Accident on Southern Cal Oil Rigs Dive

[Safediversocal]

Blaming the buddy seems even less productive than speculating cause of death.

I’m not blaming the buddy for his death, I do have a few thousand dives under my belt. I’ve been stuck with instabuddies that have made grave errors and I had the wits to save them. Until the buddy who from accounts had a short chamber ride all we can do is speculate. The buddy can just as easily chime and and say what happened. Did he infact have a gear malfunction that prevented inflation? Until the people in the water that day chime in we won’t know what happened to Henry. Ask any instructor who gives a damn on how they teach their students to react. Yes we can have the talk about you don’t know how to react unless you’re in that situation. But given the fact that this dive isn’t a beginner and some would argue most “advanced card” holding divers still shouldn’t do the rigs it begs the question. What more could have been done. Perhaps the buddy is asking their self
that question, but provide some feedback. Let’s learn from this tragic mistake that took this mans life. Unless there’s some gag order the club that chartered the boat issued Facts deserve to be known.

 

[mdb]

I think we are learning from this thread-fairly civil so far.

Even though I have about 2000 dives, I now realize that the off shore rigs
can be very challenging and these dives require a cautious approach in order to
explore the unique environment that the rigs provide.

 

[elgoog]

The buddy can just as easily chime and and say what happened.
<snip>
Perhaps the buddy is asking their self that question, but provide some feedback.

I highly doubt it's going to be easy for the buddy to chime in, even assuming they were reading this board. I also don't think it's reasonable to be expected to do so, considering what happened.

Unless there’s some gag order the club that chartered the boat issued Facts deserve to be known.

No, they don't. As much as we want to know them, we don't deserve anything nor should we expect more than what is volunteered by anyone. There is no obligation on the boat, buddy, club, etc to make any of this information public. If there was a criminal investigation, they would be obligated to reveal that to the investigators but that's about the only scenario I can think of.

 

[Hatul]

John you’re right, until the dive buddy that let him go speaks up we won’t know much. By the time they were able to recover Henry the excess nitrox would have off gassed. I hope the investigation includes his “dive buddies” computer as well. Something went wrong was it gear, a medical issue only that buddy can say. I highly doubt they will say anything. It really begs the question though if he was sinking why didn’t the “buddy” do more to Save him. Weights could have been ditched. He could have inflated Henry’s drysuit. Those of us that have dove the rigs and Southern California know Cold water diving is harder. But Henry was a regular cold water diver who worked out often. I hope the corner report will give more details than drowning. His poor kids deserve better than that.

THe info from someone on the boat is that the buddy went down to almost 170 ft to try to save Henry and the buddy had to be evacuated to spend time in a chamber himself. Any more effort would likely result in two fatalities.

 

[Ojai Diver]

My heart goes out to Mr. Cook and his family.

But my sympathies also extend to his buddy, who had to balance saving Mr. Cook's life with saving his own.

The buddy will be reliving the choices he had to make that day everyday for the rest of his life, long after the Dive Legends here, with little real information (and in the anonymity and comfort of their homes) have castigated him for not doing what they believe they could and would have done in his place.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Review of Unconscious/Toxing Diver Rescue (Decision Diagram):

Alert Diver | Rescue of an Unconscious Diver

GUE/UTD Method:
Difficult to perform and controversial depending on shallow vs deep depth -may only be a slightly better option & questionable viable outcome than sending an uncontrolled buoyant ascent of victim to the surface.

US Navy Video, What it looks like: Oxygen Seizure in a Recompression Chamber

 

[HalcyonDaze]

I agree with Ken, Bill, and several other posters - Henry's family and friends are shocked and in mourning right now. Ego-puffing speculation is not called for.

If some feel that this thread should contain a discussion of the possible causes, at least first try to establish what is known and then evaluate hypotheses logically rather than throwing darts at a board.

 

[muzikbiz22]

Let’s learn from this tragic mistake that took this mans life.

What "mistake" ???

 

[mdb]

What "mistake" ???

I do not think anyone yet knows if there was a "mistake" in this tragic dive event.

It certainly could have been a medical accident, a serious equipment malfunction.

I do not think we will ever know.

What we are learning is much about the protocol of diving these offshore oil rigs.

 

[Safediversocal]

Ego puffing?? My friend is dead, I want to know if his death could have been prevented. The entire point of this forum is to help prevent further accidents. That club has already had a few accidents. Yet a man dies and this is the one time they don’t do a safety stand down. I’m sorry but I’m still angry as to why my friend is dead.