Death in Lombok Indonesia

[BubbleBubble7]

Assuming her buddies did the same profiles and were fine, I’m guessing it was a combo of earlier nitrogen accumulation and/or physical stress such as dehydration, fatigue (hangover) etc. It also says she received “treatment”, but doesn’t specify what kind of treatment (O2 only? Hyperbaric?). Reading between the lines, it looks like there may have been a sizable delay in time from symptom onset to proper medical care (beyond O2 in the dive shop). It could have been a combination of denial and confusion between hangover symptoms and DCS symptoms that prompted that delay.

I can attest that once you feel those symptoms DCS symptoms coming on, denial is an easy place to go.

While I'm exceedingly cautious on dive trips these days....at 25 years old, that could've easily been me

 

[xmass-Eve]

Just heard it from my friend who is currently an instructor at another dive shop in Gili. Supposedly, the young lady had a pretty big night the night before and drank a lot. Whether that is true or not, I am not going to surmise. The word on the street is maybe this had contributed (partially) to her demise.

I am not saying whether this is true or validated. I am just relaying the chatter from Gili.

But this does bring up another question which I think merits a discussion: How much does alcohol can potentially make an individual more susceptible to DCS? I mean from the OW/AOW textbook and manuals, it provides a general guideline. But is there a way to guestimately quantify the risk and provide a more succinct guideline?

Obviously, the level differs for each individual. As for myself, I try not to drink when I go on dive trips, even if I do, I usually limit myself to 1-2 beers a day after the last dive.

I used to work on GT but i don't know her personally. I got the same info from my ex-collegueas over there. What I also heard, but what I don't really believe, is that they didn't have enough O2 when bringing her to the hospital. Her diveshop (so no, she wasn't visiting. She was working there) is one of the biggest on the island. They should have had at least four 6liter bottles....

She was heavenly drinking the day before. It will for sure have helped for getting DCSII but i guess there must have been something else, like a PFO or so. GT is known for heavy alcoholconsumption and diving. She is the first instructor dying there for a very very long time. Her dive depths and times were normal. Her SI too... I'll ask again about it later. It intrigues me because I know that island and lots of ppl from very close. Most of the time, nobody will want to speak about it though.

 

[scorpiofish]

But this does bring up another question which I think merits a discussion: How much does alcohol can potentially make an individual more susceptible to DCS? I mean from the OW/AOW textbook and manuals, it provides a general guideline. But is there a way to guestimately quantify the risk and provide a more succinct guideline?

Obviously, the level differs for each individual. As for myself, I try not to drink when I go on dive trips, even if I do, I usually limit myself to 1-2 beers a day after the last dive.

No there is not. DCS risk is a multiple regression model. Quantifying individual variables is impossible unless you do a controlled experiment by bending people. Even then, the dispersion of results would be fairly large. Just look at Ox-Tox studies. A travel agent/trip leader I know told me he had a regular trip guest who would bounce to 200' on a dive on every trip. Never got bent. Then he got bent badly on an 80' dive in Cayman. A newly certified 11 year old diver got bent in Cozumel. He never went below 40'.

Over 25 years of diving, I have gone way toward the risk aversion side of diving. There are dives and dive sites that are now off the list. I'm OK with it. Chambers are very noisy and bad for your hearing.

 

[CarcharodonCarcharias]

No there is not. DCS risk is a multiple regression model. Quantifying individual variables is impossible unless you do a controlled experiment by bending people. Even then, the dispersion of results would be fairly large. Just look at Ox-Tox studies. A travel agent/trip leader I know told me he had a regular trip guest who would bounce to 200' on a dive on every trip. Never got bent. Then he got bent badly on an 80' dive in Cayman. A newly certified 11 year old diver got bent in Cozumel. He never went below 40'.

Over 25 years of diving, I have gone way toward the risk aversion side of diving. There are dives and dive sites that are now off the list. I'm OK with it. Chambers are very noisy and bad for your hearing.

Yeah, that is one enigma that will be difficult to solve. Too many variables to consider and the combinations are almost endless.

I just do what I can do on my end to reduce and minimize risks; Such as limit or abstaining from alcohol consumption, keep myself in good physical condition, make sure I get enough rest, and etc,. But I agree with you on picking your battles when it comes to diving. I am happy to stick with recreational scuba diving. Technical diving and cave diving are definitely something that I won't entertain.

 

[Nettie-NZ]

This unfortunate death made me curious about where the nearest hyperbaric treatment was available. Looks like Mataram has a unit, but it's a reasonable distance to get from Gili T to Mataram....

 

[CarcharodonCarcharias]

This unfortunate death made me curious about where the nearest hyperbaric treatment was available. Looks like Mataram has a unit, but it's a reasonable distance to get from Gili T to Mataram....

Not to mention the road condition and how fast can the ambulance get from Gili T to Mataram.

Another cause for concern is how well maintained the chamber is.

 

[Nettie-NZ]

The only time I've been over the road was about 15 years ago. It was ok, but definitely not a fast trip. Ok it's been a while but I can't imagine it improving too much since then. This is Lombok not Bali after all.

 

[CarcharodonCarcharias]

The only time I've been over the road was about 15 years ago. It was ok, but definitely not a fast trip. Ok it's been a while but I can't imagine it improving too much since then. This is Lombok not Bali after all.

A major stretch of the road from Senggigi to Mataram has widened and newly paved. That started about 2 years ago. It certainly made the trip faster than before but you are still looking at a 45-60 min trip depending on the traffic condition.

 

[xmass-Eve]

It is about two hours with a speedboat and then private car from Gili T to the Mataram Chamber. There are almost no ambulances in Lombok. Everyone goes in a car.
The chamber is also not DAN certified. The one in Bali is.

 

[yle]

But this does bring up another question which I think merits a discussion: How much does alcohol can potentially make an individual more susceptible to DCS? I mean from the OW/AOW textbook and manuals, it provides a general guideline. But is there a way to guestimately quantify the risk and provide a more succinct guideline?

Yes, there is a way to "guesstimate" the effect. Essentially anything that keeps your body from functioning at its optimum level... fatigue, dehydration, illness, age, injury, impairment due to drugs or alcohol, etc... will increase your risk of DCS.

How much? That depends... the risk of DCS varies a lot from one individual to the next, so the increase of risk due to any of these factors also varies widely from one individual to the next.

If you want to "guesstimate" your own relative risk on a particular day (i.e. relative to your risk on other days), be honest with yourself about how your body is functioning. If you didn't get enough sleep, if you're feeling a bit ill, if you're a little (or a lot) hungover... you will have an increased risk of DCS and you should make decisions about diving accordingly.