Scott, this was so stupid I could hardly believe it was true.

NO EMERGENCY PLANNING
INSUFFICIENT GAS CARRIED
NO DIVE PLANNING
NO TEAM CONSENSUS
NO BUDDY CHECKS
REFUSAL OF TREATMENT DESPITE SYMPTOMS
INSUFFICIENT EXPOSURE PROTECTION
DIVING ON ODOURED GAS
DIVING ON GAS WITRHOUT ANALYZING
FAILING TO CALL A DIVE ON EQUIPMENT FAILURE
NO BUDDY AWARENESS
INSUFFICIENT SPG MONITORING

DIR, for the unenlightened, is much more than having the right gear. 
This was not DIR.

-Sean


On Fri, 14 Jul 2000 04:03:31 EDT, ScottBonis@ao*.co* wrote:

>This report came from rec. scuba.  I thought it was significant enough to 
>repeat it here.
>
>We'd better be real careful about saying that DIR is spreading so rapidly.  
>Obviously, not all DIR proponents have the foggiest idea of what safe tech. 
>diving is all about.
>
>This message is really a wake up call that just because someone says he or 
>she dives DIR, "IT AIN"T NECESSARILY SO."
>
>Thanks Randy for a hell of a report.
>
>Take care and dive safe,        Scott
>
>
>Subject: Dive Expediton to the Twilight Zone
>From: "Randy F. Milak" <A HREF="mailto:milak@di*.zz*.co*">milak@divemed.zz
>n.com</A> 
>Date: Thu, Jul 13, 2000 1:33 PM
>Message-id: <396E2784.27529BEB@di*.zz*.co*>
>
>     This past week, I had the displeasure of being invited to take
>part, in a grossly incompetent archaeological expedition. The expedition
>was to film the degradation of a wreck in Lake Superior, that lies in
>270 ffw.  All divers, save myself and a colleague were self proclaimed
>DIR's.  Some even boosted Tee-shirts that read "Doing-it-Right",
>"Friends don't let friends breath the short hose." etc.
>
>     We could have dove 7 days, however, in 3 days on three dives I had
>had enough and, my buddy and I left.  Why I stayed even 3 days bewilders
>me.  This is just a SHORT list of what I observed.
>
>The DIVES:
>Day one.
>
>1.  NO emergency plan EVER discussed - period!
>
>2.  We were told that 2 chambers were on stand-by and a CCG helicopter
>was on stand-by for our dive time duration's.  I phoned one of the
>chamber to confirm.  They never knew or heard a thing. When confronted
>by this enlightenment, we were told that there's obviously some
>mistake.  I politely suggested that the organizers exaggerated their
>preparedness.  They replied with a smirk.  We phoned the closet chamber
>back...they were MORE than happy to accommodate.
>
>3.  Diver rescue plan was BOGUS.  A 2 year old could have came up with a
>better solution.  NO ONE save my buddy and I bothered to inform the boat
>captain of the run-times and emergency protocol required for this level
>of diving.
>
>3.  Surface supply O2 was used for the 20 ffw and up decompression
>stops.  However, All but a few DIR divers carried only 1/2 the amount of
>oxygen necessary to complete decompression if they failed to make it to
>the decompression platform.  When confronted with this obvious
>shortfall, DIR Diver D, responded that they had RMV's below 0.2 cubic
>feet / min. and thats "why" they actually had enough deco gas.
>"BULLSHIT!!" was my response!  Had an emergency bail-out been necessary
>by ANY of those divers, the latter, combined with the Mickey-Mouse diver
>rescue plan, would amount to nothing less than a wheel chair purchase.
>
>NOW the REAL FUN BEGINS ...
>
>     Water temp at the bottom, 38 F at 270 ffw, and gradually (no
>thermoclines) increased to a balmy 47 F around 20 ffw.  The top 1-2 feet
>of surface water is 59 F.  Vis is 9-20 feet.  Ambient light stops around
>60 ffw.  Surface is dead calm, no waves.  All divers diving TMX 14/50
>bottom mix (14% oxygen, 50 helium, balance N2).  EAN 35 and 100% O2 for
>decompression.  (EAN 50 staged at 70 ffw).  Mostly teams of 3, just 1
>team of 2.  Dive team, dive times are staggered 45 minutes apart to ease
>crowding during staged decompression.
>
>     The first team to descend is DIR dive team 1, a threesome (Divers
>A, B, and C).  They have NO dive plan.  The leader of DIR Dive team one,
>has only ONE decompression profile with him -- a decompression profile
>for only 57 of decompression from a 20 minute bottom time at 260 ffw;
>which is no less than 14 minutes shorter than anything, everyone else
>has calculated for the same. He is told this by every other diver on the
>boat.  Diver B, responds with "...fuck-it, I ain't dead yet".  ALL, in
>dive team one, followed that asinine deco profile.  NOT one of them can
>dress themselves and ALL need help to put on their gear.  None of them
>conduct a leak test upon entering the water.  None of them check out
>each of their team mates for anything - period.  Dive team 1 isn't too
>sure what their dive depth is going to be ... upon entering the water,
>they "think" around 260 ffw for 20 minutes.  In the water, at the
>descent line, they argue about who is going to descend first.  
>
>     Diver A surfaces 75 minutes later.  Diver A vomits upon reaching
>the surface, needs help to doff gear and board boat.  Says he's
>extremely fatigued.  Has a severe headache.  Is complaining of nausea. 
>A quick 5 minute neurologic exam shows extremely slow reaction time and
>nystagmus of the eyes.  I doppler test the diver.  The doppler is
>SCREAMING ...  We STRONGLY suggest Diver A get on oxygen - NOW!  Diver
>declines at first but then sits down and starts breathing O2 from their
>deco gas bottle 5 minutes later.  I then suggest he LIE down, not sit
>up.  Diver again declines.  Nearly 4 hours post dive (and off the boat),
>diver A is bubbling Grade 2~3, and still symptomatic.  I privately
>suggest he seek treatment.  Diver A declines.  I then suggest he at
>least get back on O2.  He declines.  I then suggest he not dive
>tomorrow.  He declines at this time.  His denial excuses were classic
>text book.
>
>     Diver B (threesome Dive team leader), surfaces, feels fine. 
>Fifteen minute post-dive doppler test shows, grade 4 bubbling (which
>represents well in excess of 1000 or more bubbles per minute detected in
>the veins).  I suggest he get on O2.  Diver accepts willingly. I then
>suggest he lie down, and not sit in a head up position.  He declines. 
>He says, "I guess we didn't do enough deco huh?"  I respond with raised
>eyebrows and say "Gee, ya think?".  After a few minutes on O2, Diver B
>complains of pain in his lower spine.  I start to ask a few questions. 
>He dismisses the obvious diagnosis and says "...it must be caused from
>the cold steel backplate against my kidneys."   I give up, this is
>moronic. It becomes apparent later that evening that this diver does not
>have one iota of a clue as to any mixed gas decompression procedures or
>even HOW to cut a decompression table.  This diver is a trimix
>instructor, and an instructor trainer.  Diver A, and C are his
>prodigies.  Next morning Diver B complains of worsening symptoms and
>complains of a few new ones... Diver B, prepares his gear for the
>morning dive, blissfully in his own world of denial, pain, and
>cluelessness.  
>
>     Diver C, an extreme lean female, and #3 diver in team one; upon
>surfacing, has lost all hand dexterity from the cold water immersion and
>must be de-kitted and undressed by others.  Diver C displays pail blue
>lips, pale facial colour and has uncontrollable teeth chatter and whole
>body shivering.  20 minute post-dive doppler test shows Grade 1
>bubbling. 
>
>
>DIR Dive team 2, (Divers D,E and F)
>
>     Diver F, smells Diver D's bottom mix before gearing up, and says,
>"Oh my God, it smell like a BBQ.",  Dive buddy D smells the mixed gas
>and says, "Yeah, it does, it should be OK though..."  They decide to use
>the mix.  Diver F, did _their_ gas blending.  
>
>     All three divers require help getting dressed, and require help to
>don their gear.  All was done bare handed, no gloves.  Diver D's primary
>regulator starts free flowing when they turn on their tanks.  Five
>minutes of mumbling, grumbling and fidgeting seems to have solved the
>problem.  Diver D, tells everyone that it was "a valve problem in the
>regulator". Me thinks, "what the FUCK are you talking about???"  NONE of
>the Divers in team 2 do a pre-dive leak test upon entering the water.
>NONE of them check their team-mates for anything.  NONE of them reviewed
>a dive plan (if they even had one) before the dive.  
>
>Approximately 6 minutes into Team one's first dive, at a depth of
>approximately 260 ffw, Diver E's primary HID light fails.  Diver E pulls
>out a $15.00 backup light with double A batteries (Barely enough light
>to read ones gauges).  All three CONTINUE the dive.  Within 2 minutes,
>Diver E is hung up on rigging on the port side stern, in his manifold
>because he didn't see the rigging mess.  Diver D gets Diver E untangled
>but subsequently gets tangled up.  Diver F is off somewhere taking video
>and is apparently unaware of what's transpiring.  They get untangled,
>but run out of time and end the dive.  Diver D, reports that the the
>dive was "unnerving".
>
>Diver D, surfaces from dive with extreme head-ache, blue lips ... Diver
>D, blames it on the cold water, CO2 blah, blah, blah.  My colleague
>suggests to Diver D to go on oxygen...their response..."fuck-it".  Both
>Doppler and neurologic tests are declined by Divers D and F.
>
>Diver E, upon surfacing, feels fine save the usual moaning and groaning
>when exiting an ice-cube dive.  20 minute post-dive doppler test reveals
>diver has extreme decompression stress.  Diver starts to complain and
>reveal expected symptoms.  Examination of the usual turns up nothing. 
>Later that evening, Diver E tells me that when Diver F was mixing his
>bottom mix, he accidentally overfilled his tanks to 3900 psi from the
>compressor, instead of the intended 3300 psi.  They bleed the tank back
>to 3300 psi, and Diver E (a Phd and a chemistry professor at an Ohio
>University), asks the Blender (Diver F) if the helium and oxygen in the
>mix would still be ok.  Diver F tells him "sure, no probs...minor
>variance..." and Diver E accepts the mix, as is.  Diver E asks me, "Do
>you think that might have been the problem?" My eyes could not get any
>wider, and with eyebrows raised, and contorted face I asked him, "Is
>this the fucken twilight zone?"  He looked at me straight faced and said
>he didn't get it.
>
>
>Day 2 highlights:
>
>Divers A and C of team one don't dive on day two -- One reports bad
>sunburn.  Teams get modified.
>
>Diver B, decides to use the same decompression schedule, but this time
>he's gonna shave a few minutes off the bottom time.  Anyways, he gets
>spooked on the bottom, about 10 minutes into the dive, abandons his team
>mate(s).  We were the first team in that morning and I'm already 55
>minutes or so into decompression and I can see Diver B soloing the deco
>below me.  At one point he struggles to unclip his deco regulator which
>he's contorted in some fucked up manner to the tank valve, and is
>getting visibly distressed.  My buddy descends, asks if everything is
>"OK".  Does not get an "OK" back.  OK is asked again, and Diver B
>responds with a salute.  Assistance is offered, but Diver B manages to
>deploy the deco regulator and ascend.
>
>Needless to say, Diver B reports, back on the surface that physically,
>he felt great at depth.  NO MORE PAIN!  So we ask, "Gee, I wonder why
>that is?".  He doesn't know.  I have to check my pulse -- its that
>twilight thing again.  It was truly surreal. Diver B's 60 minute
>post-dive doppler test sounds like a popcorn popping machine gone
>crazy.  Diver B is getting fatigued quickly again with 60 minutes
>post-dive.  
>
>Later that night we watch video of the days dives.  Diver D, the one
>with the BBQ flavoured bottom mix, is on video for 20 continuous
>minutes, nearly the entire length of the bottom time and never once
>unclips the SPG to look at the pressure.
>
>
>
>Day 3 highlights:
>
>
>By this time, I'm seriously questioning my presence with this group. 
>But this is the straw that broke the camels back.
>
>Diver C has extreme buoyancy complications while egressing for
>decompression which continued on to the staged decompression portion of
>the dive.  NOT one of the divers she is with (Diver A and B), recognize
>her distress.  I can just barely see Diver A and B, on the line, but I
>can see another bubble stream.  I think to myself, "why aren't these
>bone-heads together?"  I descend from my shallower stop vantage point
>and can see Diver C in obvious distress.  She has lost hand dexterity
>once again, and cannot unclip and deploy her regulator.   She's
>struggling terribly from a loss of buoyancy control and her one hand is
>hanging onto the line for dear life.  Her team-mates DO NOT HELP HER. 
>They are oblivious morons. I pass the dip-shit twins (Diver's A and B),
>and my buddy deploys Diver C's regulator for her.  Finally, Diver B
>clues in, descends, and clips a negatively buoyant camera to Diver C's
>D-ring to offer more weight.  My buddy assists and corrects her buoyancy
>problem.  
>
>Diver C had apparently already lost several minutes of decompression on
>the proper gas and skipped the first two stops  altogether, in a vain
>effort to elicit help from her team mates, who had all but abandoned
>her.   Upon surfacing, her two brain lesioned buddies chastise her and a
>dispute ensues.  She was PISSED OFF because they didn't help her.  There
>was some choice expletives exchanged on the boat and some really
>interesting dialogue that would grow hair on the back of your hands. 
>Quietly, I proceeded with the Doppler tests.  Diver C was bubbling a
>grade 3~4 (no surprise).  Diver B was his usual popcorn popping feast of
>bubble pings and Diver A we never bothered to examine because he was too
>busy lighting up his cigarette, trembling from his nic fit.
>
>     Sad part of this, is that the 3 worst fuckups in that group (Divers
>A, B and C), apparently dove with MHK last year on the Andrea Doria, and
>apparently, two of them are about to join MHK and Michael J. Blitch on
>their up-coming Doria expedition.  If one of those divers DIE, I will
>not be the least bit surprised.  MHK, I wish you the best of luck!
>
>-- 
>Randy F. Milak 
>Windsor, Ontario
>~A conclusion is simply the place where one got tired of thinking!~


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