Fiona Sharp death in Bonaire

[rjack321]

balloon helium is purposely blended to be a normoxic mix though. it isn't pure helium.

The concept of a balloon grade helium blended with O2 is very regional. Has never existed here in the seattle area

 

[Johnoly]

...Dr. Fiona was deaf, ...

{ Confused }

 

[tridacna]

The concept of a balloon grade helium blended with O2 is very regional. Has never existed here in the seattle area

Check again. Due to high cost...

FAQS - Balloon Time

What is the purity of the helium in Balloon Time tanks?
Our helium is rated from 98-99.99 percent pure. However, due to global helium supply issues, we are now mixing helium with air. All tanks will have 80 percent or more helium. This allows us to deliver a quality product at an affordable price.

 

[tridacna]

Adds some safety issues, removes others. And some of these accidents - OC or CCR - are caused by decisions, not gear.

C'mon, I need another New Jersey JJ buddy....

Damn. I just saw your video of the whale. John O. showed me. Unbelievable!! You lucky sod.

 

[wedivebc]

That's what my buddy and I saw on a Meg rb diver during a shallow pumpkin carving dive about 6 years ago. Two pairs of very experienced rb divers had split up slightly into a line, each carving their pumpkins. My buddy and I knew the four of them, so we were hovering nearby observing their creations.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw one diver's HUD that was blinking green started blinking differently and then yellow and then very quickly red. He didn't seem to be doing anything about it and continued trying to carve his pumpkin. My buddy and I looked at each other and started moving closer to him, looking at him quizzically, concerned that he might go unconscious. We assumed he was probably going hypoxic since the max depth was 30 feet. I believe they had done a deep tech dive that morning with likely a hypoxic trimix.

Suddenly he took care of it and his HUD started blinking green again. We stayed close by for a while in case he had some delayed reaction or got behind on his gas management again, unbeknownst by his buddy, who was also busy carving a pumpkin on a seemingly innocuous dive.

I found the Meg HUD lights very easy to see and interpret, not having known much about them prior to observing them change.

A HUD on a meg going rapidly from green to amber to red merely means the po2 has dropped from 1.1 down to 0.9. Hardly cause for concern and likely triggered by the diver adding a small shot of diluent. I do commend you on your vigilance and concern for another diver though.

 

[Ayisha]

A HUD on a meg going rapidly from green to amber to red merely means the po2 has dropped from 1.1 down to 0.9. Hardly cause for concern and likely triggered by the diver adding a small shot of diluent. I do commend you on your vigilance and concern for another diver though.

We had no idea as we had never seen any of them flash anything but green before. We had never seen them display yellow or red before or since.

It was flashing red for a little while though. Only the yellow was quick. At first we weren't too concerned because he is highly capable and we thought he would just take care of it and it would go back to green. When it continued flashing red, we moved close to him and made eye contact. Until then he hadn't taken his hands off the pumpkin or knife.

He may have been taking care of the PPO2 in ways we didn't notice, as Pete pointed out.

 

[wedivebc]

We had no idea as we had never seen any of them flash anything but green before. We had never seen them display yellow or red before or since.

It was flashing red for a little while though. Only the yellow was quick. At first we weren't too concerned because he is highly capable and we thought he would just take care of it and it would go back to green. When it continued flashing red, we moved close to him and made eye contact. Until then he hadn't taken his hands off the pumpkin or knife.

He may have been taking care of the PPO2 in ways we didn't notice, as Pete pointed out.

And your post demonstrates why buddy HUDs as applied on some rebreathers are less than ideal. To the uninitiated a red flash looks like a danger signal but in the Smithers HUD algorithm it just means the PO2 is below 1.0 which is a perfectly acceptable way to operate the rebreather under certain conditions. I almost always dive my rebreather below 1.0 (one red flash) during long cave dives in order to reduce CNS stress. Luckily no one has tried to "save" me yet

 

[taimen]

balloon helium is purposely blended to be a normoxic mix though. it isn't pure helium.

That must be very regional, or even urban legend. The balloon helium I have seen is >98% Helium.

 

[Ayisha]

And your post demonstrates why buddy HUDs as applied on some rebreathers are less than ideal. To the uninitiated a red flash looks like a danger signal but in the Smithers HUD algorithm it just means the PO2 is below 1.0 which is a perfectly acceptable way to operate the rebreather under certain conditions. I almost always dive my rebreather below 1.0 (one red flash) during long cave dives in order to reduce CNS stress. Luckily no one has tried to "save" me yet

As I said, they don't normally dive that way and we weren't in a cave. I don't stare at their HUD, but I have never obseved them flash red momentarily let alone sustain red flashing for any length of time. I also doubt they had concerns about reducing CNS stress on a max 30 foot dive.

 

[runsongas]

The concept of a balloon grade helium blended with O2 is very regional. Has never existed here in the seattle area

air products has a patent on breathable balloon helium mixes.