Does more loaded nitrogen equal higher risk of DCS?

[Scuba J7]

Or is the answer depth dependent? That is, does it matter how that N2 load is distributed over the tissue compartments. Consider a PG E diver at 40 ft and that same PG E diver at 130 ft.

So now what, you want to pick a specific tissue compartment? The question was simply does more N2 increase the risk of DCS.

You should go troll the guy wants to be an instructor the cheapest and fastest way he can.

 

[redacted]

To put this another way: which diver has the greater N2 load, a diver in PG E or a diver in PG H.

What if the dver in PG E is surfacing from a 130 ft dive and the diver in PG H (I am using USN tables) is surfacing from a 40 ft dive? Which one was closer to NDL? Which one has the higher risk of DCS?

Which one has the greater N2 load?

 

[Freewillow]

I'm just trying to shut someone up on another thread providing misinformation, but they are loud and the loudest is the one that gets heard.

Sorry about the training, I did not see on your profile that you were an instructor

Can you give the link to the discussion, just to have a look. Thank you

 

[w3dge]

As others have said, if the question is (paraphrasing) 'does more N2 = greater DCS risk', then it is very much context dependant imo.

You could have a profile leaving a diver with lots of N2, distributed relatively evenly over a number of compartments. Or maybe you could have something like a slightly longer bounce dive that would give a lot of N2 in just one or 2 compartments.

I think maybe the question you're trying to get an answer for is 'Does more N2 supersaturation give higher risk of DCS'. That answer is of course yes.

 

[Freewillow]

If one wants to play "smart". Higher N2 saturation does not mean more DCS risk................................as long as desaturation does not take place.

As W3dge says, as long as there is no supersaturation, there is no DCS risk.

 

[Lorenzoid]

It's an oversimplification, but as I understand it, DCS risk is proportional to overpressure, that is, the amount of supersaturation of the leading tissue component. Overpressure comes from reducing ambient pressure (i.e. ascending) faster than the lungs can clear N2 safely.

So you could have massive N2 loading (as in a commercial sat diver) but avoid DCS risk by controlling overpressure (a long, slow ascent in a decompression chamberr). On the other hand, you could have a lot less N2 loading (a dive with a deco obligation) and have a greater DCS risk if you blow off a stop.

Would it be incorrect to say that the saturation diver IS at a higher risk of DCS than the run-of-the-mill deco diver because the sat diver's deco schedule is longer and/or more complex? In other words, the greater the diver's nitrogen loading, the greater the risk of the diver not decompressing properly (i.e., screwing up, something going wrong, etc.) before surfacing, and therefore the greater the risk of DCS? I can think of analogies like how fast one drives a car: the faster you drive, the greater the risk, though the risk can be mitigated.

 

[doctormike]

Would it be incorrect to say that the saturation diver IS at a higher risk of DCS than the run-of-the-mill deco diver because the sat diver's deco schedule is longer and/or more complex? In other words, the greater the diver's nitrogen loading, the greater the risk of the diver not decompressing properly (i.e., screwing up, something going wrong, etc.) before surfacing, and therefore the greater the risk of DCS? I can think of analogies like how fast one drives a car: the faster you drive, the greater the risk, though the risk can be mitigated.

I think that this is really semantics rather than decompression physiology. Risk is the product of the likelihood of something bad happening and how bad it is, right? And since it's hard to quantify the second number, it's always relative.

I'm not a commercial diver, but from what I understand the chance of them getting DCS is pretty low because their decompression is managed by professionals using elaborate and expensive specialized equipment like surface supplied gas and an on-board decompression chamber. On the other hand, the deco diver's decompression is managed by the diver himself using the few tanks of compressed gas that he can carry with him. So I'll bet that the DCS rate is a lot higher in recreational divers than in commercial sat divers.

Which is more risky, flying in a commercial aircraft or riding your bike in city traffic? Well, it depends on how you define risk. You are a lot more likely to crash on your bike, but that's a lot more survivable than a plane crash.

 

[redacted]

So now what, you want to pick a specific tissue compartment? The question was simply does more N2 increase the risk of DCS.

You should go troll the guy wants to be an instructor the cheapest and fastest way he can.

]

I don't believe you have answered a single question yet! But let's try one more since you seem to think that the idea of tissue compartments in this discussion is a troll.

Using USN tables, why is the PG E diver at 130 ft about to exceed his NDL while the PG E diver at 50 ft still has over 30 minutes of NDL remaining?

 

[NAM001]

This is a no brainer. higher N2 is on the plus side of the equation regardless of what other factors actually push you int o DCS

 

[Scuba J7]

Sorry about the training, I did not see on your profile that you were an instructor

Can you give the link to the discussion, just to have a look. Thank you

"Riding your Computer Up" vs. "Lite Deco"

I didn't take offence, I thought your reply was on point.
The original thread was more about supersaturation than risk factors. I need to just go back to ignoring some posters, lots of great info on SB and lots of people that just like to argue.