Inhaler-friendly snorkel for those with asthma.+

[cerich]

Wow, I've read all the pages of posts and many of you are too ignorant to speak on the matter and the docs, well, for the most part you are right. I am a paramedic (as if the screen name didn't give it away) and have worked on countless asthmatics over the years, I am also an asthmatic. My asthma is aggravated by cold, dry air. Anyone know why this would be important while diving?! I am on regular medication to control my asthma during the winter season, even though we don't have much of one down here and I use my "rescue inhalor" EVERY time I go diving. All seasons, warm or cold water, it makes no difference. I've looked at the products that you've all noted and am considering getting them for myself.
On my very first dive, I had an asthma attack that continued for hours after completing the dive because of the amount of mucus/fluid that had accumilated in my lungs because of the dive. Obviously, I pushed to far, being new to diving, the anxiety of it all, the compressed dry, cool air of my tank and the rough seas all added to the problem, but I know my body, so I know when to dive, and when not too. I learned my limitations and how to manage my problem. But, never for a moment would I give up diving because of a managable problem/disease!
I went to a pulmologist to get cleared to dive, and passed all of my tests with flying colors including a stress test (treadmill)! My pulmonary function test was better than most "normal" non-asthmatic people. In addition, I take my asthma "rescue inhalor" at least 3-4x a week before I work out at my gym.
So, because I suffer from a disease that can be dangerous, like many diseases out there, I should stop living! No diving, no exertion, turn off the a/c and become a stinky, sweaty, miserable woman? I don' think so! Regardless of how many times you may think or believe we live, I plan on enjoying this life to the fullest, regardless of my disease!
BTW, there are many who's lives I have touched, saved and done so much for that would argue with your opinion of cleaning out the gene pool by getting rid of all the "wheezers!"

Get this, in the long run it will be cheaper than using your inhaler.

http://www.apollosportsusa.com/Products/Regulators/Biofilter.htm

 

[fisherdvm]

Why would one need an inhaler built into the snorkel when the asthmatic can simply carry the inhaler in a water tight pouch to use as needed, if ever? Why risk getting the inhaler wet? If an asthmatic freedives again, the inhaler can only be used on the surface.

On the regulator version, I wonder how the manufacturer overcomes that the inhaler is a small compressed cylinder of about 50-80 psi, how is this supposed to release gas into the 2nd stage chamber which is powered at 135-160 psi above ambient? Now imagine that pressure at depth.

You've got a point. Maybe that's why it can be safely used with scuba. Perhaps at 15 or 20 ft DECO stop, it would function just enough to prevent DCS, thus might be worthwhile to have, so you don't have to rush to the surface to use your inhaler.

 

[Hemlon]

You've got a point. Maybe that's why it can be safely used with scuba. Perhaps at 15 or 20 ft DECO stop, it would function just enough to prevent DCS, thus might be worthwhile to have, so you don't have to rush to the surface to use your inhaler.

Hmmm...if their asthma is so poorly controlled that rushing to the surface is needed, that should be a signal to them!

 

[PairofMedics]

Hmmm...if their asthma is so poorly controlled that rushing to the surface is needed, that should be a signal to them!

I think you are missing the point that it is there in case of an EMERGENCY! or as needed prophalactically.

 

[mdjh51]

So I have a few minutes between rounding on my patients, so I thought I would address a few things...

This has been an interesting read for me. The wide ranging opinions and ideas from medical, quasi-medical and non-medical personnel are very entertaining. Someone said something about a medical release and that they would not sue if they falsified a release because they knew the risks and chose to dive anyway. The problem is not the diver, it is the diver's family. The angry widow, or the heartbroken mother and father looking for someone to sue. They may not honor the divers comitment to non-legal action in case of disaster. And what about the other divers? If I attmept a rescue of pairofmedics after she has an acute exacerbation of her asthma at depth and I end up deceased as a result, can my family sue the dive operator for allowing an asthmatic to dive, and her estate because through her falsification of records and assumption of risk she became endangerd and therfore caused my demise? A medical release signed by the diver will theoretcially protect the dive operator from litigation should something go wrong, whether or not you are misleading on it. However, any attorney will tell that any signed release is only worth the paper it is written on. So fill them out, sign them and go on your way. Play the game... personally, I plan on suing the air hog that cuts my dives short because they have a SAC rate twice mine, causing me to exit the dive with half a tank of air. The nerve!!! I paid the same for the trip as they did!!!

Asthma is only a problem for divers when they have an acute exacerbation. If this happens at depth and the diver experineces air trapping and bronchoconstriction then they are at risk of barotrauma during ascent as well as DCS. What about the resultant hypoxia and related alteration of mental status? How dangerous will an asthmatic diver at depth, already under the influence of nitrogen narcosis, be when they develop hypoxia as a result of an acute flare?

I think, since asthmatics are gonna dive whether the rest of the diving community wants them to or not, that the inhaler equipped regulator is a great idea (ignoring, for a moment, the obvious physicis and pressure issues at depth). And a snorkel with an inhaler attachment, well, snorkelers are at the surface anyway... Why not allow the 10 year-old with poorly controlled asthma and frequent exacerbations to go out and be a kid?

Okay, gotta go see patients, thanks for letting me ramble.

B

 

[fisherdvm]

Oh, come on, how can you or your family sue an asthmatic if you got hurt trying to rescue them? It's like an ambulance driver suing the patient in the gurney for getting sick, if he got hurt in a car crash, right?

If you are a dive instructor, and got hurt trying to rescue a student, that's part of the occupational hazard.

If you are a doctor, and contracted hepatitis from a needle stick, that's part of the hazard of being a doctor.

I find it a little frustrating to hear the rescue divers, divemasters, and others who is angry at divers who got an MI or diabetic attacks... Regardless of whether it is on their screening questionaire, or if they lied about it... If you push yourself to the limit, and end up in the compression chamber, it is your own fault.

You want to be a hero, then pay the price for being a hero. If you don't want to be a hero, then don't try heroic effort to rescue them at 100 ft with less than 500 psi to share....

 

[mdjh51]

geesh it was tongue in cheek...

 

[PairofMedics]

Wow. Passionate arguement! Love it! By the way Doc, I didnt falsify or lie about anything. When I took my training I had to thru all kind of medical testing to get cleared to dive. I am not hiding my disease, just dealing with it. Oh yeah, by the way, my husband is also a paramedic, so I basically travel with my own rescue team!

 

[DallasNewbie]

Oh, come on, how can you or your family sue an asthmatic if you got hurt trying to rescue them? It's like an ambulance driver suing the patient in the gurney for getting sick, if he got hurt in a car crash, right?

"Danger invites rescue."

 

[fisherdvm]

4) The plaintiff must have exercised reasonable care in effecting the rescue

Interesting law tidbit... However, the criteria number 4 would negate stupidity in judgement of the rescuer if he ended up in the decompression chamber.