American tourist dies while diving Cozumel caves.....

[Ayisha]

How well did in-line monitoring work out for Brendan (diver in this thread who died) considering the facility who was pumping his gas had them??

It didn't. And that is the problem we're encountering. Having an in-line CO monitor on-site is not enough.
If:
-the unit is not plugged in/operational or
-no one hears the alarm or
-no one shuts the compressor off or
-the compressor does not automatically shut off
the system fails.

I think these relate to the fears of a false sense of security with more in-line CO monitors on the island. I hope that they will be used correctly and they are set to automatically shut off.

 

[Blue Sparkle]

There are literally hundreds of things that I do every day where I essentially hold someone else responsible for my life, from turning on the tap for a drink of water to driving my car. If I were to have to check up on each and every one of these things, I probably would not get all the checking I needed to do in a day done, not to mention anything else.

I've been thinking about this as I read, and I agree with your line of reasoning. I mean yes, we are responsible for ourselves as divers, but when I'm buying an air fill.... that's what I'm buying. An air fill. I should be able to count on it being safe, healthy air.

I do understand about checking things out, but I guess it's like going on a boat dive: I will see if they have safety equipment, and note whether or not the boat looks well-maintained; but I don't want to feel like I have to start analyzing the metal composition of the through hulls, or the integrity of the hull laminate. Likewise I don't want to have to test the metal in my new brake pads, or analyze the gasoline when I fill up my car.

On the other hand, given that air has not proven to always be trustworthy, I can see why people are taking its analysis into their own hands. I might do so as well. I just don't think we should have to, and I do somewhat mentally cringe when "we" are buying air fill companies the tools to safely do the job that is already basically the reason they exist. If they need to charge more in order to provide safe fills, I wish they would just do so.

Okay, I know I don't run the world, and there are at least two sides to every issue.

Blue Sparkle

 

[beautybelow]

That's ridiculous.. Personal analyzers are the last line of defense on catching CO before the regulator is hooked to the tank and the dive is commenced. The best place & time to test tanks for CO is on the shore, dock or boat, just before you dive. Big plus for fill stations with in-line monitors but....

How well did in-line monitoring work out for Brendan (diver in this thread who died) considering the facility who was pumping his gas had them??

You go ahead and trust them.. I on the other hand will trust my ability to sample the gas I am breathing and make an informed decision on whether to proceed, or not..

I think you mis understood my point. A hand held unit is not the right choice for the operator of any size.

The customer can carry all they want, but the operator should be monitoring the air coming out of the compressor WITH an automatic shutdown, yes.

To have the dive staff running around checking every tank for you before you put on your first stage and go diving in most places wouldn't work out too well. IMO the hand held units are for the consumer, the inline units are for the provider.

 

[Dive-aholic]

well, there are lots of great places to dive in the world where that is not an issue.

Such as? I don't know anywhere in the world where I would trust the air to be clean without analyzing it myself, including in my own back yard! There have been CO incidents right here in Florida.

 

[ucfdiver]

There have been CO incidents right here in Florida.

When/where? I haven't heard of any traced directly to that...the incident I've heard of was from methylene chloride and Heptene. Any others documented?

 

[Thalassamania]

I've not heard of any CO incidents in the Keys, in California or in Hawaii, to name three.

 

[Dive-aholic]

When/where? I haven't heard of any traced directly to that...the incident I've heard of was from methylene chloride and Heptene. Any others documented?

There have been other incidents that haven't had such extreme outcomes and aren't spoken about. It happens. Also, as far as that incident, methylene chloride metabolizes into carbon monoxide. So although there were other issues at hand, carbon monoxide likely did play some role and had the cylinders been analyzed for CO, they incident might have been avoided altogether.

I've not heard of any CO incidents in the Keys, in California or in Hawaii, to name three.

Any CO analyzers in any of those locations? There have been deaths in all three locations you mention that have been deemed to be caused by one reason or another, but was any of the gas analyzed to definitively rule out CO, or was CO tested in the autopsies. I'm not trying to imply any of those deaths were caused by CO, but unless it was tested for in the cylinder or in the autopsy, we'll never know. I do know of a cylinder in CA that was condemned during its last VIP because of the corrosion that was occurring in it due to the fills it received on one of the CA dive boats. While there was not a dive incident, I'm sure had CO been tested for, there would have been some detected in that cylinder.

 

[Thalassamania]

In the US the gas from the cylinders is analyzed in most all fatality cases, and has been for many years. Corrosion is indicative of moisture in the tank, all it takes is one wet fill and some time (warmth also helps). Why you think that points to CO is out of my ken, despite your surety.

 

[Dive-aholic]

It was the fills from the boat based compressor that caused the corrosion of that cylinder. I'm pretty certain oil was only one of the issues. "Most all" is not all. And how about all the near misses that didn't result in deaths?

 

[Dive-aholic]

While everything that we've done since the incident on Cozumel in October has been great it's not enough. Not everyone is on the Internet forums and so there are still divers out there that are clueless to the problem. I have e-mailed the major publications in the recreational dive industry asking that they include an article on the danger of carbon monoxide in the near future. But one e-mail won't do it. I'm asking everyone here to please send an e-mail as well and ask all of your diving friends to do the same. Here are the e-mails for Dive Training, Sport Diver, and Scuba Diving magazines -

divetraining@spc-mag.com

editor@sportdiver.com

edit@scubadiving.com