the Wakulla2 team corrected itself in a second news release:
``This new information leaves no doubt that [Kendall] died from natural
causes, and that his unfortunate and untimely death bore no relationship
to either the pre-dive procedures that he followed that day or the dive
equipment he used.''
Fortunately, Turner turned the case over to dive medicine expert Caruso
for a second opinion.
Caruso told Turner in a letter:
``People who dive these specialized rigs tend to be extremely anal in
the maintenance and pre/post-dive care of the apparatus. The pre-dive
checklist is extensive, and following it meticulously is not only
crucial but time-consuming. Despite having documented training and
experience with the apparatus, Dr. Kendall had established a pattern of
cutting corners in the preparation of his gear. . . . Apparently, in his
haste to shoot a few more pictures prior to departing the dive site, Dr.
Kendall disregarded the safety procedures that are put in place to
prevent mishaps such as this one.''
Bottom line: Whether you are a rocket scientist or a sport diver, the
rules of safe diving are the same. That's why it is vital to know the
facts behind each accident and fatality, not to be satisfied with facile
explanations.
Kendall, who devoted his life to seeking scientific truths, surely
would have wanted it that way.
--
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