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Only one woman; sorry about the title. I've only dived the Flower Gardens once, from a different liveaboard that no longer operates there.
Chopper saves scuba diver with the bends in Gulf off Galveston - Houston Chronicle
Chopper saves scuba diver with the bends in Gulf off Galveston - Houston Chronicle
The U.S. Coast Guard rescued a woman who got decompression sickness Thursday evening while scuba diving about 120 miles off Galveston.The 33-year-old woman, whose name and residence were not released, "experienced decompression issues" after her fourth dive about 7:50 p.m., according to a Coast Guard news release.
Decompression sickness, also known as "the bends," is a condition in which dissolved gases form bubbles inside the body, producing symptoms that can range from joint pain to death, according to Wikipedia.
A doctor aboard the 96-foot passenger boat named Fling called the Coast Guard, which sent out a rescue crew on an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Houston at Ellington Field.
A Coast Guard spokeswoman said she didn't have any information about whether there were other divers or passengers on the boat.
An HU-25 Falcon airplane from Air Station Corpus Christi was diverted to the scene to oversee the rescue, according to the news release.
The diver was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital in stable condition, the release said.
"Diving incidents can be extremely serious, especially when you are a 7-hour boat ride from a medical facility," Lt. Matthew J. Walter, command duty officer for Sector Houston-Galveston, said in the news release. "Luckily, the Coast Guard has the best trained pilots to speed mariners and recreational boaters to assistance during these incidents," Walter said. "Establishing a communications plan prior to a day of boating offshore, and testing it frequently, is a key component to receiving assistance in time of need."
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