[shell-back]

My deepest condolences to the family and friends.

[mikedive]

My condolences to family and friends, rest in peace.

[EBT]

Im not one for posting on memorial threads, but fred was one of lifes lovely fella's.... a real laid back "divers diver". Quite frankly it bothers me *intensely* to hear that something has happened to fred, since he's one of the divers I had a lot of respect for and this makes me critically question my own fitness to dive etc.

As phillipe said, I feel for the chap who risked his own safety for fred. Thats a hard call and you did all you could.

Its natural to want to speculate about the cause at times like this and Im just grateful that so far this hasnt happened, lets keep it that way.

[ROB DAVIE]

My condolences to family and friends. I never had a chance to meet Fred, but he was, by all report, a really good man.

[Pelagian]

I exhchanged a few emails with Fred, discussing some rigging.

He seemed like a really decent bloke.

I am saddend for his loss to the community and especially his friends and family.

My deepest sympathies

Seb

[Drmike]

Some more details added to the 2nd post in this thread regarding the OC diver who went above and beyond risking his life to help Fred

[Deep Blue Divers, Phuket]

We were deeply moved upon hearing of Fred’s untimely death two days ago.
He was one of our first guests when we opened our dive company 5 years ago. He was always willing to help. Especially his assistance to explore the HMS Vestal and SS Petaling was of invaluable help for us.
He was a remarkable man and one of the most experienced divers we have ever known. Just last week we have made new plans for further wreck expeditions. That we will never see him again is beyond comprehension for us.
We will sorely miss Fred’s unfaltering support, his inspiration, his exciting ideas and good advice. We take solace in memories of his wonderfully positive nature.
He is survived by his wife and children. May God give them strength, peace and comfort in this time of need.


Andreas and Joerg

[divetheworld]

He did not lose his place in the minds of men because he was out of their sight.
John Henry Newman, Sermons



Farewell.

[saturation]

I had just finished a short chat with Fred on the subject of ocular 02 toxicity and now hear of this accident. My condolences to the family and friends.

I had just consolidated ideal responses to 02 convulsions in water or witnessed loss of consciousness [ from actual and theoretical rescue efforts]

http://thedecostop.com/forums/showpo...3&postcount=18

and copied here for the list:

wait until convulsion terminates before ascending; ascend to the 1st deep stop and evaluate the victim again here;

if victim convulses with his own reg in place, keep it so; its very unlikely to be a bad mix [ie., contaminated ] over a rich 02 mix but attempting to switch it for your primary risks the victim inhaling some water; once water is inhaled it creates a water plug that blocks gas exchange and is very difficult to clear in-water;

if victim recovers and is capable or receving a donated primary, do so, to reduce the risk of victim's backgas as cause for convulsions; otherwise just let victim breathe his own reg;

if victim convulses with no reg in place, replace the reg with your long hose primary once the convulsions are over; there is a relaxation phase and diver will be mostly limp. Work the regulator back into the mouth asap as once diver somewhat normalizes most post-convulsion victims take a breath, and it had best be the regulator! If some water was inhaled s/he may gag or cough, and be wary that he may be unconscious, oriented, combative or may panic. Hopefully, the 'stiffening' during convulsions, called tonic-clonic action, will prevent too much water from entering the victim's lungs until you can get the regulator back on.

if during the deep stops the victim still does not breathe, the buddy should punch the victim to vent gas at at least 60' then at 30'

perform as many of the deep stops scheduled on ascent as possible to avoid a serious double injury, that of spinal and CNS DCS for both victim and buddy. The deep stops also allows victim additional time to recover, offgasses the victim, expands whatever gases where in the victims lungs, makes possible to punch the gas out and potentially the water plug too and initiate respiration, it reduces the risk for pulmonary barotrauma and allows both divers a critical amount of decompression;

how much of the deep stops to blow if the victim remains apneic during deep stops is a decision left for the buddy, for the buddy risks giving himself and the victim a potential life threatening bend, depending on the dive profile for this dive.
the victim should have a controlled ascent, shooting the victim up like a bag will almost certainly cause major barotrauma;

Victim should do the deep stops on backgas as calculated by pre-dive tables. There is still a risk of an 'off oxygen' effect convulsion, which means it can reoccur even at shallower depth on backgas; the P02 of the deco gases are meant to be high, and could retrigger a convulsion due to a build up of PC02 from apnea.

if buddy can, he may switch to his deep stop gases if s/he has good control of the situation: maintaining buoyancy for the team and keeping victim's reg in place. Its simpler for buddy just to breathe backgas.

Blow the 20' stop and shallower. Buddy should breathe 02 on surface while calling for help. If the situation stablizes, buddy can return to complete his 20' stop as a 'missed' deco protocol.

Key to this procedure is by doing just the deepstops, the buddy only risks joint bends or a less severe DCS 2 for the entire team, rather than death for both of them.

Quote: (Originally Posted by Drmike)

Please may I ask in respect of Fred please dont start speculating....
Fred was a solid diver, hugely experienced, ex commercial diver.
It can happen to any of us!
Please use a FFM

[Drmike]

Quote: (Originally Posted by saturation)

I had just finished a short chat with Fred on the subject of ocular 02 toxicity and now hear of this accident. My condolences to the family and friends.

I had just consolidated an ideal responses to 02 convulsions in water or witnessed loss of consciousness [ from actual and theoretical rescue efforts]

http://thedecostop.com/forums/showpo...3&postcount=18

and copied here for the list:
.

Thanks, thats useful info.