OXNARD : Divers Rescued After Air Supply Tainted

A malfunctioning oxygen compressor left unattended aboard a diving boat endangered thelives of two Oxnard men who were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter team a mile off ZumaBeach.

Eric Courtney, 29, and James Berhardt, 33, were diving for abalone in 40-foot-deep waterswest of Malibu on Thursday when their air supply became tainted with smoke.

A belt on the compressor, which was feeding oxygen to the pair through long tubes, beganrubbing against a metal plate, sending smoke from the burning rubber into the pair’s masks.Suddenly overcome, Courtney raced to the surface, got the bends and sank to the ocean floor, aCoast Guard spokesman said.

The bends, or decompression sickness, is caused by a buildup of nitrogen bubbles in theblood or body tissues as a result of a sudden lowering of atmospheric pressure, as occurs whena diver surfaces too quickly. It is characterized by tightness in the chest and painfuljoints. Convulsions and collapse occur in severe cases.

Berhardt, who apparently surfaced more slowly, located his friend, who was semiconscious,pulled him to the surface and tried to resuscitate him while waiting for a Coast Guardhelicopter. Berhardt also began displaying symptoms of the bends when the Coast Guard arrived.

Both men were taken to the Isthmus Decompression Chamber on Catalina Island and later flown to the County-USC Medical Center, where they were held for 24-hour observation and released.

“It’s not very prudent to leave your compressor unattended like they did,” Chief PettyOfficer Reed Crispino said. “They were both very lucky.”