A Nasty incident

[dcostanza]

Dr. Thomas,

As I was reviewing all the new threads I was pleasantly surprised to see a post with your name on it. At first glance, I thought it was an update as to the progress being made on your behalf.

I was very pleased that it was from you and that you have begun the road to recovery. You had a good number of people here on the board concerned and I'm sure you were in their thoughts and prayers.

Wishing you and your family all the best...

Don Costanza

 

[AquaTec]

Dr. Paul
It is so great to have you back here with us.

you are a valable asset in so many different ways.

good luck with your future, and hope to continue to read your input here

 

[Goeduck]

I am a fairly new member here on the board, but I would like to welcome you back.

I haven't seen this yet, so I am going to say HAPPY NEW YEAR'S to you and I sincerely hope that you will have many more New Years in the future.

Really sorry to hear about your decision to stop diving, but I am sure that everyone here totally understands your reasoning.

It will probably be tough, but I am sure that everyone here would like for you to continue here on the ScubaBoard.

Best wishes to you and your family.

 

[Rick Murchison]

I am elated to see you back on board, Paul. You gave us all quite a scare!
Welcome back.
I'm thankful you're here.
Rick

 

[JT2]

Thank God for answered prayers! I am so glad that you made it through your ordeal, and I can certainly understand your decision to quit diving. I hope you stay around and chat with us, but most of all I am just glad you are okay...

Sincerely, Jimbo

 

[The Iceni]

awap once bubbled...
Do you know why your buddy was unable to bring you to the surface?

thanks

I am obsessional in always insisting on a pre-dive brief and a buddy check before every dive so my buddy had been shown how to use my suit inflator, my wing inflator and my weight belt release, immediately prior to the index dive (AND before on earlier dives), so I am concerned that he said he could not lift me off the bottom. (He must have known the priciples of a CBL because that was one of the drills I was was doing and had briefed him about.)

It may be that my regulator simply free-flowed and emptied my tanks, but that would not have stopped my buddy or the rescuers from inflating my wing orally - like blowing up a balloon. Thats what the mouthpiece on the inflator is for. If my cylindres had emptied I wonder if that was even considered by my buddy or the rescue divers. (My old Trident wing has a emergency cylinder.) Even then they could have ditched my weight belt.

It is odd.

At this time all my kit is with the police and the Health and Safety Executive and I have seen no official report so much of this is conjecture. After spending a night in custody my buddy is unlikely to expand on his initial statement, quite understandibly. (I am not pointing any fingers I might add.)

I do not think I am overstating the case by saying that divers' brains do not work very well underwater and panic must have played a major part. All of which conforms my opinion that diver rescue should be a part of BASIC diver training and, much more importantly, these skills should be regularly practiced.

While I may know a lot about diving physiology and medicine I am by no means a highly qualified diver, although I was getting there slowly with practice. I hope to remain on board and will continue to contribute when I have something useful to say, even if I am not diving myself.

 

[Laurence Stein DDS]

Dr. Paul,

I go away for one day and look who's back. Good to hear from you!

I got a "canned message", return e-mail from your office.

You have an amazing, scary story. I'm so glad it has turned out for the better.

BTW, I hear ya about trying to get a rescued victim into a boat. My own buddy weighs about 220 lbs. It would take at least three people to wrestle him into a boat. I've thought about this before. Even someone lighter is just "dead weight" and you have to get them over the transom or the sides of the boat, possibly in less than smooth seas and still trying to provide life support. The time it takes to place ropes over the side and around the victim, then roll him up the side is actually unworkable.

If someone has some better ideas, I would love to hear them. I think bruises are an understatement.

Anyway, it really great to have you back. Keep in touch.

Larry Stein

 

[TwoBitTxn]

It is truely amazing that our maker works in mysterious ways.

I am thrilled to see you are up and well.

Bless you and your family,

TwoBit

 

[barb]

Hi Dr. Paul,
I'm very happy to hear that you are "alive and kicking".
I also hope you will continue to post on Scubaboard as your knowledge and experience has been and is valuable to me.
I want to thank you for your courage in telling us about your accident/incident. It must be painful to recount.
I have read about diving accidents in magazines and have always been left with questions that unfortunately will never be answered. I want to understand what went wrong so I can learn from anothers experience.
I'm sure you have pondered and asked questions about what happened. I would find it valuable if you would be willing to share your insites into your incident (but only, of course, when and if you are comfortable to do so).

Dr Paul Thomas once bubbled...
I believe everyone should be able to learn from one's mistakes, mine (if there was one) was to dive with a relative novice.

I don't intend this question to be rude but honestly wonder - given the situation you describe what difference would your buddy's experience level make when you are convulsing underwater?
Please, Dr. Paul , don't be offended but it sounds like a possible case of oxygen toxicity and how is your buddy responsible for that?
Again, I don't intend these questions to be "a challenge" but I would really just like to learn what went wrong for you.
I have great respect for you and thank you again for your contributions!!!
Barb

 

[The Iceni]

barb once bubbled...
. . . I don't intend this question to be rude but honestly wonder - given the situation you describe what difference would your buddy's experience level make when you are convulsing underwater?
Please, Dr. Paul , don't be offended but it sounds like a possible case of oxygen toxicity and how is your buddy responsible for that?

Barb

Hi Barb,

First, I agree. It does sound like oxtox. However it occurred on the ascent at about 10 meters (33 feet) following a dive where the peak pp O2 was no more than 1.1 bar. I certainly do not remember any of the warning symptoms but do remember everything about the dive up to the time of the ascent. Perhaps it was the so-called oxygen-off effect? I am truly puzzled myself, which is why I have hung up my fins..

The choice of buddy would not have prevented the incident but it could have made a considerable difference to its severity. If I had been diving with a more experienced buddy, one who was less likely to panic - and one who had a diver rescue qualification - he would have been more likely to have brought me to the surface as soon as it was safe to do so (i.e. after the clonic phase was over) by;-

1. Controlled buoyant lift - using my wing
2. Uncontrolled lift - simply by inflating my wing
3. Uncontrolled lift - simply by inflation my dry suit aginst a closed autodump valve.
4. Uncontrolled lift - by dumping weight belt at depth
   [/list=1]
   
   
   Although item 1 is recognised to be the best, all four would have been considerably better than leaving me to sink back to the bottom to await rescue by others! (whom I gather also had problems with the lift.)
   
   Thankfully such a rescue was possible as it was a staffed inland site and "only" 20 M deep there.