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Michael Blitch wrote:
> Excuse the format. I just copy and pasted and am too tired to fix it.
>
> Accident Report in Regard to Garrets Death
> This is one of the rare times we have a detailed accident report to
> review:
> Saturday June 23, 19:05, Garrett and Claudia started a dive to 300
> feet at
> Mukilteo, WA. The dive included a swim of 15 minutes down a gradual
> slope to
> the planned 300-foot depth where 5 minutes were spent. The dive was
> planned
> with software dive tables. Both knew the dive site very well.
> Both were diving their inspiration units that had passed all pre-dive
> checks. Onboard tanks were full (8/60 and O2), scrubber fresh (see
> below).
> Also, they were carrying an Al80 (10/50) and an Al40 (O2) as bailout
> each,
> equipped with inflator hoses, gauges, and second stage.
> >From descent to ascent, including the deep stops, everything went smoothly
> like usual.
> After leaving the 100 ft stop to 60 feet (20 ft/min) Garrett started
> to
> display he was having a problem.
> The Inspiration was functioning correctly and there were no PO2
> problems,
> nor other CCR related problems. The after-market ADV was disengaged as
> it
> always was on ascent. No alarms, no malfunctions were taking place.
> Claudia: Starting at 100 feet, he was suddenly behind me, not next to
> me or
> slightly in front. I looked back and saw him getting rid of occasional
> water
> in the breathing hose (normal, although he usually did not do it on
> ascent,
> rather at the stop). He seemed to be struggling slightly with
> 'something'.
> (When someone had problems of any kind, they would stop and the buddy
> would
> stop as well. In this case, although slightly slower, Garrett did not
> stop,
> and no other communication indicated a serious problem, yet.)
> Claudia: Then, arrived at the 60 ft stop, the communication was
> strange to
> non-existent. All I understood, other than that he was getting in more
> and
> more distress, was that his dry suit was not as quickly deflated. He
> showed
> me that with opening the wrist seal slightly and bubbles coming out.
> Because
> of the warm neck hood, it's very hard to open the neck seal that way,
> and
> Garrett chose not to. "
> Garrett presented more problems with buoyancy and a look of distress,
> and
> surprise. After we had spent some time trying to stop the ascent by
> releasing gas and swimming down - I could not get to the dry suit
> inflator
> to detach it (although nothing indicated a runaway inflator) and
> worked on
> the BC inflator - Garrett stopped kicking and continued to the
> surface. He
> was just floating up, looking down to me. That look said that he knew
> what
> was going to happen, and I did too."
> (The longest deco in my life (60 minutes according to tables), on top
> a
> stomach barotrauma that made breathing very hard.)
> Comment: This is what we actually talked about with Leon yesterday
> afternoon: Gary never really liked his deflator that does not have a
> rest
> when fully opened, and together with the undergarment, it seemed
> difficult
> to release the Argon in a timely manner. However, I have never seen
> him
> having problems before.
>
> According to a person at the surface that came to help, Garrett went
> to the
> boat ramp and climbed out of the water. He then collapsed on the boat
> ramp,
> and the guy pulled him from the ramp up.
>
> Garrett said something about his dry suit to this person. He had him
> call
> 911, told him about his buddy doing deco and to take care of her, and
> had
> him help set up everything to breathe O2 until the ambulance would
> arrive.
> He breathed oxygen until his onboard O2 was empty, and his stage /
> bailout
> O2 to 1700 psi by the time the ambulance arrived to pick him up.
> (Throughout the dive an ordeal. There was no alarm or even 'sanity
> break' at
> any time. The scrubber was okay. Mine was new, his had 54 minutes on
> prior
> to the dive.)
> (Tom's comment) I think it is important that he made a conscious
> decision
> not to descend back to his stop in the water and Garrett was fully
> aware of
> the problems with an explosive decompression, so it would lead one to
> think
> other factors many be involved. He also had adequate OC gas to do a
> deco
> procedure, had OC gas been needed.
> Claudia: We had talked about situations like that before and had he
> been
> able to, he would have resumed his deco after fixing whatever problem
> he
> had. I did not like the idea of leaving him alone when we discussed
> it, but
> understand that otherwise we both would have been killed, and he never
> wanted that to happen. In a similar situation, knowing that we were
> close to
> the boat ramp on a Saturday evening with many people around, I would
> have
> expected for him to stay down as well. A hard decision I never wanted
> to
> have to make.
> At the hospital where he also commented about his dry suit and then
> fell
> unconscious after 5 minutes, due to his condition (good ECG at first,
> but a
> drop to 40 over 20) he was treated for a heart attack (while explosive
> DSC
> is life threatening, it was secondary to the seriousness of the heart
> attack
> in the judgment of the attending physicians, and it is difficult if
> not
> impossible to fully address the heart condition while in a chamber)
> for 5
> hours prior to being placed in the chamber. 20 minutes into the
> chamber
> treatment Garrett arrested and died.
> Tom: Garrett was a really good friend and his loss saddens me greatly.
> He
> had a tremendous amount of time on the inspiration (460 hours plus)
> and was
> the most active instructor we have had on the west coast. And maybe
> the most
> active inspiration instructor in the USA. We have shared many dives,
> deep
> dives and recently he and Claudia went on a Blue Hole trip with
> several
> others and myself. He was extremely competent and safety orientated.
> In fact
> during a training program when he was doing his IT and Martin was
> doing his
> instructors and Vicki her diver rating on the inspiration we hammered
> out
> sequencing. On the skills that are now taught in the IANTD Inspiration
> course. So he has contributed very much to our training programs and
> to
> rebreather diving safety overall.
>
> Patti, IANTD and I wish for Garrett the happiest after life possible
> and
> know his energy will always be with those he cared for.
>
> >From everything from observations to the medical reaction and diagnosis at
> he hospital it would have lead one to accept that Garrett had a heart
> attack.
>
> True without the complication of an explosive decompression he may
> have had
> a higher probability of surviving.
>
> BUT after his body was reviewed by the ME the following was found
>
> Claudia: According to the examiner, no enzymes could be built within
> the
> time frame of 5-6 'alive' hours that would let trace a heart attack,
> and
> they were not found. The final report may be shared with me in about
> 6-8
> weeks. This morning, two friends of ours, and students of Garrett's,
> Ken
> Rymal and Dave Hancock, and I were explaining the gear to the
> examiners to
> shed some light for them on the subject. We tested the unit in front
> of
> them, and everything worked properly.
>
> Garrett and I were to get married 5 July, and had many good plans for
> training and service, and just going diving all over the place. After
> talking to Leon that afternoon, we produced even more ideas while
> driving
> from the lunch place up North to Mukilteo. Except for the harsh and
> unfair
> end, it was one of, of not the happiest weekend we had ever spent.
>
> Tom: questions that remain:
> 1. What caused Garret to make the decision not to solve the problem in
> water
> (maybe due to physiological stress if fact he was having a physical
> problem
> as thought by the doctors )
> 2. Why once on the surface he elected not to return to the stops after
> dealing with any other problems (again suggesting there was something
> else
> taking place)
> 3. Why was he not put in the chamber earlier, (as stated by the
> attending
> Doctor a heart attack but according to the ME no evidence of a heart
> attack
>
> So we may or may not discover the answers to these as well as what if
> any
> role a problem with the dry suit may or may not have had on this
> accident.
>
> We do know it was not CCR related. And it appears that there was a
> physiological problem taking place that influenced Garrett to allow
> himself
> to go to the surface and to elect not to return to decompression.
> It is sad that he was not placed in the chamber immediately as that
> would
> have definitely increased the probability of his survival of the
> decompression issue. But the attending doctors (s) had to make a
> decision
> based on what they perceived to be most life threatening.
>
> So we are still left with many questions
>
> We do know Garrett was extremely competent as a diver and highly
> experienced
> on the inspiration
>
> Respectfully
> Claudia Milz and Tom Mount
>
> --
> Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord:
> 164: I will hire one hopelessly stupid and incompetent lieutenant, but make
sure that he is full of misinformation when I send him to capture the hero.
--
You Don't HAVE to be NUTS to be a SysAdmin./WebMaster. BUT it Helps!
http://www.thecrusaderbbs.com
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