Denisegg's incident and near miss at Jackson Blue

[denisegg]

That news made Dave and I find a place to sit down very fast.

You guys were great. It took a while to be able to reach my family because they were visiting relatives in an area where there was no cell phone service and they were 3 hours from Dothan and they did not arrive until around 9pm Sunday but my cave diving family was there to hold my hand and comfort and reassure me.

 

[denisegg]

Denise, when you surfaced with difficulty breathing and blue, where you put on O2 by anyone at the dive site?

Dave said of all the 02 bottles that cave divers had there all of them were in the cavern awaiting divers to return to them. Dave had a tank with 40% and I breathed from it until the ambulance arrived. Even after being administered 02 by the paramedics I was still suffering to breathe. I coughed constantly and my breathing was painful and labored for hours.

 

[Cave Diver]

Dave said of all the 02 bottles that cave divers had there all of them were in the cavern awaiting divers to return to them. Dave had a tank with 40% and I breathed from it until the ambulance arrived. Even after being administered 02 by the paramedics I was still suffering to breathe. I coughed constantly and my breathing was painful and labored for hours.

Ok, I was just curious what part, if any O2 played in buying you extra time til the ambulance arrived or alleviating your symptoms. Definitely something to consider with having an O2 bottle available and ready on the surface in case of an incident.

 

[ScubaSam]

Denise!!!!!!!!!!!!

Had trouble sleeping last night after reading your thread. So happy you are here!!!!!!!

 

[denisegg]

Ok, I was just curious what part, if any O2 played in buying you extra time til the ambulance arrived or alleviating your symptoms. Definitely something to consider with having an O2 bottle available and ready on the surface in case of an incident.

That is definitely the first thing to do until help arrives. DAN's recommendation upon arrival at the hospital was to start a medication in a drip to begin draining the fluid from the lungs and administer 02 with positive force to displace the fluid in the lungs with air.

 

[ianr33]

I dunno. I understand what you're saying in regard to the IPE, but I think that a constant self assessment of a diver's own mental and physical well being should be as ingrained as checking depth or gas. I would be reluctant to "forget about" something just because I've hit a predetermined time limit.

Not trying to sound argumentative or dismissive or your statement, just illustrate that, especially in technical diving, it's important to pay attention to what your body is telling you. Personally, I like being just a little bit on edge because it keeps me from being complacent about things.

Totally agree with what you are saying here.

The scary sounding thing about IPE is it seems you can be doing everything by the book,feeling great and BANG,suddenly your fighting for your life.
Thats nasty.

 

[TSandM]

I guess one teaching point from this is that it is not a bad idea to have O2 at the dive site for ANY diving. I have an O2 deco bottle; I may start making a habit of having it in the car any time I dive.

 

[Cave Diver]

I guess one teaching point from this is that it is not a bad idea to have O2 at the dive site for ANY diving. I have an O2 deco bottle; I may start making a habit of having it in the car any time I dive.

I seem to recall seeing a nasal mask that could be hooked to a standard SCUBA tank, maybe using the LPI?

 

[Matt S.]

This is an interesting and scary topic that diver education hasn't caught up with.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I am glad you are OK.

My dad had a bout with IPE, he was skin diving off of some small island and spent a week or so in the local hospital. It was scary for all, due to his age (60ish at the time) they assumed heart issues until they could rule everything out. The cool thing is he was able to resume skin diving and everything else a few months after. He is slowing down now, but he is pushing 80.