Diver gets bent in TO

[Tom R]

Diver on mend from bends

By JACK BOLAND, TORONTO SUN


A commercial diver is recovering in a hyperbaric chamber after a sewer accident yesterday. The 40-year-old diver is "doing very well" at Toronto General Hospital, said his employer, Leif Soderholm, president and general manager of Soderholm Maritime Services.

"He is talking and in a compression chamber is what I'm being told," Soderholm said.

The victim was possibly suffering from decompression or "the bends."

Shortly after 9 a.m. the Toronto Police marine unit and paramedics were called to Yonge St., just north of Lake Shore Blvd. E., to find the diver who had been pulled from the sewer. "His suit malfunctioned somehow and rocketed the man to the surface of the (3.5-metre-deep) sewer," Sgt. Trevor Bennett said..

The man "was in distress when they pulled him from the manhole," said Brad Shanley, a sewer-cleaning technician who was working with the dive team to remove silt.

"I guess he had a malfunction ... his suit blew up," Shanley said. "He rose to the top. I don't know if he hit his head -- he still had his helmet on."

 

[JohnF]

Diver on mend from bends

"His suit malfunctioned somehow and rocketed the man to the surface of the (3.5-metre-deep) sewer,"

If in fact he took a hit, it's worth pointing out (again) to those who doubt that one can be bent from a depth of 10-12'.

JohnF

 

[Snowbear]

I wonder if the final diagnosis is actually DCI (as reported in the article) or if the guy had an overexpansion injury? Seems more likely given the depth.

 

[Boogie711]

I agree - an overexpansion injury is what you would normally think in 12 feet of water... but the article does say they took him to a chamber. You wouldn't do that for an overexpansion injury.

 

[Snowbear]

Actually, hyperbaric recompression IS the treatment for AGE caused by overexpansion injury.

 

[Warren_L]

That would probably include mediastinal emphysema as well.

 

[Snowbear]

That would probably include mediastinal emphysema as well.

Probably, as well as subcutaneous emphysema. Simple or tension Pneumothorax would likely not, since it's treatable by simply releasing the excess gas. However, a significant overexpansion injury probably would involve more than one of these problems, including AGE.

 

[Boogie711]

Many thanks then. I stand corrected. I wonder what really happened.

 

[d33ps1x]

Here's hoping he's ok. No one likes to think of family's put through things like this at any time much less so close to the holidays.

 

[Warren_L]

I would suspect a greater chance of lung overexpansion than DCI, at least from that depth. A change in as little as a few feet while holding your breath can be damaging.