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[Dominic]

Another Inspiration fatality appears to have occured..

[MATTBIN]

Link?
Matt

[Dominic]

Heard about it on a mailing list, but there's a mention on TechDiver as well..

[MATTBIN]

who's right, the guy with the backplate or Inspiration, someone's got it wrong. That right they know where every single Inspiration is, who's got them and if they have been trained.
So you cant buy a second-hand one from a mate, strap it on your back and hope for the best? Dont we all know someone who did just that?
Taken a while to get 'published' hasnt it, if it ocurred on the 6th Feb?
Matt

[wolf_fishy]

There are at least five untrained Inspiration users. Used to be six. Martin Parker knows who they all are. He can't legally make them do a course since they already own a unit by legitimate means, ie. second hand purchase.  He will give factory support in some cases but not in others.  Anyone can buy a box second hand and go dive it. There is no law against that.  Natural selection will soon get rid of the people who don't do their homework.  

One of the best cave divers in the UK, possibly Europe, has no Inspiration qualifications, he has been diving for years.  It is generally accepted in the Inspiration world that untrained users are generally very proficient divers and tend to seek out more information than the Mod 1 course can teach them.  All the deaths to date have been trained users - NO untrained users have died and there are very few reports of homebuilders dying on rebreathers.

There are many, many Mod 3 untrained Inspiration users who use trimix in the unit, despite having only a Mod 1 certification.  No one frowns on this practice as it is generally considered safer to be on mix than air.

[MATTBIN]

Funny what you can do with statistics isnt it,

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]all the deaths have been to trained users

- dont get training and reduce your chances of being killed, hmm!

Condolences to whomever the diver left behind.

Matt

[Mr T.]

From Divernet:

"OPEN VERDICT ON INSPIRATION DEATH

An inquest into the death of Nic Gotto, who was lost on the wreck of the Kowloon Bridge off Co. Cork, Ireland, in July 1998 has recorded an open verdict.

The inquest, held in Ireland, heard evidence from AP Diving, manufacturers of the Inspiration, and from legal representatives of Gotto's widow, Rachel.

Gotto was an experienced diver and skipper of dive charter vessel Sundancer II, operating from Cork. He was diving with friends when he appeared to encounter difficulties shortly after entering the water. He was rescued unconscious from a depth of 24m and recovered into the dive boat. Unfortunately, efforts to resuscitate him failed.

During the rescue, Gotto's rebreather sank to the seabed but was recovered several days later. He is reported to have been diving with no open circuit bail-out.

Witness Mary Keniry told the inquest that Gotto had already used his scrubber material for 8 hours before the dive, and was intending to use it for a further 2 hours. The maximum recommended life of the scrubber material is 3 hours, and less than that when used at depth.

Martin Parker, Managing Director of Ambient Pressure Diving, gave Divernet the following statement:

"I have seen and heard the evidence of everyone involved in the equipment examination and have heard the evidence of every witness at the inquest. Additionally, I have had the post mortem checked over by the top diving pathologist in the UK and I can confirm that I have no doubt that CO2 was the cause of Nic's problems. If Nic had indeed used it (the scrubber) for 8 hours, this was over 3 times the recommended duration when deeper than 20m! Excess CO2 affects you very quickly and leads to rapid unconsciousness even in low concentrations. Breathing CO2 in an oxygen rich environment usually masks the respiratory distress symptoms that are normally associated with excess CO2, so the diver doesn't stand a chance unless the buddy diver is able to conduct an effective rescue."

Divernet - 12 March 2003