 Indiana University Professor of Medicine Douglas Zipes, agreed with this explanation and stated in a letter to Dedmon's attorney that it was likely that Dedmon had ventricular tachycardia, which caused him to black out.As a result of the accident the Safety Board recommended that the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center evaluate the utility and effectiveness of alerter systems within the wheelhouse of inland towing vessels.This was in addition to warning systems for motorists to stop in the case of a partial or total bridge collapse.