Okay, the point of contention here is this. Should Nitrox be used while diving it on an Air Table?
It was pointed out that one of the founders of the use of Nitrox by recreational divers, Dick Rutkowski, says that this is perfectly acceptable to obtain a (slight) statistical safety advantadge, as long as the MOD and oxygen constraints are kept in mind. (Reference the tables from Harris Taylor, PhD)
Artic Diver says that his instructor told him this is not okay.
My point is quite simple. Dick Rutkowski, (The man who, along with Morgan Wells, brought the use of Nitrox to the diving community), says that this is an okay practice. Some unknown instructor, and Arctic Diver, say it is not.
We are then forced to compare the credentials of Mr. Rutkowski with the unknown instructor and Artic Diver to find out who might actually know more about the subject. Here follows Mr. Rutkowski's resume:
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Dick Rutkowski
Mr. Rutkowski retired from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 1985 with 33 years of federal service. He served as Deputy Diving Coordinator. He was founder and director of the NOAA Diving/Hyperbaric Training and Diver Treatment Facility from 1973 to 1985 where hundreds of divers have been treated. He also served as co-director for the NOAA/UHMS three week physicians diving and hyperbaric medical training program for the past 21 years. During this time, hundreds of physicians have completed their program and are presently serving as directors or physicians for major hyperbaric facilities in the country.
Mr. Rutkowski also served as director of ESSA/NOAA Diver Training from 1965 until he retired. He has acquired vast knowledge of diving life support systems including the NOAA saturation systems such as:
Flare
Hydrolab
Aquarius
Helgoland
La Chalupa
Mr. Rutkowski has saturated many times and is a NOAA aquanaut. In addition, Mr. Rutkowski is a graduate of Divers Training Academy and past owner and president of "Dive Incorporated", a commercial diving company whose primary purpose was to service oil rigs. Upon retiring from federal service in 1985, Mr. Rutkowski formed Hyperbarics International, Inc for the purpose of educating and consulting in the field of hyperbarics medicine, diving gases and life support systems.
After retiring from NOAA, Mr. Rutkowski has continued to use his vast knowledge conducting training programs for agencies such as NOAA, USN, USAF, NASA, EPA, U.S. Customs, Panama Canal Commission, hospitals, commercial diving companies and foreign navies.
Since 1985 Mr. Rutkowski has taught thousands of professionals in programs such as recompression chambers, engineering, diving gases, physics, physiology, pathophysiology, and the medical aspects of diving. Mr. Rutkowski is past president/vice president of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, Gulf Coast Chapter, founder of the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers and co-founder of the American Nitrox Divers Association, International Board of Undersea Medicine, Hyperbarics International, Inc., Undersea Breathing Systems, and the Undersea Research Foundation. He has also organized and founded diving safety organizations such as the Florida Underwater Council and Society of Diving Safety (Turks and Caicos Islands).
In the early and mid 1970's Mr. Rutkowski taught the first diving accident management courses, including the importance of oxygen use at the dive site by lay persons. At first his theory was widely criticized but now this concept is taught nationally by all certification agencies. In 1978, Dick Rutkowski wrote and published the first diving accident management manual setting the standard used by the Divers Alert Network. During the first two years of publication (1978-79) over 250, 000 copies were distributed.
Mr. Rutkowski has written and lectured extensively on all forms of diving life support systems, gases, undersea and hyperbaric medicine, and has installed over 18 hyperbaric facilities in hospitals and field locations. His ongoing training programs have taught thousands of physicians, allied medical personnel, dive supervisors and instructors, undersea and hyperbaric medicine including chamber operations. He has written training manuals for Nitrox use entitled "
Instructor/Student Guide for the Use of Nitrogen-Oxygen Mixtures as a Divers' Breathing Gas," "
The Complete Guide to Nitrox Diving," "
Introduction to Nitrox Diving," and the diving accident management manual mentioned above, a Recompression Chamber life support manual "Instructor/Student Guide for the Use of Breathing Gases During Hyperbaric Exposures," and "
Mixing/Blending for Nitrox and Trimix". In addition he has been a contributor and editor of the NOAA Diving Manual and training films.
For his long, dedicated service to research science and diving, Dick Rutkowski has received many awards and honors, including:
a glacier in Antarctica named after him in 1976 by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names
the 1976 NOAA Public Service Award
nomination for the 1976 Dade County (Florida) Outstanding Citizen Award
nomination for the honorary Ph.D. from Florida International University
elected to the Explorers Club as a Fellow, 1995
many others.
Contact Dick Rutkowski, President of Hyperbarics International, Inc. and Secretary/Founder BOD of IAND, Inc./IANTD at:
490 Caribbean Drive Key Largo, FL 33037 (305) 451-2551
dick@hyperbaricsinternational.com
Hyperbarics International Website
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I humbly suggest that our readers can make up their own minds who they might wish to take instruction from in this particular case. I rest my case.
