What if we get bent?

[billt4sf]

Hello Indo divers,

What if we're way out there, in RA or Alor, or elsewhere in Papua or Indo and we get bent? (I'm not planning on testing this, we dive safely, but anyone can get bent at any time and it's wise to know).

I understand that there is a chamber in Manado. But from a LOB how would you get there? Are there helicopters to pick you up from a LOB or do they have to sail to Sorong and then ...what? ... a chartered plane? Would DAN insurance pay for it? Is the chamber open 24/7 ?

I sure hope I don't have to learn this the hard way.

Thanks,

Bill

 

[matts1w]

As far as I know, there are chambers in Manado, Bali, Jakarta, Makassar, Surabaya, Mataram (Lombok) and Kalimantan. I have no idea about the quality of the doctors running them, but would guess...well...this is Indonesia. Any of the good LOBs of course have emergency plans in place to gets individuals to the nearest city with an airport for a low altitude flight to the nearest chamber. It goes without saying this would be a horrible place to be bent as well as an expensive nightmare which is why carrying DAN insurance is a must for any of us who dive in remote SE Asia. It also goes without saying that one's proximity to medical care should absolutely limit how aggressive one's dive plan is, especially on a LOB.

I should add that diving aggressively off a LOB is terribly selfish. Putting one's health at risk is one thing, but selfishly risking ending everyone's trip is very much not cool.

 

[Tippytoes12]

The dives are not particularly deep in RA and the guides in my experience manage the dives in such a way that the risk is low , but not zero. I try to minimise my personal risk by staying super hydrated , avoiding all alcohol , obsessively watching my NDL under water and not diving if I don't feel 100 per cent. In practice and in a group of divers the chances are that the air consumption of one diver in the group will mean that you will all come up long before you approach your NDL.

Have a wonderful time

 

[DiverGirl1972]

As someone who got bent (DCS Type 1) after my first two short shake-down dives of our trip to Dauin last year, this thread interests me. At the time it happened, I had over 350 dives. I have done hundreds of dives with similar profiles (as well as some I would consider to be more aggressive) without incident. I always dive Nitrox, don't push my NDLs, focus on hydration and always extend my safety stops when possible. Never thought it would happen to me and I guess it was just my unlucky day, but it just goes to show you that sometimes, sh*t happens.

We're taking a LOB trip in Raja next January and it's definitely been in the back of my mind that the chamber is a long ways away...

 

[billt4sf]

As far as I know, there are chambers in Manado, Bali, Jakarta, Makassar, Surabaya, Mataram (Lombok) and Kalimantan. I have no idea about the quality of the doctors running them, but would guess...well...this is Indonesia. Any of the good LOBs of course have emergency plans in place to gets individuals to the nearest city with an airport for a low altitude flight to the nearest chamber. It goes without saying this would be a horrible place to be bent as well as an expensive nightmare which is why carrying DAN insurance is a must for any of us who dive in remote SE Asia. It also goes without saying that one's proximity to medical care should absolutely limit how aggressive one's dive plan is, especially on a LOB.

I should add that diving aggressively off a LOB is terribly selfish. Putting one's health at risk is one thing, but selfishly risking ending everyone's trip is very much not cool.

Mermaid told me that there is a chamber in Waisai, and I guess also in Singapore.

But how do they get you out of RA and to one of the chambers? Maybe speedboat + airplane I suppose.

- Bill

 

[billt4sf]

The dives are not particularly deep in RA and the guides in my experience manage the dives in such a way that the risk is low , but not zero. I try to minimize my personal risk by staying super hydrated , avoiding all alcohol , obsessively watching my NDL under water and not diving if I don't feel 100 per cent. In practice and in a group of divers the chances are that the air consumption of one diver in the group will mean that you will all come up long before you approach your NDL.

Have a wonderful time

I have not found all of these to be true for myself. In RA we usually go to 30m (100 ft) which in some circles is "shallow" but not really. And with 3 - 4 dives a day I believe I have crossed into deco even with nitrox (I know I did with air). And I do not avoid alcohol.

I do practice the other restrictions you mentioned - hydration and only diving when I feel well.

As an older guy I struggled a lot with hydration because I already have a need-to-pee problem. But I fixed that by adding a relief zipper to all my wetsuits. Easy and effective (and no stink in the suit) and I can hydrate like crazy. It's now more of a problem to pee on land than in water!

- Bill

 

[outofofficebrb]

I dove Komodo at the strong urge of members here and am incredibly glad I did. Indo stole my heart so I'm returning for Raja Ampat in October for a LOB and your post is a completely valid question. I don't know the answer and will follow this thread but I do carry the Guardian (highest) plan with DAN, separate travel medical insurance ($1 million, 0 deductible that is so inexpensive) that is separate from my Stateside insurance which also covers int'l but not 100%, and Dive Assure with overlapping dive accident and dive travel insurance with liveaboard rider. I really only buy the Dive Assure plan for the liveaboard rider and the dive travel insurance, not so much the dive accident since I also have DAN.

When I was in the outer Great Barrier Reef on a LOB at Osprey Reef, it was recommended we do longer safety stops, 4-5 minutes instead of 3 given how far away we were. I also dive a Suunto which already has a very conservative algorithm. I don't drink at all, ever (allergic, not sure if that's a good or bad thing!) and try to stay hydrated as well.

Here's hoping everything goes well. I look forward to everyone else's replies.

 

[billt4sf]

Good suggestions, all.

Again the question I posed is (basically), if you do get bent, how do they get you out of there and to a chamber?

Thanks,

Bill

 

[Wingy]

I'm just assuming logically after having had this convo on LOBs.

At sorong airport there's a little sign in the window for charter chopper. Assuming the LOB can get to a port or an island where landing is possible - which is not many and holds its own challenges...getting the diver from the boat to shore, or to a port where a chopper can land and diver can be transported to chopper, then back to manado or the closest chamber (I do not know if this is still true but I heard the chamber at Waisia is great, but no staff so it's not open. So a low altitude flight to one of the other chambers. By which time the diver has been bent for quite a long time now.

No idea about now but 4 years ago one of the chamber medics in manado was also working at a hotel as a doorman and was great in getting me some antihistamine cream.

Whatever the options, they're not optimum but they are what they are.

 

[DiverGirl1972]

Who knows how long it will take me to get an answer, but I've decided that I am going to pose this question to our LOB operator and see what their plan would be...of how they've done it or heard of it being done in previous situations. I'll report back if I get a specific answer.