Dcs Incident At Ginnie Springs

[lv2dive]

Granted I don't do ocean dives in relatively unpopulated areas. I am sure as heck am not going to blow off 50 minutes of deco to get a boat in faster, and twist myself in the process. I'd bring a diver to the surface and get back down.

I'm not really not sure what happened in this situation so I am speaking in generalities.

For me it is not debatable in any way, shape, or form. If I missed deco stops I'd go back down and do them, and add extra time for good measure.

 

[Jax]

I'm not really not sure what happened in this situation so I am speaking in generalities.

For me it is not debatable in any way, shape, or form. If I missed deco stops I'd go back down and do them, and add extra time for good measure.

Granted I don't do ocean dives in relatively unpopulated areas. I am sure as heck am not going to blow off 50 minutes of deco to get a boat in faster, and twist myself in the process. I'd bring a diver to the surface and get back down.

Hear, hear!

I would do the same, even in a populated area. As more and more decompression chambers are 'closed to divers', I would take my chances with immediate recompression after a missed deco.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Me too.

Like Jax, I don't have a great deal of confidence in a hospital providing prompt re-compression treatment even if there is a chamber on the premise. They need to recognize the need for prompt treatment (which is problematic given the way the average ER works), the chamber and staff have to be available, and a doctor will have to sign the order for the treatment. That's three ways to fail.

Way back in the day we were trained on the US Navy's missed decompression procedure.

It has changed a bit since then and the current procedure is to descend to the missed stop depth and complete 1.5 times the normal stop times.

If the diver cannot be returned to the water within 5 minutes for the omitted decompression, the diver is placed on 02 for 60 minutes.

If the diver is still asymptomatic, they should then be observed for 12 hours, but if they are showing symptoms during or after the 60 minutes, they should be taken for a chamber ride.

However, the US Navy also recommends that if the diver is asymptomatic and a chamber is available within 1 hour, the diver should be taken there for a table 5 or 6 treatment.

So if I missed one or more deco stops, was asymptomatic and could re-descend within 5 minutes, I'd do the omitted deco procedure and then back it up with 60 minutes of 02 after I surfaced.

 

[Ayisha]

Debatable. There are risks to that too. I once talked to a guy here who skipped 50 minutes of deco in a failed attempt to save a buddy. They took him to the chamber and her was ready to ride, but they just watched him for a few hours - then sent him home.

Hi Don, please note that in the case you're referring to, he went to the hospital on the US side and sat in the waiting room for 4 1/2 hours without ever being seen by a doctor, and then he made the decision to leave. He was never examined and never went to a chamber. He said the system failed him that day and later, he told me that he regretted the decision to leave the hospital.

 

[Jax]

Hi Don, please note that in the case you're referring to, he went to the hospital on the US side and sat in the waiting room for 4 1/2 hours without ever being seen by a doctor, and then he made the decision to leave. He was never examined and never went to a chamber. He said the system failed him that day and later, he told me that he regretted the decision to leave the hospital.

THIS ^^^ is my greatest concern.

I would much rather go back for a missed stop than to play wait-and-see when bubbles could be damaging me.

 

[The Chairman]

Jax, prevention is far better than having to seek treatment. I'm pushing 60 and am obese, so I pad all my deco with another 5 minutes on O2. It sometimes irks my buddies, but dive safety is no accident. Ergo, five minutes of prevention is worth hours upon hours of cure!

 

[LiteHedded]

Jax, prevention is far better than having to seek treatment. I'm pushing 60 and am obese, so I pad all my deco with another 5 minutes on O2. It sometimes irks my buddies, but dive safety is no accident. Ergo, five minutes of prevention is worth hours upon hours of cure!

that's one way to go. personally, i think fitness is a hugely overlooked component in all of this. especially as we get older

 

[Jax]

Jax, prevention is far better than having to seek treatment. I'm pushing 60 and am obese, so I pad all my deco with another 5 minutes on O2. It sometimes irks my buddies, but dive safety is no accident. Ergo, five minutes of prevention is worth hours upon hours of cure!

I agree completely!

My comment is more for the unplanned situation - like helping someone out or to the boat. I would rather go back down and sit for a few minutes than take a chance on O2 at the surface. If I could. If the boat didn't have to leave or something.

 

[Jax]

personally, i think fitness is a hugely overlooked component in all of this. especially as we get older

Definitely! I step up my cardio for at least two months before a dive trip, and I carry tanks around my yard.

I recently learned I need to swap out some cardio for actually doing frog kicks to lap swim in the pool. I was too sore and tired for my liking after my recent trip.

 

[The Chairman]

i think fitness is a hugely overlooked component

Probably why I hit the pool this morning.