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Scuba Forum / General / March 2006florida getting ready for bent divers once aircraft carrier is sunk
Click photo or press x to close Customer Service | Contact Us | Subscribe | Place an ad Tuesday, February 28, 2006 PensacolaNewsJournal.com | Weather | Jobs | Real Estate | Cars | Classifieds | Shopping | Dating | Things to do News Local news · Santa Rosa · Pensacola Beach · Local Columnists · State News · Environment · Education · Hurricane · Crime · Military National news Opinion Money Sports Obituaries For the record Entertainment Neighbors Forums Photos Life Travel Story Search Archive search Specials PNJ store Coupons Business Directories Outdoor Showcase Newcomer's Guide News Partners Business Journal Gosport The Pelican FindaHome Family on the Coast Giveaways Enter here to win! Ice Pilots Silver Screen Movie Contest ADVERTISEMENT Text Size: Print Email Bookmark Forum Subscribe Baptist Hospital employees Catherine Suarez and Gregory Taunton demonstrate use of one of the hospital?s hyperbaric chambers. KarenaCawthon@PensacolaNewsJournal.com Request a reprint of this photo Related news from the Web Latest headlines by topic: · Mobile TeleSystems · US Navy · Telecom · US News Powered by Topix.net ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Published - February, 28, 2006 Hospital trains for Oriskany diving injuries Sean Smith @PensacolaNewsJournal.com The soon-to-be-sunk aircraft carrier Oriskany is expected to become a prime divers' playground, but local hospitals and emergency officials are bracing for dive injuries. Baptist Hospital will be the only local facility with a hyperbaric chamber to treat civilian dive injuries. The chamber at Pensacola Naval Air Station is for military divers. The Baptist chamber, currently used to treat wounds and other ailments, will be ready for dive injuries by April or May, Dr. Kelli Wells said. The treatment of dive injuries is a very involved process that requires enhanced training as well as 24-hour staff, she said. "What we're doing is increasing the level of training," she said. "We'll treat dive injuries as they occur, but my real desire is that we get information out there to prevent the injuries." Currently, emergency crews divert dive-injury patients to hospitals in Mobile and Panama City, which each see about a dozen dive-related injuries a year. The 32,000-ton, 888-foot long Oriskany, to be sunk before June 1, is expected to rest at about 210 feet down, 22 miles southwest of Pensacola Pass. The superstructure will be at about 60 feet and the flight deck at about 130 feet -- the limit for recreational divers. "There are a tremendous amount of unknowns," said Navy Cmdr. Ward Reed, director of the hyperbarics program at the Naval Operational Medicine Institute at Pensacola Naval Air Station. "What we do know is it's going to be pretty far out, and it's going to be deep." Most dive injuries occur from decompression sickness -- dubbed "the bends" -- which is caused by surfacing too quickly. "In order to see more of the Oriskany, divers will have to reach significant depths, and that increases the risk," Wells said. "If divers alter their plan and stay longer than they should, they run out of time and then return to the surface too quickly, and they get sick." For a typical dive to 130 feet, divers have five to eight minutes from the time they leave the surface, said Reed, who has been advising local emergency officials for 18 months. "You get enough time to get down to the flight deck, touch it and look around," he said. "Then it will be time to leave." Bay Medical Center in Panama City also is gearing up for a potential increase from the 10 to 12 dive injuries it treats each year, spokeswoman Christa Hild said. The Warrington dive shop MBT Divers is preparing a multimedia briefing on the Oriskany and plans to take certified advanced scuba divers there, owner Jim Phillips said. Oriskany dives should not create too many problems because divers will be advanced, Phillips said. Escambia County's artificial reef program includes more than 110 reefs in the area -- most of them at less than 100 feet. "As long as they put forth a reasonable effort to follow the guidelines, everybody should be fine," Phillips said. Robert Turpin, chief of Escambia County Marine Resources Division, said safety was in the forefront as Oriskany plans were made. The ship has been stripped of anything of value, he said. The superstructure, which will be at a shallow depth and likely will be teeming with sea life, may well be the most attractive part, he said. But Turpin, who has logged more than 2,500 dives, said caution still will be critical when diving the Oriskany. "It is an advanced dive -- it's not for the newly certified, not for the inexperienced," he said. "Divers are pretty smart, and they are very well trained. When you put a tank on your back and a mask on your face, the only thing between you and disaster is yourself. "There's nothing inside the Oriskany worth dying for." "There's nothing inside the Oriskany worth dying for." Awh, 'ell, I was planning on salvaging one of the screws... Wonder how big of a lift bag I would need for one of 'em? > The 32,000-ton, 888-foot long Oriskany, to be sunk before June 1, is > expected to rest at about 210 feet down, 22 miles southwest of > Pensacola Pass. The superstructure will be at about 60 feet and the > flight deck at about 130 feet. That will make the Spiegel Grove look like a rowboat. I predict, however, that the Grove will remain a more popular dive for a number of reasons: 1. It's easier to get to. It's a much shorter boat ride. 2. It's in shallower water. A recreational diver can get close to the bottom without exceeding the standard 130 foot limit. 3. Unless you drop near the superstructure, what you'll see is, essentially, a flat surface, pretty much like the Grove used to be when on its side. A flat surface isn't the most interesting of dives. 4. No matter how big a ship it is, you still can't see more than about 100 feet in either direction. Anything over 200 feet long is going to look pretty much like anything else over 200 feet long. I wish they'd put the damned thing a bit shallower. I hope they do a better job of sinking the carrier than they did with the Grove. Lee >> The 32,000-ton, 888-foot long Oriskany, to be sunk before June 1, is >> expected to rest at about 210 feet down, 22 miles southwest of [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > feet in either direction. Anything over 200 feet long is going to look > pretty much like anything else over 200 feet long. yeh, but you know you're going to dive it anyway, right? >>> The 32,000-ton, 888-foot long Oriskany, to be sunk before June 1, is >>> expected to rest at about 210 feet down, 22 miles southwest of [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > yeh, but you know you're going to dive it anyway, right? Just as soon as I can. Lee > Just as soon as I can. Interestingly, I'm probably a bit closer to it than you would be... You're around 654 miles to Penascola, I'm about 545 miles... > Interestingly, I'm probably a bit closer to it than you would be... You're > around 654 miles to Penascola, I'm about 545 miles... Yep. Florida is a long state in both directions. From here, I have to cross both the lenth and width of the state to get to Pensacola. Lee >> yeh, but you know you're going to dive it anyway, right? > > Just as soon as I can. You know you'll have a buddy interested in that one. Curtis "Magilla" wrote >>> yeh, but you know you're going to dive it anyway, right? >> >> Just as soon as I can. > > You know you'll have a buddy interested in that one. I figured. We'll talk. I'm probably going to have to do some more study on gas mixes and get in some practice with different equipment configurations for that one. Fill Express will rent me manifolded twins. Don't tell Jayna. Lee > Fill Express will rent me manifolded twins. > Don't tell Jayna. What, she would feel jealous if she caught you with a set of twins? <dirty-old-man-grin> >> Fill Express will rent me manifolded twins. >> Don't tell Jayna. > What, she would feel jealous if she caught you with a set of twins? > <dirty-old-man-grin> Not at all. She's simply kill me. How do you manifold that kind of twins? Nevermind. I don't want to know. Lee >>> Fill Express will rent me manifolded twins. >>> Don't tell Jayna. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Not at all. She's simply kill me. Them fast, and you slow... > How do you manifold that kind of twins? Well..., first you > Nevermind. I don't want to know. Okay. > Lee >>> Fill Express will rent me manifolded twins. >>> Don't tell Jayna. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >Lee You don't manifold, you use them indepently. Switch off as needed. If I get caught, I die. If I don't get caught, I probably still die. It's just a question of what the coroner decides was the cause of death. Heart attack or acute lead poisoning.  Signaturedillon Could have been is in the past Could be is in the future There is only the now > >>> Fill Express will rent me manifolded twins. > >>> Don't tell Jayna. [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > You don't manifold, you use them indepently. Switch off as needed. Gives new meaning to the term "independant doubles. I'm curious, do you put your primary on the left post or the right post (i.e., is the back-up "roll-on" or "roll-off" by default) ;-) > If I get caught, I die. If I don't get caught, I probably still die. > It's just a question of what the coroner decides was the cause of > death. Heart attack or acute lead poisoning. Your wife sounds like an awfully good sport. For some of us, I think the report might also include terms like, "coarsely removed, with extensive evidence of tearing." > € Thus spake "Lee Bell" <pleebell2@bellsouth.net> : > € [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > the report might also include terms like, "coarsely removed, with > extensive evidence of tearing." Not to mention the words "dull knife" .... Signature_______________________________________________________________________________ "A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences." - Proverbs 22:3 > Not to mention the words "dull knife" .... I wouldn't have thought of the claw end of a hammer as being described as a "knife". -hh >> Not to mention the words "dull knife" .... > > I wouldn't have thought of the claw end of a hammer > as being described as a "knife". now that hurts just to think about. > -hh >>> yeh, but you know you're going to dive it anyway, right? >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Curtis >> The 32,000-ton, 888-foot long Oriskany, to be sunk before June 1, is >> expected to rest at about 210 feet down, 22 miles southwest of [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > I wish they'd put the damned thing a bit shallower. I hope they do a > better job of sinking the carrier than they did with the Grove. The superstructure has to be 50 ft below the surface. > Lee > ... > Published - February, 28, 2006 [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Institute at Pensacola Naval Air Station. "What we do know is it's > going to be pretty far out, and it's going to be deep." Kind of sounds like the FL chambers need to call the NJ chambers to see how often they get "deep" case of DCS. Afterall, there's 'rec' dives up here like the Texas Tower #4, where its now 120fsw to the top: http://www.njscuba.net/sites/site_texas_tower.html In any event, I'd be more concerned with something the size of the Oriskany about OOA's due to getting lost in a large overhead environment, regardless of how they try to manage the structure. -hh > Kind of sounds like the FL chambers need to call the NJ chambers to see > how often they get "deep" case of DCS. Afterall, there's 'rec' dives > up here like the Texas Tower #4, where its now 120fsw to the top: > http://www.njscuba.net/sites/site_texas_tower.html Only because you don't have any pretty shallow reefs for the average diver to enjoy. > In any event, I'd be more concerned with something the size of the > Oriskany about OOA's due to getting lost in a large overhead > environment, regardless of how they try to manage the structure. I'm sure that's a concern. In fact, I'm sure it's more of a concern than you imply. On trips to the Grove and even to smaller wrecks, dive briefings make it clear that operators think it's critical for divers to find the line they descended on enough in advance to ascend that line and still have whatever reserve they think most appropriate, usually 500 psi. If they're that concerned with divers on the outside of wrecks, they must be much more concerned with those on the inside. I sometimes wonder how many divers stress themselves mentally and/or physically and their gas supply, but trying to get back to the line they descended on when an open water ascent would be so much safer. It's certainly convenient to surface right at your boat, but it's not nearly as important as making a safe ascent. Still, I see people all the time, rushing to the line so that they can follow it to the surface. Perhaps it's my environment that has sensitized me to this. Over the years, most of those I dove with didn't give a second thought to the availability of a line along which to ascend and I don't think I've ever seen anyone "shoot a blob" even for an ascent with deco. Of course, when I was at my most active, there weren't a lot of "artificial reefs" scattered around and there were no mooring buoys to show you were the most popular dive sites were. Lee I understand what you're saying about not necessarily needing to use a line during ascent. A diver that can't control their ascent shouldn't be diving. However most of the deep dives I've done also had a pretty strong current. It's hard to imagine a slow, safe ascent while kicking like mad to remain horizontally stationary. Using the line I'm flapping like a flag. Dive operators like their customers to use the line so that they don't have to motor all over the dive site to pick folks up. TT > I sometimes wonder how many divers stress themselves mentally and/or > physically and their gas supply, but trying to get back to the line they [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Lee > Dive operators like their customers to use the line so that they don't > have to motor all over the dive site to pick folks up. Maybe you need to find some new dive operators, ones that understand that he who pays gets to set the rules. Lee I have previously espoused that riding the Oriskany down would be the -ultimate- sneak-dive. What could go wrong there? |
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