UtilaSarge
Registered
Living on a small island in the Caribbean that is VERY scuba oriented, we get thousands of 20 somethings coming through for basic certification up through Instructor every year. These are young, fit people who should have zero trouble with decompression issues, but yet our chamber seems to be used quite a bit. Talking with the doc in charge of the chamber, he says the biggest problem here is not unsafe diving practices, but instead is the lack of sleep combined with excessive alcohol consumption that comes with the "island party" mindset, THEN going diving.
It seems these folks don't make the connection between a tired, worn out body and system and having decompression issues. There is a very strong link between the two however. Partying and drinking until the wee hours of the morning, then getting on the morning dive boat for a couple of dives on very little rest compounds your chances of having issues. While diving in this manner is in itself qualifying as bad diving practice, it isn't often taken seriously until they have to go to the chamber and miss their courses for a period of time. Everything we do or don't do in the immediate time frame around our diving can affect our safety while diving. I wish more people understood this. Too many folks try to cram a years worth of drinking and partying into a week or two and then add diving on top of it. Not a good plan.
It seems these folks don't make the connection between a tired, worn out body and system and having decompression issues. There is a very strong link between the two however. Partying and drinking until the wee hours of the morning, then getting on the morning dive boat for a couple of dives on very little rest compounds your chances of having issues. While diving in this manner is in itself qualifying as bad diving practice, it isn't often taken seriously until they have to go to the chamber and miss their courses for a period of time. Everything we do or don't do in the immediate time frame around our diving can affect our safety while diving. I wish more people understood this. Too many folks try to cram a years worth of drinking and partying into a week or two and then add diving on top of it. Not a good plan.