Imported post
Steph,
Here's what was reported in The Herald. Don't worry I've already informed the chief sub that the divers were diving on Nitrox not Nitrous Oxide.
It sounds like a major f*ckin disaster area on the west this weekend. I hope everyone makes a speedy and full recovery.
Divers rescued after six-hour ordeal lost at sea
Story supplied by:
The Herald 11 November 2002
THREE divers were plucked to safety last night after surviving for six hours in the water off the west coast of Scotland.
The men, from Cumbernauld, were rescued after going missing while diving on a wreck about a mile-and-a-half off Troon.
A coastguard spokesman said: "It was quite an ordeal for them. It's not the warmest of water. They are very lucky."
The drama began soon after 2pm when the men failed to rendezvous with their boat after a one-hour dive on the wreck of the Adheek.
Their boat stayed on station but failed to sight the divers, who had surfaced elsewhere and could not see the boat.
The alarm was raised and the coxswain of the Troon lifeboat alerted the Clyde coastguard shortly after 4.30pm.
An air, sea and coast search was launched immediately involving two helicopters, three lifeboats and four coastguard rescue teams.
The coastguard spokesman said: "One of the teams found them in the surf line just off Barassie just after 7.30pm. They had swum and drifted from the wreck to the shore - a distance of about two-and-a-half miles. They were just too tired to get out of the water.
"The men, who are in their early forties and late thirties, are OK, quite cold but in reasonably good health."
It was the fourth incident the Clyde coastguard dealt with during the day. Bill Forsyth, Clyde coastguard watch manager, said: "We have been exceptionally busy today, particularly with diving incidents."
Two divers were flown to separate decompression chambers, one in a serious condition, after making a rapid ascent from a dive in the Sound of Mull.
The two men had reached a depth of 150ft using nitrous oxide gas but developed the bends as they made a rapid ascent to the surface.
When the alarm was raised by colleagues on the dive boat, a Royal Navy rescue helicopter was scrambled from HMS Gannet at Prestwick.
The diver who was in a serious condition was flown to the decompression chamber at Dunstaffnage, near Oban.
The second, whose condition was not believed to be serious, was taken in the helicopter to a chamber at Faslane.
In a second incident, a young woman was taken to Aberdeen hyperbaric unit along with her two diving friends after she developed breathing difficulties off St Catherine's Point.
The group called Clyde coastguard at 2pm for help. All three were airlifted by military helicopter to the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow.
In the third incident, a diver who felt ''sick and jittery'' after surfacing was taken to the Vale of Leven Hospital, where he was recompressed.
-Nov 11th
©2002 The Herald
