DATELINE: 1 October 2002

TWO BENDS AND A PHOSPHORUS BURN

It was a weekend of mishaps for the divers aboard the Billy B dive boat. Three divers were airlifted by helicopter after a 45m wreck dive went horribly wrong.
Two divers were placed on oxygen by the skipper after missing roughly 35 minutes of decompression stops. The two men, aged 30 and 33, had both spent over half an hour at depth on air before coming to the surface.
A 58-year-old man was also taken off suffering from phosphorus burns. Phosphorus was used in many munitions on armed vessels. A highly reactive substance, it will burst into flame on contact with air.
"They kept us busy," commented Drew Mahood from Humber Coastguard. "But we would far rather that people contact us. Even if it's only prevention, it is still important for safety."