Diving death at Eilat

[wedivebc]

Folks,

It has been pointed out that I used an improper term for George Irvine in one of my previous posts. For that, I apologize, and I have modified said post.

.

Please tell me that you're joking!

 

[caveseeker7]

Why? Just goes to show you that Rob takes responsibility for his public comments
and has the guts to apologize when he strayed too far. Shows more character than
the web persona he was commenting about. I can't remember reading a post or mail
by the man where he apologizes, no matter how inappropriate his comments were.

 

[wedivebc]

Why? Just goes to show you that Rob takes responsibility for his public comments
and has the guts to apologize when he strayed too far. .

Couldn't agree more
My incredulity stems from the fact he was compelled to apologize.

 

[Hammerhead]

(1) Rebreathers are more dangerous than OC gear, in this sense alone. They require more training, and a more mature outlook on what you are doing than many people are willing to acquire.

I liken re-breathers to flying, for a very good reason. The process is the same. You pre-flight the machine. You watch your gauges while you fly. You have a back-up plan that you have practiced for emergencies. When you finish, you post-flight your machine.

What are your rewards for this extra effort? You get higher performance! Simply put, you can get much, much more bottom time, and isn't that what we are all here for?

(2) There are ways that a re-breather can kill you. In most cases they are very gentle ways. You just go to sleep. The way around this is to monitor your gauges and warning systems. (Remember, this IS more like flying.)

(3) Do re-breathers cause heart attacks? Only in the sense that if you go to sleep, as mentioned above, your mouth-piece comes out of your mouth, you drown, and your heart stops. Is there something specific about them that causes heart attacks? Simply put, NO! There is a condition called hypercapnea, which is having too much carbon dioxide in the system. If this happens, your heart will race, among other things, and if your heart is weak, it might trigger a heart attack. You could do this just as easily, however, by swimming too fast on OC.

If you find yourself becoming hypercapnic, you just reach up and twist the bail-out valve (BOV) and start breathing on OC while you figure out what is happening. Then, if it is fixable, you go on about your business. If not, you go back to the boat. No big deal.

If you are interested in finding out what re-breathers are really all about, look in Advanced Diver Magazine (Great mag!) and look for one of their "Intro to Re-breathers" sessions coming to a pool near you!

In the interests of full disclosure, I teach the Inspiration Rebreather for IANTD. I am also involved in bringing a military re-breather to the civilian market. I have also been featured in Dive Training Magazine during one of my instructional sessions in the Cayman Islands. (Not trying to blow my own horn here. Just establishing my bona fides, as they say.)

Cheers!

Rob

Rob,

Succintly and sensibly put. I'm used to hearing the "oh my God, you're-crazy-and-you're-going-to-die" routine and frankly, it gets on my nerves.

Good to hear someone stating the facts reasonably and backing it up with their qualifications to do so. I'm no Instructor, I am certified for and frequently the Draeger Dolphin - it's an amazing experience.

As with all diving, so much is about knowing and mitigating risk, and as a father of two, I'm particularly careful about this.

Enjoyed your post!

Cheers,

 

[CCRDiverDave]

If I were so inclined, I could kill myself WAY faster in a car then with my rebreather.....

Statistically speaking, one is better off wearing a helmet while driving their car.....

 

[Hatul]

First and foremost, my sympathies go out to his family and friends. It is always sad to hear of these incidents. Thankfully, there are less than one hundred deaths that occur while scuba divering each year.

Rob, thanks for pointing out that not all deaths that occur while diving rebreathers are "rebreather deaths". However, this will still be logged as a "scuba diving death" even if the cause was a heart attack. Interestingly, heart attacks that occur on the golf course are not logged as "golfing deaths".

Just my two cents as a cardiologist.

True, but a heart attack survivable on the golf course may result in drowning when diving.

Adam

 

[jepuskar]

The only thing you just did besides resurrect a 3yr old thread is remind me of how I miss interacting with Rob Davie.

Thanks....thanks alot.

 

[Rick Inman]

Totally agree.

Thread closed.