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At 05:20 PM 3/3/03 -0500, 2deep wrote:
>Any facts on the 2000 to 6000 divers using this, sound like a wildly high
>number.
>
>Paul Komrowski
If the following newspaper account from Ireland is accurate, would say that
the fatality rate, even with 6000 users, is quite high.
Gary
Newsgroups: rec.scuba
This news item about a rebreather death in Ireland was posted this
evening (Tuesday 18 Feb 03) on IrishExaminer. Com
19/02/03
Diver one of 16 to die using hi-tech gear
By Eddie Cassidy
A TOP diver was one of 16 people who died in the last five years
using sophisticated re-breathing equipment, an inquest heard
yesterday.
Nicholas Gotto died within minutes of entering waters leading to the
sunken Kowloon Bridge shipwreck in West Cork.
Rachel Gotto, pregnant at the time of the tragedy, said her husband
Nicholas was considered the third most experienced diver in the country
and always thoroughly checked his equipment.
Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane was yesterday advised by medical and technical
experts they could not determine which metabolic disorder - high oxygen
or excess carbon dioxide levels - was the primary cause of 42-year-old
Mr Gotto¹s death.
A P Valves, the British-based manufacturer of the computerised Buddy
Inspiration device, was legally represented at the hearing, which will
resume on March 4.
User error with the Buddy Inspiration device, it was suggested, was a
possible factor in some of the other 15 deaths, which occurred in
Britain, Northern Ireland, Germany and the USA.
Plymouth-based engineer David Crockford, a technical expert on
re-breathing equipment, said the 30kg machine used by Mr Gotto was
functioning properly after its recovery from the seabed several days
after the July 1998 tragedy.
However, Mr Crockford said it was interesting to note Mr Gotto¹s diving
partner or others among the party-of-six did not witness an
alarm-warning sound from the deceased man¹s hi-tech equipment.
Mr Crockford said he assisted coroner courts in Britain and Ireland at
four similar inquests, but he was aware of 16 deaths of divers using the
re-breather sports model.
Mr Gotto was found lifeless at 24.4 metres with his face mask removed
and his mouth open.
His diving partner, Tony O¹Mahony, said Mr Gotto had difficulty
calibrating the machine earlier that day, but it was working correctly
before the dive. He said he was three to four metres behind and above Mr
Gotto as they descended on the wreck. They exchanged OK signals twice
within minutes.
But at a depth of 24.4 metres, he found Mr Gotto on his back with the
re-breather out of his mouth.
Mr O¹Mahony, who lost his mouthpiece trying to assist Mr Gotto, rose to
the surface to raise the alarm before returning to help recover the
body, which floated to the surface within minutes.
Pathologist Dr John Hogan said there was no evidence of natural causes
leading to the death.
--
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