My friend just got her OW and she's been diagnosed with DCS
- Thread starter tholden1
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The skin blotches are much more suggestive of DCS than lung expansion injury, as are the joint pains and the worsening symptoms over days. The choking sensation could have been pneumothorax or pneumomediastinum (although those more typically present with chest pain) but could also have been DCS.
The profiles don't sound horrible, although any uncontrolled ascent is bad.
I cannot believe an instructor permitted a student to carry a camera on an OW checkout dive, though
The profiles don't sound horrible, although any uncontrolled ascent is bad.
I cannot believe an instructor permitted a student to carry a camera on an OW checkout dive, though
marcosdutra
Contributor
All cases of decompression sickness should initially be treated with 100% oxygen until hyperbaric oxygen therapy (100% oxygen delivered in a high-pressure chamber) can be provided. Mild cases of the "bends" and some skin symptoms may disappear during descent from high altitude; however it is recommended that these cases still be evaluated. Neurological symptoms, pulmonary symptoms, and mottled or marbled skin lesions should be treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy if seen within 10 to 14 days of development.
Recompression on room air was shown to be an effective treatment for minor DCS symptoms by Keays in 1909. Evidence of the effectiveness of recompression therapy utilizing oxygen was first shown by Yarbrough and Behnke, and has since become the standard of care for treatment of DCS. Recompression is normally carried out in a recompression chamber. At a dive site a more risky alternative is in-water recompression.
Oxygen first aid has been used as an emergency treatment for diving injuries for years. If given within the first four hours of surfacing it increases the success of recompression therapy as well as a decrease the number of recompression treatments required. Most fully closed-circuit rebreathers can deliver sustained high concentrations of oxygen-rich breathing gas and could be used as a means of supplying oxygen if dedicated equipment is not available.
It is beneficial to give fluids as this helps reduce dehydration. It is no longer recommended to administer aspirin, unless advised to do so by medical personnel, as analgesics may mask symptoms. People should be made comfortable and placed in the supine position (horizontal), or the recovery position if vomiting occurs. In the past both the Trendelenburg position and the left lateral decubitus position (Durant's maneuver) have been suggested as beneficial where air emboli are suspected, but are no longer recommended for extended periods, owing to concerns regarding cerebral edema.
Recompression on room air was shown to be an effective treatment for minor DCS symptoms by Keays in 1909. Evidence of the effectiveness of recompression therapy utilizing oxygen was first shown by Yarbrough and Behnke, and has since become the standard of care for treatment of DCS. Recompression is normally carried out in a recompression chamber. At a dive site a more risky alternative is in-water recompression.
Oxygen first aid has been used as an emergency treatment for diving injuries for years. If given within the first four hours of surfacing it increases the success of recompression therapy as well as a decrease the number of recompression treatments required. Most fully closed-circuit rebreathers can deliver sustained high concentrations of oxygen-rich breathing gas and could be used as a means of supplying oxygen if dedicated equipment is not available.
It is beneficial to give fluids as this helps reduce dehydration. It is no longer recommended to administer aspirin, unless advised to do so by medical personnel, as analgesics may mask symptoms. People should be made comfortable and placed in the supine position (horizontal), or the recovery position if vomiting occurs. In the past both the Trendelenburg position and the left lateral decubitus position (Durant's maneuver) have been suggested as beneficial where air emboli are suspected, but are no longer recommended for extended periods, owing to concerns regarding cerebral edema.
Bubbletrubble
Contributor
@marcosdutra: Your post was lifted word for word from the "Treatment" section of the Wikipedia page on Decompression Sickness. This is just a pet peeve of mine. If you are going to cut-and-paste from a source, please cite it and/or link to it.
DevonDiver
N/A
Well... I guess she learned her lesson now.
Could have saved a lot of pain if she'd learned that lesson on her OW course instead.
It seems like a lot of people are debating the need for 'limits'. I'd say that your report of this incident goes a long way towards highlighting why those limits are both reasonable and prudent.
Is this for their defence / cover-up... or because they intend to submit an incident report to PADI?
Yep! The dive centre is obligated to make a report of this. To be sure that it is properly investigated and recorded, you should submit an independant report.
You informally email PADI... or complete and send the form here:
PADI Incident Form
As is the case in any industry... there are cowboys, crooks and incompetents. It's important not to blindly trust your instructor and dive guide/master.
Your course materials contain the standards and limitations that you should dive to. When an instructor/divemaster suggests, or approves, that you deviate from these, then you should really investigate why. "Because we say so..." just doesn't fly..
Failing that... you can normally get a spectrum of (commercially unbiased / independant) opinons here on Scubaboard.
+100 ABSOLUTELY!
DevonDiver
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Well, I still think Insts can do more good preparing divers for Mexico & CALA including what to consider if they train there than trying to change Mexico & CALA, but if you'd rather rant...
DennisW
Contributor
I surely hope your friend heals well and gets to dive again, if she is really interested. So many things I could say, but most folks have already said them. Except that I would never take an open water course with a resort shop. I would be certified well before I went and would have been certified with an instructor I was comfortable with after I interviewed several of them.
She was fumbling with a camera on her OW checkout dives?
She as in your friend? If so, why was that allowed?
Sounds like a very poorly run class.
She as in your friend? If so, why was that allowed?
Sounds like a very poorly run class.
The camera fumbling is bad, but so is the fact that the instructor was doing both an OW and AOW dive simultaneously.
Which of the AOW dives was being done when she did her ascent?
Which of the AOW dives was being done when she did her ascent?
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