[Fair Use: For Education and Research Purpose Only]

LINK

Oxygen levels too low on barges hold

Fire captain wouldnt send men to retrieve 21-year-old crane operators body

By SHAUNE MacKINLAY -- The Daily News halifax

Jamie LaPierre probably didnt make it down the ladder before he ran out of air in a place he should never have been.

Tests taken by the fire crew that was called to the scene in Point Tupper where LaPierre died Wednesday, found oxygen levels in the hold of the dredging barge Canadian Argosy were dangerously low.

So low, Port Hawkesbury Fire Department Capt. Pat MacKinnon wouldnt send his men down the ladder to the opening where the 21-year-old crane operator and a crewmate lay.

Thats an outrageous no-no, MacKinnon said yesterday.

He said rusting in the hold could have produced enough nitrous oxide to absorb the oxygen in the closed atmosphere of the hold.

Federal and provincial workplace legislation both include detailed regulations for entering confined spaces.

Just how much training LaPierre had will be part of the investigation by the provincial Labour Department and the federal Transportation Department.

Both levels of government require employers to test the air in confined spaces before employees enter and provide suitable breathing equipment.

Under the provincial industrial safety regulations, employers must ensure an employee working in a confined space has contact with another worker not in the confined space, and that the worker can be rescued without endangering other workers.

Similarly, federal regulations call for workers to wear a lifeline when they enter confined spaces on ships.

To reach the barges ballast system, LaPierre had to climb into an opening about 60 centimetres across and down a ladder about 5.5 metres, MacKinnon said.

Given the low oxygen levels, MacKinnon figured LaPierre couldnt even have got down the ladder before he was in trouble.

You walk into it and you fall down, MacKinnon said.

When they saw LaPierres unconscious crewmate move, the firefighters opened the valve of an air tank and lowered it down until it was near the mans face. He came to after breathing it, but LaPierre was already dead.

Representatives of Halifax barge owner Beaver Marine Ltd. have not returned phone calls. ====================================

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 12, 2000

Answers

Yes, that's right. Anyone going down there is going to die. The only thing you can do is get a blower to blow fresh air into the hold. This is a common problem in tanks or pits, where chemical solvents may displace the oxygen or in holds where oxidation comsumes the oxygen. If the oxygen level falls below 19%, then dizziness may begin. Oxygen below 12% is rapidly fatal. Normal oxygen level in breathing air in 21.9%. Entry into such areas requires the use of self-contained breathing apparatus or the use of blowers to thoroughly ventilate the area prior to entry. Tank and pit cleaning and maintenance is hazardous work.

-- Y2kObserver (Y2kObserver@nowhere.com), February 12, 2000.

Yup. I teach a First responder and an EMT course and the FIRST thing we teach about first aid/emergency aid/emergency medicine is:

"IS THE SCENE SAFE?!?!?!?!?!"

If the answer to this is "NO" or "I'm not real sure" then the next action is to secure the scene, make it safe, before ANY attempt is made to aid victim(s). THe LAST thing a conscientious rescuer wants is to become an additional victim.

Chuck, a 21 year EMT, and a 9 year Paramedic

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), February 12, 2000.

"[Mckinnon] said rusting in the hold could have produced enough nitrous oxide to absorb the oxygen in the closed atmosphere of the hold."

Wrong. Rusting is the combination of iron with oxygen; the rust formed is iron oxide. Iron oxide is not volatile, and is not toxic.

Rusting in a closed environment will deplete the oxygen there. A low level of oxygen in the air you breathe is not in itself "poisonous," but it is toxic, since you need the oxygen to stay alive. Without enough of it, you die.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), February 12, 2000.

Yeah, it's too bad for the two guys, but thankfully the fire captain was on the ball and didn't send more men to their demise. I wonder why the fire crews on boats don't have some type of type c air system for just this kind of thing? Seems like this can't be the first time this situation occurred.

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), February 13, 2000.