Fatality Cabo San Lucas March 3

[Crush]

To Johnoly,

I'd like to thank you for your posts on CO. I have learned a fair bit from them.

It has been brought to my attention that in my post #61 in this thread my attempt at cynicism and dry humour (in which I appear to criticize you) may have been lost on some, largely because I did not make my case clearly. In the future I should avoid dry humour unless I use an approved "sarcasm" font. To clarify matters, I appreciate your contributions and have learned from them.

Cheers.

 

[cdm1]

DandyDon: I think you are so wrong,,,,,when visiting Cabo I personally can tour you around to learn some about our CO tester or monitor as you want to call it,,,,,,we call it Analyser!
I´ve been diving for 17 years with over 10,000 dives and seen few accidents on others but this is the first time I am so shocked and deeply concerned about this matter.
My condolences to the family for your loss,,,,,,,,,there is nothing anybody can do to bring her back but I sure will keep her and all of you in my prayers and I suggest you stay together as a family and hope you become closer than you were.
R.I.P.

 

[Ayisha]

Questions linger over diver's death in Mexico | Canada | News | Toronto Sun

Questions linger over diver's death in Mexico
Officials silent, grieving husband says

BILL KAUFMANN, QMI Agency

CALGARY - As the body of a Calgary stepmother who died while scuba diving in Mexico returned home Wednesday, her husband said he's becoming frustrated with authorities' silence on the tragedy.
On Saturday, Ronda Cross, 41, died off the coast of Cabo San Lucas in a mishap her family believes was caused by carbon monoxide contamination in the compressed air tanks of her and two colleagues.
While setting out to Calgary International Airport to retrieve his wife's body, Colin Cross said none of the Mexican authorities have contacted him since Saturday.
"I'm pretty irate about it but my hands are tied right now," said Cross, 39, who, like his wife, is an experienced scuba diver.
"They're just not taking care of their tourism and want to sweep it under the carpet."
He also questioned the role of the Mexican dive instructor, Jorge Eauchateau, who led the excursion and reportedly fell ill during it.
"The dive instructor is ultimately responsible for the group he takes out ... I can't believe this," said Cross.
Police in Cabo San Lucas has reportedly shut down Sunshine Dive and Charter that Cross believes supplied the air tanks used in the fatal dive -- and seized some of the devices for testing.
The company denied having anything to do with the incident or even knowledge that it occurred.
Reached by phone in Mexico, Eauchateau said he believes carbon monoxide was the culprit but refused to finger anyone for the possible contamination.
"Yes, I was sick, but I don't think I should talk about this -- I'm not conclusively sure about anything," Eauchateau said, adding he's been a diving instructor for 15 years.
"I've have been working with authorities, they have my report."
When asked if he feels in any way responsible for the death, Eauchateau said: "Of course I feel bad, even though the situation could happen to any diving instructor.
"Everything around the incident is very, very tragic, for the family and Ronda and everyone."
He expressed confidence police will come to the correct conclusion.
A funeral for Cross is scheduled for Saturday in the southeast B.C. community of Elkford, where the couple spent much of their time, said her husband.
"She was just so loved in that town ... she's touched so many lives, at least I had 13 years with her," he said.

 

[DandyDon]

To Johnoly,

I'd like to thank you for your posts on CO. I have learned a fair bit from them.

It has been brought to my attention that in my post #61 in this thread my attempt at cynicism and dry humour (in which I appear to criticize you) may have been lost on some, largely because I did not make my case clearly. In the future I should avoid dry humour unless I use an approved "sarcasm" font. To clarify matters, I appreciate your contributions and have learned from them.

Cheers.

I was confused by that one, but then I miss a lot of jokes. Thanks, and yes - his posts have been quite informative.

DandyDon: I think you are so wrong,,,,,when visiting Cabo I personally can tour you around to learn some about our CO tester or monitor as you want to call it,,,,,,we call it Analyser!
I´ve been diving for 17 years with over 10,000 dives and seen few accidents on others but this is the first time I am so shocked and deeply concerned about this matter.
My condolences to the family for your loss,,,,,,,,,there is nothing anybody can do to bring her back but I sure will keep her and all of you in my prayers and I suggest you stay together as a family and hope you become closer than you were.
R.I.P.

I'd be happy to be wrong, and welcome to SB. I generally use the word monitor for a device that continuously monitors, be it air in a room, building, vehicle, or vessel, while I usually use the word analyzer to spot testing say of a tank - sometimes using the word tester.

I would like to read more about your facility, compressor, CO monitoring or testing protocols, with pics. Perhaps you would like to post in our Mexico forum?

But for this accident, do you happen to know of any testing done...??

 

[daniel1948]

The personal CO analyzers are easy really. Pocket CO does sell a calibration kit so you can cal it for every trip, but the Analox has field cal. Dial it to zero, blow in it to make sure it works as everyone's breath has a few digits of CO, then go.

The Analox analyzer is very easy to use. As Don stated you field calibrate it. That's as simple as setting the display to 000 using the calibration knob and blowing into it to make sure it changes to 001 or 002. You can also buy a can of calibration gas that contains 10 ppm CO to check it every few months. Also very easy to use. No training required. Don't let ignorance be a reason for not buying one.

Okay, I did some reading on Analox's web site, and some searching for dealers. Leisure Pro sells the tester for about $360. The manual from the Analox web site says the sensor life is two years. I could not find a price for a replacement sensor. I dive once or twice a year. My last dive trip was a year ago. If I go to the Grand Canyon (instead of Cayman -- still undecided) in June, I won't be diving again before fall, if then. I could buy this thing, use it on one trip, and then have to replace it, or its sensor, for my next trip.

I'd like to see these things on the dive boat or at the dive dock, so I could pay $10 for a week's worth of tank testing, rather than spending $360 for something I may use once or twice before it expires. Dive operators that offer nitrox let me use their nitrox tester. Why not let me use a CO tester? If they charge a few bucks to use it, it would more than pay for itself.

(I still might get one before my next dive trip. I just don't yet know when that will be.)

 

[DandyDon]

Okay, I did some reading on Analox's web site, and some searching for dealers. Leisure Pro sells the tester for about $360. The manual from the Analox web site says the sensor life is two years. I could not find a price for a replacement sensor. I dive once or twice a year. My last dive trip was a year ago. If I go to the Grand Canyon (instead of Cayman -- still undecided) in June, I won't be diving again before fall, if then. I could buy this thing, use it on one trip, and then have to replace it, or its sensor, for my next trip.

I'd like to see these things on the dive boat or at the dive dock, so I could pay $10 for a week's worth of tank testing, rather than spending $360 for something I may use once or twice before it expires. Dive operators that offer nitrox let me use their nitrox tester. Why not let me use a CO tester? If they charge a few bucks to use it, it would more than pay for itself.

(I still might get one before my next dive trip. I just don't yet know when that will be.)

The sensor is warranted for 2 years, should last some longer, replaceable for $166 currently: Analox EII CO Replacement Sensor - Dive Right In Scuba - Plainfield, IL

Yeah, dive boats should have these as standard safety equipment, free to use. Pressure and influence from divers will hopefully make that happen as it'd only cost the operator like $3/week over the life of the first sensor - about 50c a day for a busy op. Need more divers to insist.

 

[swamp diver]

Okay, I did some reading on Analox's web site, and some searching for dealers. Leisure Pro sells the tester for about $360. The manual from the Analox web site says the sensor life is two years. I could not find a price for a replacement sensor. I dive once or twice a year. My last dive trip was a year ago. If I go to the Grand Canyon (instead of Cayman -- still undecided) in June, I won't be diving again before fall, if then. I could buy this thing, use it on one trip, and then have to replace it, or its sensor, for my next trip.

I'd like to see these things on the dive boat or at the dive dock, so I could pay $10 for a week's worth of tank testing, rather than spending $360 for something I may use once or twice before it expires. Dive operators that offer nitrox let me use their nitrox tester. Why not let me use a CO tester? If they charge a few bucks to use it, it would more than pay for itself.

(I still might get one before my next dive trip. I just don't yet know when that will be.)

I agree the best solution would be for the dive operator or shop to have a CO analyzer on the premises. It would be even better if DAN also got behind such a campaign to have analyzers on boats or at the shop such that the client could check the tank prior to use and verify it is CO-free.

If you are only using the analyzer one week a year I am pretty sure that it would last at least four years so you could amortize the cost over that time interval. I've had a half dozen CO analyzers over the last decade and when used intermittently they have all lasted in the four to five year range despite product literature saying two years. Two years would be for daily use at a busy dive shop.

 

[AfterDark]

Has anyone tried a home CO alarm? Direct the air flow into the device and see if the alarm goes off? Would be quite a moment on a charter boat if the alarm went off!

 

[DandyDon]

Has anyone tried a home CO alarm? Direct the air flow into the device and see if the alarm goes off? Would be quite a moment on a charter boat if the alarm went off!

Not in the same range of sensitivity. A typical home alarm goes off when CO levels reach 100 ppm over 90 minutes, 200 ppm over 35 minutes or 400 ppm over 15 minutes. We need to know in single digits in short time.

I do take one on trips as hotels never have them, but they do have water heaters even in the tropics.

 

[Ayisha]

I'd like to see these things on the dive boat or at the dive dock, so I could pay $10 for a week's worth of tank testing, rather than spending $360 for something I may use once or twice before it expires. Dive operators that offer nitrox let me use their nitrox tester. Why not let me use a CO tester? If they charge a few bucks to use it, it would more than pay for itself.

This is something that always comes up in any thread where CO is discussed. Oxygen analyzers are normally provided for the client's use free of charge. Why not a CO analyzer? Most of us would be willing to pay a little extra for our air fills for the use of a CO analyzer.

Is it possible to create a single analyzer that can test both O2 and CO? If such a combo unit could be bought for a reasonable price, I'm sure that shops would be more inclined to get them...