Emergency Ascents, 2nd dive to deco???

[leeblackman]

I was watching the BBC Pacific Abyss series. The Richard dude was talking about when he was 19 he ran out of air at 250 feet under and had to do an emergency ascent, so he immediatly did a second dive to decompress... In the same day, he ran out of air a second time and ended up getting a case of the bends so bad he was paralized and took a year to recover.

I recall in the mid 90's my neighbor who dove was telling me he had to make a second dive to decrompress, and he ended up with a minor case of the bends, and had to be driven an hour away to get to a hospital that had a deco chamber. I don't remember the complete details.

My scuba instructor told me that you never ever make a second dive to decompress, you administer oxygen immediately and get to the nearest decompression chamber.

Was this once a common practice that is no longer practiced anymore? Can one in fact actually decompress by making a second dive? Obviously the only two times I've actually heard of this happening both people ended up with the bends. Any experiences shared or comments much appreciated.

I don't know but maybe this will end up being moved to Dr. Deco, I just posted it here because I'm a beginner.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Sounds like somebody's been smokin' crack...

To run out of gas at 250' and then successfully swim to the surface is highly unlikely. It's a long way up, and most humans would black out from the exertion. Even most 19 year olds. "Richard" seems to make a habit out of poor choices...

Anyway, to respond to your questions:
No - decompressing during a 2nd dive was never a common practice.

No - decompressing during a 2nd dive is not recommended. (Decompression may involve the stricken diver being unconscious or semi-conscious, and being underwater unconscious is a rather dubious enterprise......) Recompression involves bringing the diver to the surface at extremely controlled rates over long periods of time -generally hours. In-water exposure to ambient water temps over those time periods would cause most divers to succumb to hypothermia before they successfully recompressed.

Yes - theoretically, in the gravest extreme, on some remote atoll in the South Pacific where no help will ever arrive, IF you have a diver who suffers DCI and the alternative is death anyway, returning the diver to depth (using a support diver, surface gas, etc.) MAY provide another alternative to death. DAN has additional data available for those interested.

But just because it theoretically represents an alternative to a rather painful death, it still does not mean that recompressing a bent diver by returning them to depth is in any way "recommended" by any responsible authority.

Your scuba instructor was correct. And you should make a habit of planning your dives in advance so as to avoid coming anywhere near your DCI limits in the first place.

Dive safe,

Doc

 

[eponym]

Can one in fact actually decompress by making a second dive?

Yes, but the risks are very great. Scuba-Doc.com has an interesting list of requirements for this to be a practical solution--I'll see whether I can relocate that. In the meantime, consider the need for:

Lots of high nitrox and pure oxygen
Skilled divers who who can attend to you (and who haven't been diving lately)
No serious symptoms
Full-face mask
Stable platform at some safe depth
Warm water, no current or surge​

-Bryan

 

[John_B]

Its called in-water recompression, in some cases its better than nothing esp. if you still have your wits about you and there isn't a chamber nearby. The idea is to use water pressure to replace what a recompression chamber would do. Its something that's done to treat an existing case of the bends, its not the cause. Obviously there are dangers which is why your instructor recommends against it, if you were to lose consciousness underwater that would be all she wrote. If there are other options that may the way to go, but what if the nearest chamber was two days away?

BTW, the "Richard dude" is actually Richard Pyle and he's been something of a pioneer for deeper dives. IIRC don't think he was advocating anyone doing what he did when he was young, he's just telling warstories.

 

[eponym]

I think this is it, in a powerpoint presentation . . .

http://www.scuba-doc.com/divaccman.ppt

Look toward the end of the slideshow for "in-water treatment".

-Bryan

PS. By the by, nice topic, Lee. It's sure to get some interesting replies.

 

[leeblackman]

Yes - theoretically, in the gravest extreme, on some remote atoll in the South Pacific where no help will ever arrive, IF you have a diver who suffers DCI and the alternative is death anyway, returning the diver to depth (using a support diver, surface gas, etc.) MAY provide another alternative to death. DAN has additional data available for those interested.

Yea, that series, the guy actually was in some remote atol in the south pacific around micronesia somewhere. lolz.

Thanks for the input, my common sense/ B.S. meter was going off, thats kinda why I posted the topic.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Check around this site using their search feature for some additional input --

DAN Divers Alert Network

Regards,

Doc

 

[rstofer]

See Chapter 20 Paragraph 4.4.2 of the U.S. Navy Diving Manual Rev 6. According to Air Treatment Table 1A, the process starts at 100 fsw and requires 7 hours 52 minutes.

It is considered a last resort after all other avenues have been ruled out.

Richard

 

[Jonny boy]

I think the OP was refering to Richard Pyle in his comment, the guy that practically invented deep stops. You can read the full story here :

Confessions of a Mortal Diver

Makes for very interesting reading

 

[ucfdiver]

Here's a great thread on it over at DIR Explorers
Oh Dear - You're "bent" and a long way from home.. IWR Anyone? - DIR Explorers

It's a last choice, but if you're doing decompression dives, it's important to know all your options so you can make an educated decision on where to go from there.