I don't usually post in this area...

[Doppler]

But something just posted on my blog is certainly aimed at divers who are just getting started (as well as those with a few dives under their belt).

If you have ever wondered what deco 'experts' think when they hear someone say: "My DCS hit was unearned..." take a read.

But I can?t be bent, my computer says I did everything right | Doppler's Tech Diving Blog

 

[lowviz]

Maybe you should post here a bit more often. You have done a spectacular job of taking care of the tech crowd. We are getting crumbs...

... Pollock explains that many of us focus on only a small part of the overall picture regarding decompression safety. ...//... If your diving exposures are mild, you are certified to use and indeed use the appropriate nitrox for your dives, you behave responsibly and cautiously, and follow the best practices suggested by organizations such as DAN, chances are good you will never experience DCS.

So one can put spin on the ball.

... If your diving is a touch more radical, and you routinely conduct staged decompression dives, the advice is to dive especially conservatively. ...//... Most of all, take responsibility for your actions and don’t make a challenge out of who can get out of the water fastest. ...//... wondering why it is you’re bent but your computer isn’t.

Works for me.

---------- Post added September 26th, 2014 at 12:51 PM ----------

Friendly reminder that there are no 'dumb' questions in this forum. I'm rather surprised that nobody posted something like:

"I accidently went into deco but it went away, what is going to happen to me?"

Opportunity knocks...

 

[Dive Right In Scuba 2]

I've always wondered about the term "undeserved" or "unearned" hit. It seems that many don't understand that decompression theory is just that....theory. If it was all figured out, tested and proven it would be termed "decompression law"(sorry, the science teacher in me is rearing its ugly head here). I've had a few tell me that their hit was "undeserved" and I am tempted to ask them if they always eat healthy, exercise regularly, don't drink, hydrate well, always get 8 hours sleep, and otherwise have perfect health. Again, most don't get that all of those factors and then some play into the big picture...not just being a good diver and diving within the profile.

 

[The Chairman]

It's certainly been a while, Dopp. If you need a refresher, just let me know!

I've been a long time disbeliever in "undeserved hits". They might be unexplained or even inexplicable, but the diver did something to warrant their DCS. Labeling them as undeserved does everyone a disservice and stops people from at least trying to understand the vectors behind the hit. I try to learn as much as possible about DCS both empirically as well as anecdotally. People often get distressed at my five minute safety stops. They are one of the many things I do to avoid ANY hit: explained or unexplained.

 

[Akimbo]

I've always wondered about the term "undeserved" or "unearned" hit...

I suppose there is some utility in simple terms that differentiate between relatively predictable hits such as omitted decompression and those that occur within “established guidelines”… but I am hard-pressed to find a poorer choice of words than “deserved” and “undeserved”.

---------- Post added September 26th, 2014 at 12:56 PM ----------

… They might be unexplained or even inexplicable, but the diver did something to warrant their DCS...

Of course they did… it is called diving.

 

[drrich2]

'Deserved' and 'earned' imply contributory negligence or reckless dangerousness in action beyond what is deemed prudent by the broader dive community.

All DCS hits have causation; we live in a cause & effect universe. It does not necessarily follow that everything that is caused is earned or deserved.

Dive Right In Scuba 2 makes an interesting point.

I've had a few tell me that their hit was "undeserved" and I am tempted to ask them if they always eat healthy, exercise regularly, don't drink, hydrate well, always get 8 hours sleep, and otherwise have perfect health. Again, most don't get that all of those factors and then some play into the big picture...not just being a good diver and diving within the profile.

The extent to which a person must comply with 'best practices,' including those unestablished though widely believed factors like hydrating well, to avoid getting labeled as 'Asking For It,' (which the terms 'earned' and 'deserved' basically imply) is doubtless controversial. There are even those who seem to think that since any scuba dive has some DCS risk, then anybody who voluntarily dives is 'asking for it,' at least a little, and 'deserves' what they get.

I don't buy that. At its most basic, diving within the profiles determined by either a computer or tables is deemed reasonably prudent by the general community, or so it seems to me. If someone wants to split hairs a bit and argue exceptions that prove the rule (e.g.: advanced elderly diver exerting vigorously on a very deep very cold water dive when rather dehydrated on his 1st dive in 6 months the day after a flight and jet-lagged, and sleep-deprived, riding his NDL to within a minute of the limit on a computer with a liberal algorithm), yes it can be done.

Put another way, if you do a 40 foot dive, average depth 25 feet, for 50 minutes, don't get near your NDL and somehow, against all odds get skin bends or what-have-you, there is a cause, yes, but I don't consider it earned or deserved.

The terms do serve a purpose in the hobby of helping crudely label whether an adverse event occurred during a dive conducted within reasonable practices, or one conducted diving in a manner considered inappropriately risky.

Richard.

 

[spectrum]

A term like undeserved hit is always going to be a slippery slope. It's like someone saying, "I checked everything and it still doesn't work". In all liklihood a detail was not checked or incorrectly inspected. Likewise, perhaps most and conceivably all "undeserved hits" would be explainable with perfect data and a perfect understanding of the science behind it all. An in there lies the rub that for all we know there are still gray overlapping aspects.

Pete

 

[uncfnp]

I suppose there is some utility in simple terms that differentiate between relatively predictable hits such as omitted decompression and those that occur within “established guidelines”… but I am hard-pressed to find a poorer choice of words than “deserved” and “undeserved”.

---------- Post added September 26th, 2014 at 12:56 PM ----------



Of course they did… it is called diving.

Akimbo, if I could give you a 100 "likes" for that post I would. Thank you!

 

[Scared Silly]

Around my house there are no undeserved hits, my wife says I deserve every one.

"I accidently went into deco but it went away, what is going to happen to me?"

This will probably get me banned from the forum but the obvious answer is

Yer gonna die.

Of course they did… it is called diving.

Or doing an EVA ...


More seriously ... every dive is different and because of that there are no absolutes - except death and taxes.

 

[Searcaigh]

More seriously ... every dive is different and because of that there are no absolutes - except death and taxes and nurses.

Fixed that for you

Now I am going to get hit by a nurse