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At 06:03 14/07/00 , ScottBonis@ao*.co* wrote: >This report came from rec. scuba. I thought it was significant enough to >repeat it here. A good heads-up on the existence of strokes in DIR clothing. It's a pity Randy doesn't name names. Especially the name of the "trimix instructor, and... instructor trainer" who "does not have one iota of a clue as to any mixed gas decompression procedures or even HOW to cut a decompression table." These people should be run out of any professional involvement with diving. Naming names would be truly useful here. rgds billyw >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!~ >-- >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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