DCS on the Oriskany?

[bamafan]

I did IWR at the end of the Truk Stop pier for pain only left shoulder DCS type I, after a dive on the Aikoku Maru. There were many CCR divers doing extreme profiles there at that time and I didn't want to tie-up the Recompression Chamber for a relative "simple" pain only DCS type I, just in case a Rebreather dive casualty came in with a more acute serious signs & symptoms of DCI/AGE.

The IWR profile was the modified Australian method taught by UTD: Choose either 30, 60 or 90min of elective O2 breathing at 9m depth (10min O2:with 5min Air Break); and then a very slow 0.1m/min ascent to surface (same breathing 10min O2:with 5min Air Break). Went with 60 minutes O2 time at 9m (Air Breaks do not count or accrue credit into the O2 time at 9m; on the slow 0.1m/min ascent you have to hold at whatever particular depth you're at during the 5min Air Break). The entire IWR took over 230 minutes. . . On a pain scale of 1 to 10, it was a constant 8 with impulses of "10+"; after IWR it was a 2, resolved overnight with ibuprofen and a only a dull musculoskeletal ache in my shoulder the next morning.

[Off Topic: Did you make it to both forward & aft sections and torpedo launcher in between, and did you go through the engine room of Oite Destroyer? My total run time was over three-and-half hours, with one hour BT at 60m depth; OC with double AL80's, a stage AL80 and AL80's of Eanx50 & O2 to extend out my Oxygen stop profile at 6m.]

We did both halves of the boat. Dropped down on the stern and dropped our deco bottles. Swam over to the bow section and then swam over to the stern section. Went through a small opening and swam through the engine room and then around and under the props. Probably my most memorable dive in Truk Lagoon even though I was on air. We did about 40 minutes on the bottom. I don't remember my total runtime but I would guess we were close to 2.5 or 3 hours too.

 

[KevinNM]

Tough call DD . . . Ideally, I would suggest being transported initially to a regional Trauma Center out there, or at least an ER Dept of a small community hospital -and actively monitor the ER Physicians' consult with DAN. You will need at the very least the DAN Hyperbaric Specialist Physician's signed order or witnessed verbal recommendation by phone to seek evacuation to the closest accepting Recompression Chamber.

The other issue is that, depending on the symptoms, what you think is DCS might actually be a stroke or heart attack and not DCS. Putting you in a chamber then is not the answer, so they want to rule out things that will kill or cripple you that are not DCS before sticking you in a metal tube for hours.

 

[Kevrumbo]

We did both halves of the boat. Dropped down on the stern and dropped our deco bottles. Swam over to the bow section and then swam over to the stern section. Went through a small opening and swam through the engine room and then around and under the props. Probably my most memorable dive in Truk Lagoon even though I was on air. We did about 40 minutes on the bottom. I don't remember my total runtime but I would guess we were close to 2.5 or 3 hours too.

That's ok, I used to do it on "tropical economy" 20/20 trimix, but couldn't afford Helium the last couple of trips in 2015 -hence the really long O2 deco profiles to clean out my N2 saturated slow tissues which were giving me problems after consecutive days/weeks of deep air deco diving (I would now take at least a day-off after three or four consecutive days).

Here's a picture of the Chamber with me in it (2008): Truk's multiplace Chamber (actual picture).

As of 2014-15, If they can run a private Hyperbaric Chamber in Chuuk Micronesia with a Volunteer Crew made up of rotating personnel from the hospital and dive-ops/Odyssey livebaord on call, why can't this be done in Florida?

The other issue is that, depending on the symptoms, what you think is DCS might actually be a stroke or heart attack and not DCS. Putting you in a chamber then is not the answer, so they want to rule out things that will kill or cripple you that are not DCS before sticking you in a metal tube for hours.

Not necessarily. If the stroke symptoms are due to an AGE, you should get the dive casualty to a Hyperbaric Chamber for a Table 6A treatment as soon as possible (stat!). For Arterial Gas Embolism Treatment Table 6A, the patient's ppO2 is 2.8 ATA, but breathing Nitrox 47% at a much higher ambient pressure of 6 ATA (50m/165'), squeezing those bubbles to 55% -or nearly half- of their original potential stroke causing/blood vessel occluding size.

If the Recompression Chamber is a large multiplace type with a separate lock (like the Chuuk Chamber or the Catalina Chamber), you can provide Advanced Life Support by sending an ER Physician into the seperate lock and pressurize him to the Patient's depth to administer treatment/medication/IV fluids etc. The only problem because of high pressure and Oxygen present, you can't use anything that can potentially cause a spark like a defribillator (only CPR and a demand valve/bag mask can be utilized).

You can't do this in a monoplace recompression chamber (small single patient tube enclosure only).

 

[meatsim]

does anyone know any more about this incident on the Oriskany?