Bent in Cozumel

[HammerNoMore]

What do we do different short of going easy on the alcohol the night before?

The DAN magazine has some really great content this month on DCS and its causes. There is a really great one that gets very detailed in favor of deep stops. Lots of information and I plan to re-read it as all the science is a little much at one sitting.

Another interesting article was another guy on a trip to Coz. On his first day he watched a fellow diver on the boat have to take a chamber ride. When he got back to the hotel he went online and signed up for DAN insurance. Two days later he took a hit. The alarming thing about the article was the stat it gave about just how often people get hit in Cozumel. I don't have it with me though so I won't misquote the stat here.

Good luck Tim. Are you cleared to fly home as planned or are you "forced" to exetend your vacation?

James

 

[MikeFerrara]

Tim, (or anyone),

What do we do different short of going easy on the alcohol the night before? I have a VEO 200 as well, and am going to Cozumel May 1 thru the 9th. I'm assuming you used Aldora's larger tanks with air? We'll probably be using aluminum 80's. I'd really like to hear suggestions from all of you vetrans out there as I don't care to go through what Tim did, but still want to do long deep SAFE dives. I hope all is well with you Tim.

Thanks in advance,
Matt

We've talked about this a lot on the board but it's kind of like spitting into the wind. I'll tell you what I do. Maybe I'm wrong but, so far, I've not been bent (fingers crossed).

If we looked closer at one of these profiles where one of Tim's computers said that he owed 5 minutes of decompression at 15 ft I would likely be starting stops deeper. I just don't ride a table or computer that close to a no-stop limit and consider it a no-stop dive. Not that you can't spend a few minutes at 100 ft and step your way up but when I do a 100 ft dive I plan it as a staged decompression dive or I plan it as a mulilevel dive such that it gets my profile depth way shallower and proceed accordingly. The question isn't if I'm going to do some decompression but how much?

Play with some decompression software and look at how the output changes with different user settings.

A friend of mine got bent on a dive where his computer was happy with things and he gave me his profile. Depending how I set up the software I could get it to show any where from almost no decompression requirement to about 25 minutes more than what he did. Which is the real profile? It's up to you. However the folks who built your computer have made some of these decissions for you. Maybe they did good and maybe they didn't.

Bottom line...it's best to learn something about decompression.

Nitrox. Why not? The nitrogen isn't doing you any good. I can't say that I never dive air but especially if I'm doing multiple dives a day and multiple days of diving I'm going to do something to keep the nitrogen load and the bubbling down. That means using nitrox and/or spending more time shallow for time spent deep.

The more dives you do, the more days you do it and the closer you get to the "NDL" the further you get into uncertain teritory. I really believe that the average vacation diver often beat their boddies far worse than some hard core technical divers doing 300 ft dives. If you look at your dives on some software you might just find that you're leaving the water with a greater nitrogen load.

Hedge your bet.

 

[MaresMan1]

Tim,

Glad to hear that you are OK and you got past this monster without any lingering issues.

However, I just have to ask. I am not criticizing, but I am curious about what dive profile you were working with.

Based on the information you provided, I created a profile in both my Cobra and M1. I know that these computers are conservative but, in each case it blew the NDL limits. I guess this very much what Mike stated earlier. If these computers vary so much, can we really realy on them (not)?

Either way, glad to hear that you are OK.

Dive Smart; Dive Safe
Enjoy the ride
:cool1:

 

[cxg31s]

I'm sorry to hear about your experience Tim, but thank you for having the guts to post it. I'm really glad it wasn't worse and that you were smart enough to be aware of the potential for being bent and seeking treatment before it was too late.

Reading a story like this just goes to show that even if you think you're doing everything right, accidents can still happen. Mike makes some excellent points in his post above. There are too many unknowns and there is still so much research to be done on DCS. To avoid being an involuntary test subject, maybe we should all re-assess the boundaries of what we consider "safe".

Tim get better soon!

Angie

 

[DivingGal]

Thanks very much for the report Tim. The "whats" leading up to the hit, and the action you took provides a valuable real-life example of what can happen.

 

[TCDiver1]

Glad your okay!

Is it possible you had some fast ascents or portions of fast ascent on any of your dives? From your description it appears you did pretty good at staying hydrated.

Scary stuff to be sure and i'm sure you have thought of little else for the last few days but IMO, there is a quantifiable reason for your getting bent. You just have to keep looking for the answers by asking the right questions.

How often did you need to urinate during that time? Were you sweating more than normal?

As you know hydration is the key. If you were not peeing enough or if you were sweating really bad, those might have been indicators you were dehydrated and needed to drink more liquids.

I know when i go to the tropics for multi day/muti dive, diving, i drink enough that i need to wiz constantly, 4/5 times a day or more. It can get a little annoying when it hits you at depth but in the same breathe it can be reassuring that your drinking enough fluids. I'm doing the underwater pee hop, mutiple times over a week of diving ... sometimes you hold it and others .... well ...

Again, without more input, IMO it appears you did good at staying hydrated by the amount of good fluids you consumed, even with the alcohol and caffine you had. I would look toward things like ascents rates or portions of the dive where fast depth changes may have occured.

Glad your not giving diving up!

 

[TCDiver1]

Based on the information you provided, I created a profile in both my Cobra and M1. I know that these computers are conservative but, in each case it blew the NDL limits. I guess this very much what Mike stated earlier. If these computers vary so much, can we really realy on them (not)?

Mares,

The problem with trying to do this is you don't how long Tim was actually at any given depth without running a profile of his actual dive. You need more information to accurately model his dive on your computers.

 

[MaresMan1]

Mares,

The problem with trying to do this is you don't how long Tim was actually at any given depth without running a profile of his actual dive. You need more information to accurately model his dive on your computers.

Gedunk,

Agreed, however even if you use 60' for 70+ min, you run into NDL limits. Going any deeper adds to the issue. Please correct me if I am off course.

Thanks,

Dive Smart; Dive Safe
Enjoy the ride
:cool1:

 

[ggunn]

Glad to hear that you will be OK, Tim.

Before I ask this question, I want to assure everyone that this is not in any way a subtle (or non subtle) attack against any particular dive op; it is an honest request for information.

Is a larger air supply a possible contributor to the possibility of a recreational diver getting bent? Is there a down side to the extended bottom times extolled by the proponents of diving with larger tanks?

 

[DivePartner1]

Tim, I hope we're well. I'm sorry that you've suffered and thank you for posting. It's an invaluable reminder to all of us--and again, I hope you're recovering.

I have a good friend who recently returned from Coz. After making ascents that were so harsh her Sunnto shut down for two days (twice), she is focusing on more on what's "wrong" with her computer than her diving.

I hope forwarding the text your story might help her focus on the risk of even safe diving. (I'll delete your name).