Article in my local paper

[DandyDon]

I wonder if he was diving EAN.

Hogan was scuba diving 122 feet underwater in the Gulf of Mexico, and something was very wrong.
His vision had gone blurry. When he blinked, he saw flashes of light, like electrical charges.
But 80 miles from the coast of Tampa Bay, Hogan ignored the signs of trouble.

It does sound like OxTox. A dive plan to 120 ft for 20 minutes could include Nx and a high PPO. It also sounds like he ignored the warnings and increased the risks to get the gun and fish. With a cavalier attitude, he may have been more likely to ascend too fast, too, having stayed with the gun & fish so long as to be low on air. Lots of possibilities.

Too bad he's crippled, but I don't think he has a chance in court. Just a costly irritation to DAN, while the Coast Guard can simply decline to accept the suit - something a government agency can do, I believe.

 

[DeepSeaDan]

Wow, DeepSeeDan, you have a wealth of knowledge. Thanks for the explanation.

I think that health is far more important than trying to capture something in the sea. If I were him, the first notice of something wrong would've triggered me to get to the surface as soon (but as safely) as possible. Then, I would've asked the divemaster to give me 100% oxygen until helped arrived. I wonder if this guy had taken the rescue course....

...that good health supercedes most any other objective in our lives.

...I wish I knew @ 21 what I know now - could've avoided the wonky disc perhaps!

...As to my "wealth of knowledge", well Flip-S.D., my comments are simply ruminations about what "might" have been, based on what I've read / seen. We need to hear from the hyperbaric physicians who treated the case to really understand the incident, or at least from the good Dr.s here on S.B. who can readily explain the real possibilities for injury as related to this incident. Anyway...

...Keep reading, keep asking questions, keep thinking...

...& you'll live to dive in good health for many years to come.

Regards,
D.S.D.

 

[FlipScubaDiver]

I would like to hear the opinions of any doctors on this board....anybody care to comment?

 

[Dr Deco]

Hello readers:

Light Flashes

This is a peculiar case since the problem appeared while at depth, apparently after the second dive (I am not sure of the sequence of events.) Flashes are not a symptom of DCS that I have ever heard of.

These flashes are an opthamological problem were the vitreous (the transparent material in the space between the retina and the lens) pulls on the retina causing the sensation of flashes of light.

A non-retinal cause of seeing flashes is migraine headache (often without the pain), multiple sclerosis, or infection. Possibly this was occurring without any relationship to the dive.

DCS

These flashes occurred in the absence of a change of depth and thus arterial embolism is unlikely. Apparently a decopression problem occurred during the ascent from the second dive and produced the bilateral paralysis.

Dr Deco :doctor:

 

[Dr Deco]

Use the SEARCH funtion on the top of the list of posting. Search under

patent foramen ovale

and you will find a wealth of information covered on this topic since SCUBA BOARD begain the fall of 2000.

Dr Deco

 

[finley]

It seems to me like the slipped or herniated disc might have attributed to his problems.

Sounds like his complaint is how long it took them to get him to a chamber. That is a risk he took upon himself when he decided to dive 80 miles off shore. 5 hours to get him to a chamber doesn't sound "negligent" to me considering the circumstances. Said in the article it took him 20 hours to reach the dive site. The guy is an idiot, and is just trying to get someone to pay for his stupidity/ misfortune. I don't think he has much of a chance of getting anything out of the settlement.

Im with you...he's blaming the coast guard..the idiot stayed under water after numbness...flashing lights and a computer telling him he had 7 minutes tos ascend from over 100 feet....hmmm...Im not a master or an instructor...but good sense says...it ain't the coast guards fault...plus isn't that a picture of him with the fish he was so determined to get....