Accident on Southern Cal Oil Rigs Dive

[Ken Kurtis]

Hi Ken,
As I stated in my post it is speculation but also based on second hand reports of the diver possibly using Nitrox, diving at a depth of some 130+ feet, and appearing unconscious with reg spit out. It fits the picture of O2 toxicity seizure.

I'm not meaning to sound critical of you Adam, nor start a thread-fight over this, but let me elucidate over why I'm wary of speculation. (Also bear in mind that following your post [#32] and my admonition/caution [#42] there is a subsequent post [#52] that says it is "very likely" an tox hit with zero facts to support that conclusion.) But some assumptions are being made that may be more leap-of-faith than fact-based. For instance:
1. A nitrox sticker on the tank doesn't mean nitrox gas in the cylinder (as others have pointed out).
2. The USCG reports the calls came in at 12:30PM.
3. Dives generally start at the rigs around 8:30AM so the timing of the call would mean it's not the first dive of the day.
4. Generally, Eureka is dove first, and sometimes second, followed by Ellen/Elly.
5. Based on that and the timing of the call, this was not the first dive of the day, and probably the third (or at east the second).
6. Unless the victim had multiple tanks with him, and assuming he did the previous dives, he got a fill on the boat.
7. The boat on their website makes no mention of pumping nitrox, only air. (Doesn't mean they don't, only that they don't mention it. And if they do, doesn't mean they were pumping that day.)
8. IF (semi-speculative) he did two previous dives and IF he started with 32% N2 and IF he used most of the gas on each dive and IF the boat filled his tanks with air after each dive, THEN he was likely on a mix closely approaching 21% N2 which would take oxtox out of consideration at the depth he was diving.
9. And none of this can be ascertained until the gas in the cylinder is analyzed for O2 content (which will be done) so that's why it's all speculative.
10. On top of that, IF it had been an oxtox hit, it would have produced visible seizures before he passed and lost the reg. No one reports having seen that. I'm not saying it didn't happen, only that no one actually witnessed it. No seizure, likely not oxtox. But no one knows if he seized or not as the reports so far only indicate that he was observed unconscious.
11. Unconsciousness could have been from (A) Heart attack, (B) Asthma attack, (C) Other medical issue, (D) Low O2 in the gas mix, (E) Bad gas, (F) Oxtox, and probably others. Point is, don't jump on oxtox as the only reason he could have passed out because there are many other possibilities and there's simply not enough evidence nor anecdotal info at this point to make an informed judgement.

Those are some of the reasons I'm again on the don't-speculate-train. Just label opinion as such, label possibilities as "could this have happened", and be careful about writing things in a way that sound like a definitive conclusion.

We will know with more certainty when other causes such as CO poisoning, or underlying medical issues are rules out.

I would hope so but not all of those things can necessarily be detected at autopsy. I am not certain is oxtox is detectable at autopsy and for certain other tests that would determine blood gas, time between death and autopsy may determine what can and what can't be detected and with what level of accuracy and confidence.

- Ken

 

[KevinNM]

And should be no more dangerous

In Flower Gardens the boat is tied to them with a continuous guideline from the rig to the boat. You can pull yourself to the boat and (or the rig) hand over hand if you don't want to swim it. But they are very nice dives, sometime wonderful dives.

 

[garibald]

That was last dive of the day. First was Olympia wreck. Second was Ellen. Third was Elly. Eureka could not be accessed that day. Not much current. Viz for Elly was bad for first 30 ft, open up around 70 ft. Pac Star ran a dinghy around the structure during the dive. His buddy was immediately picked up when he surfaced inside the structure and yelling for help.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Why was his buddy evacuated? Did he try to go after Mr. Cook?

 

[garibald]

Went down too deep (167 ft) came up too fast. He was breathing pure O2 when he was evacuated. Yes, that was what he had said.

 

[merxlin]

Went down too deep (167 ft) came up too fast. He was breathing pure O2 when he was evacuated. Yes, that was what he had said.

Can you clarify which diver (victim or buddy) you are discussing, and your source of information?

 

[drbill]

Awful lot of speculation in those two sentences based on limited (at best) information. Let's discuss but avoid speculation as posting speculatively leads to someone taking it as fact and it spirals out of control.

In addition the family has asked that divers not offer speculation on the cause of this accident. Please respect their wishes.

 

[garibald]

Can you clarify which diver (victim or buddy) you are discussing, and your source of information?

I was responding to Maxbottomtime's post. I heard when the crew talked to life guards on board in front of buddy. The crew was reading from buddy's computer. I did not say the buddy was injured.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Huge beautiful white metridiums on the structure beams at 60m/200ft. A virtual night dive and altered state of reality at that depth especially on Air -a nightmare if anything goes wrong.

Went down too deep (167 ft) came up too fast. He was breathing pure O2 when he was evacuated. Yes, that was what he had said.

Gas Density of Air/Nitrox that depth is well over six times that at the surface; exertion work-of-breathing is high, CO2 retention and narcosis are obvious impacting issues. Roughly consume as much as 60bar/900psi of Air in five minutes on single tank, and that's just with moderate physical activity.

Wow . . .what a harrowing tale this will turn out to be when an official report or witness account is released.

 

[garibald]

Just to clarify. Mr. Cook never came up to the boat as you all already know. What I described was the buddy.