Inhaling A Rebreather Caustic Cocktail! | DIVE STORIES

[@Dandeb19]

That is terrifying! I know I don't have to tell you with your medical background but, you're lucky to be alive and without permanent damage. I can't belive you were calm enough to last that long without medical intervention. Holy Cow!!!!!

[@TheUnknownDutchman]

Dove with a buddy who is CCR diver too. Had the exact same story except for the talking. Drowning without drowning. Scary stuff.

[@roybm3124]

That is really scary. A wonder hé didn’t drown after ingestion and coughing. Thank you for sharing.

[@Raphael_NYC]

Wonderful bonus. Thank you Blue World. raphael nyc

[@BlueWorldplus]

These dive stories have turned out to be so much fun. I never fail to learn something!

[@YukonSeanHolland]

Pretty much sorb is sorb. Not sure how that would change, but CCR manufacturers are always working on ways to keep it away from the loop. To be fair, it is not very common of an issue, but it is possible. Just what we are willing to do and train for in orderr to have longer dives :)

[@BlueWorldplus]

Not all "Sorb" is sorb. ExtendAir cartridges are particularly problematic in regard to water in the loop. Normal granular sorb will absorb a fair amount of water and turn into "mud", thereby holding the water and preventing it from sloshing around and making it to your mouth. ExtendAir cartridges on the other hand don't do that. So even a small amount of water that gets into the loop can make contact with the cartridge, become highly alkaline, and then slosh around to your mouth.

[@shaunspadafora7943]

I'd be curious if Doug had PFTs after all this. That stuff is obviously bad for your vocal cords, but it isn't good for the lungs either.

[@BlueWorldplus]

I'll ask him.

[@dgebersole]

Yes. Before returning to diving I had pulmonary function tests and an exercise stress test with pulse oximetry to make sure there was no lung damage.

[@michalpotok]

But why did this happen? Was there any mistake?

[@mattiafarronato9484]

yes, he says the reb was leaking during the first 2 dives, which led to the intake of water and formation of the basic caustic cocktail (CaCO3 dissolved in H2O)

[@michalpotok]

@@mattiafarronato9484 but why was it leaking? Was it faulty or was it a human error?

[@DavidMaruca_]

@@michalpotokfaulty seal. Could have happened when the diver was assembling the unit. So yes, it comes down to diver error.

[@YukonSeanHolland]

During training we just dabbed the tip of our finger in a little bit of wet sorb. It was overwhelming. Definetely shows you the importance of setting things up. Coreectly

[@YukonSeanHolland]

@Navy1977 it's actually not a gas. It is water that gets into the sorb, then back Into the loop which leads to your mouth. We are trained all about caustic cocktail. It is not common for this to happen but it is possible. If you our your gear together wrong or have a leaking o ring this can happen. There are other ways to get water inside the unit but they pretty much all add up to user error.

[@chisaquaticvibe6524]

Yikes!

[@theguardian3431]

Douglas "Razor Ramone" "Scott Hall" Ebersole. 😁

[@CubanazoJB]

That’s must be horrible… BUT Cardiologist your real job ? You’re not fooling me… 🤣🤣🤣 Repairing hearts valves and hearts malformations its your hobby 😂😂