Mountain pass after diving

[RonFrank]

When I dive it's generally at 5280' or so.

I then drive home generally within two hours of the last dive to 9000'.

The dives however are 30'-35', and as the diving not world class, our bottom times are 30-45 minutes.

When we do the Blue Hole we are diving at 4,600ft, and the pass we cross to get back to Denver is over 7,000ft. I've never heard of anyone getting bent returing from the Hole, but divers generally off gas for several hours prior to crossing the pass.

There is not a ton of information on Altitude diving, and then driving over passes on a return trip home. Where I live, there is no such thing as a SeaLevel dive, everything is at altitude, and most of the diving I do is lower than the altitude I live at. However I can not generally wait 24 hours before returning home, so I don't push NDL's as there is really no need to.

 

[Dr Deco]

Hello MB:

The susceptible test subjects are not found by any visible identifiers or chemical tests. To date, no one really has any good markers, although a low degree of physical fitness is not favorable. The susceptible divers are found because they produce many Doppler-detectable bubbles and they get joint pain DCS (the bends).

It is as simple as that.

Dr Deco :doctor:

Readers, please note the next class in Decompression Physiology is September 10 – 11, 2005 :1book:
http://wrigley.usc.edu/hyperbaric/advdeco.htm

 

[pasley]

Pasley, your contribution are generally some of the best on this board, but I question your summary here...

In your case, you got bent the week before, aggravated that by diving again a week later - which is usually avoided in such cases isn't it, then it all peaked with your elevation change.

In the plan of the original poster, I really think that a diver would have to be already bent before ascending to elevation to take a hit on the ascent - as you were.

Thank you for the kind words. I evidently failed to make clear my intent. I agree with you that my previously being bent was most likely a factor and I thought I had communicated that in my post ("Were there other factors? Yes almost certainly - I had been bent the week before and was not yet healed enough to go to that altitude."). I should also mention my physician had approved my diving the following week (bad medical advice, on top of an emergency room which totally mishandled my case).

I did want to communicate that the necessity to drive to altitude following a dive would dictate that some prudent precautions should be observed. Those precautions being:
1. Dive and have fun, but do not try to dive aggressively and max out the tissues on nitrogen (particularly the “slow” compartments).
2. Observe surface intervals between dives to keep the nitrogen load lower.
3. Not doing a whole bunch of deep dives and pushing the NDL limits dives. For example, I would not do 2 or 3 dives to 100 feet for the max NDL with only a 1 hour or less SI and then hop in the car and start driving to 3000 feet.
4. Maintain good hydration before, during and after diving.
5. Enjoying a little post dive nutrition and fellowship to allow a little off gassing and of course the unspoken observation by your fellow divers to look for any signs of DCI before starting the trip.

Or to sum it up, IMHO you can probably enjoy a nice day of diving and good company and drive home to 3,000 feet without any issue as long as you are sensible about it and don’t try to push the limits. Is there a DCI risk? Yes, diving is always a DCI risk. Is it higher because of driving to altitude following the dive? Maybe a little (as in very, very little) bit, but not enough as to cause any great concern for the normal, healthy diver who is not inherently predisposed to DCI.

 

[RumBum]

I just want to mention that DAN currently suggests:
12 hours minimum wait to fly after a single dive w/o deco; 18 hours for multiple dives, and 18 hours for deco dives. This is based on "flights at cabin altitudes of 2,000 to 8,000 feet (610 to 2,438 meters) for divers who do not have symptoms of decompression sickness (DCS)."
24 is a conservative standpoint. I am not saying that being conservative is not a great idea, but 12/18 are the minimums.
here is the DAN reference I used: http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/news/article.asp?newsid=258