Texans go to the Oriskany
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Someone just sent this to me. It seems a divers died while diving the Oriskany.
http://pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070820/NEWS01/708200310/1006 More information
Oriskany Death Sun Aug 19, 2007 10:51 pm
I (Not LVX) was on the boat, and this guy had the absolute best care he could have under the circumstances. 5 of us from Central Illinois, (2 IDC Staff Instructors, 1 Divemaster / EMT, and 2 Divemasters in training (meaning we are both EFR and Rescue Certified), Then, 2 more Divemasters, and the Captain of the boat, Captain Douglas....and another Divemaster in training, so as far as qualifications of not only the Captain and crew, but even the patrons, were more than anyone could ask for given the situation.
The two rebreather divers had dove the Oriskany the day before as well, and returned a second day. They were familiar with the site, they were also very experienced techinical divers. I talked to them at length on the way out and their resume was impressive.
I passed the diver who passed away, while descending on my second dive at the safety stop depth of 20ft. He seemed fine. It seemed to be a long extended safety stop. I had been on the surface waiting on my dive buddy for several minutes because he was having a minor equipment problem, but I could see down to the diver and he was simply hanging on to a tether in the moderate current....finally as I descended, I had to literally skip over him and like I said, he seemed fine. I understand that once he reached the surface, he complained of being tired, and then passed out. He was breathing in his own, but was immediately given oxygen and treated. He was basically unresponsive. I was the last patron on the boat, so it was me they were waiting for, but calls had already been made to the Coast Guard. I was informed were to go, and eventually became involved helping those immediately attending to him, and holding a sunshade over the man and the assisting crew, whcih involved the Registered Nurse from a nearby boat. Since our boat had an EMT, my friend from Illinois, on board, we left the dive site and she (the RN) returned back to the boat she came from....
I was informed and overheard radio transmissions that a helo was on it's way, and we prepared for a helo rescue securing all gear to insure nothing was sucked up into the rotors while it hovered. The Captain was in constant contact with the Coast Guard, and they requested that we head in and meet either a boat or a helo..so we did, at full speed. The waters were 2 to 3 ft and rollers, so it was a fairly smooth ride in.
The guy's pupils were reactive, and he moved his right foot several times. A constant vigil stood over him and the EMT maintained constant contact and administered oxygen, vitals were checked at 5 minute intervals and constantly noted to aid the extended rescue. At about15 minutes into the trek in, the captain asked for an ETA for the Rescue Boat or Helo, and was informed the boat had us in his site and was at about 6 miles...but the helo was 30 minutes away.....30 minutes....That means from the time the initial call went out, to the time a helo could have been on scene was over an hour.....I would guess that we were literally 10 minutes by Helo, not counting understandable prep time (meaning engine warm up-systems check etc.) But it was a Saturday at mid day....not some obscure time.....where were the Helos? I like to think they were assisting other people, and it was simply bad luck as far as timing goes. You can't be all places at once....
I'd just like to say....great Job by the crew of Below H20 in its efforts to save this man's life. It is still undertermined what was the cause of death,it could have been a stroke, heart failure or dive related.....such as "the bends". Whatever it was, I would not hesitate to dive again right now with Below H20, as a matter of fact, I feel even more safe with them. The boat had 2 tanks of Oxygen on board, and we were lucky, because the Coast Guard Boat that met us, did not have any....Nor was there an EMT on board so our EMT and our IDC Staff Instructor went with them...We arrived at the Coast Guard station 10-15 minutes after the Coast Guard boat arrived, and I question whether that was the right decision by the Coast Guard to move him to their boat. It probably took 15-20 minutes to move him over.....if you include the time it took to secure the two boats together for a safe transfer. Maybe we should have just been allowed to continue in with him....
In my opinion, Captain Douglas was very dissapointed that the Helo never arrived as he expected and prepared for it to from the start.
I totally disagree with Maher Sladovic's comment that the Oriskany is a "Dangerous Dive". It may not be for begginners, but then again, begginers cannot dive this site, you must be at least Advanced Open Water Certified, which allows you to go to a depth of 130' safely, which is the height of the flight deck. There is a lot to see at 65' though....and you can dive it multiple times and stay above 100', there's plenty to see...
I'm so very sorry to his family that we talked about on the boat ride out, and who was waiting for him back at a Hotel on shore. Obviously the gleam in his eyes when he spoke of you all went to eternity with him...I'm so very sorry for your loss, he seemed like a very nice man who was living his dream.....The Golf Business on the East Coast, and Scuba Diving. A sport that is safer than even mountain biking, with fewer deaths per 100,000 participants.
I said a prayer for him and his family as we sped into harbor, and I know God answered my parayers, to look after him, and his family...God Bless You...again, I'm very sorry.
Semper Fidelis`
Posted by: Hammer44h
http://pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070820/NEWS01/708200310/1006 More information
Oriskany Death Sun Aug 19, 2007 10:51 pm
I (Not LVX) was on the boat, and this guy had the absolute best care he could have under the circumstances. 5 of us from Central Illinois, (2 IDC Staff Instructors, 1 Divemaster / EMT, and 2 Divemasters in training (meaning we are both EFR and Rescue Certified), Then, 2 more Divemasters, and the Captain of the boat, Captain Douglas....and another Divemaster in training, so as far as qualifications of not only the Captain and crew, but even the patrons, were more than anyone could ask for given the situation.
The two rebreather divers had dove the Oriskany the day before as well, and returned a second day. They were familiar with the site, they were also very experienced techinical divers. I talked to them at length on the way out and their resume was impressive.
I passed the diver who passed away, while descending on my second dive at the safety stop depth of 20ft. He seemed fine. It seemed to be a long extended safety stop. I had been on the surface waiting on my dive buddy for several minutes because he was having a minor equipment problem, but I could see down to the diver and he was simply hanging on to a tether in the moderate current....finally as I descended, I had to literally skip over him and like I said, he seemed fine. I understand that once he reached the surface, he complained of being tired, and then passed out. He was breathing in his own, but was immediately given oxygen and treated. He was basically unresponsive. I was the last patron on the boat, so it was me they were waiting for, but calls had already been made to the Coast Guard. I was informed were to go, and eventually became involved helping those immediately attending to him, and holding a sunshade over the man and the assisting crew, whcih involved the Registered Nurse from a nearby boat. Since our boat had an EMT, my friend from Illinois, on board, we left the dive site and she (the RN) returned back to the boat she came from....
I was informed and overheard radio transmissions that a helo was on it's way, and we prepared for a helo rescue securing all gear to insure nothing was sucked up into the rotors while it hovered. The Captain was in constant contact with the Coast Guard, and they requested that we head in and meet either a boat or a helo..so we did, at full speed. The waters were 2 to 3 ft and rollers, so it was a fairly smooth ride in.
The guy's pupils were reactive, and he moved his right foot several times. A constant vigil stood over him and the EMT maintained constant contact and administered oxygen, vitals were checked at 5 minute intervals and constantly noted to aid the extended rescue. At about15 minutes into the trek in, the captain asked for an ETA for the Rescue Boat or Helo, and was informed the boat had us in his site and was at about 6 miles...but the helo was 30 minutes away.....30 minutes....That means from the time the initial call went out, to the time a helo could have been on scene was over an hour.....I would guess that we were literally 10 minutes by Helo, not counting understandable prep time (meaning engine warm up-systems check etc.) But it was a Saturday at mid day....not some obscure time.....where were the Helos? I like to think they were assisting other people, and it was simply bad luck as far as timing goes. You can't be all places at once....
I'd just like to say....great Job by the crew of Below H20 in its efforts to save this man's life. It is still undertermined what was the cause of death,it could have been a stroke, heart failure or dive related.....such as "the bends". Whatever it was, I would not hesitate to dive again right now with Below H20, as a matter of fact, I feel even more safe with them. The boat had 2 tanks of Oxygen on board, and we were lucky, because the Coast Guard Boat that met us, did not have any....Nor was there an EMT on board so our EMT and our IDC Staff Instructor went with them...We arrived at the Coast Guard station 10-15 minutes after the Coast Guard boat arrived, and I question whether that was the right decision by the Coast Guard to move him to their boat. It probably took 15-20 minutes to move him over.....if you include the time it took to secure the two boats together for a safe transfer. Maybe we should have just been allowed to continue in with him....
In my opinion, Captain Douglas was very dissapointed that the Helo never arrived as he expected and prepared for it to from the start.
I totally disagree with Maher Sladovic's comment that the Oriskany is a "Dangerous Dive". It may not be for begginners, but then again, begginers cannot dive this site, you must be at least Advanced Open Water Certified, which allows you to go to a depth of 130' safely, which is the height of the flight deck. There is a lot to see at 65' though....and you can dive it multiple times and stay above 100', there's plenty to see...
I'm so very sorry to his family that we talked about on the boat ride out, and who was waiting for him back at a Hotel on shore. Obviously the gleam in his eyes when he spoke of you all went to eternity with him...I'm so very sorry for your loss, he seemed like a very nice man who was living his dream.....The Golf Business on the East Coast, and Scuba Diving. A sport that is safer than even mountain biking, with fewer deaths per 100,000 participants.
I said a prayer for him and his family as we sped into harbor, and I know God answered my parayers, to look after him, and his family...God Bless You...again, I'm very sorry.
Semper Fidelis`
Posted by: Hammer44h
yikes!
NMI.
NMI.
Illini_Fan
Contributor
LVX:
Nice detailed report -- thank you
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