Oxygen poisoning seizure > how to react ?

[hroark2112]

Here’s the thing.

It’s not “shrugged off”. It is impaired. Like when drunk divers thing they’re ok to get behind the wheel. One second I’m fine. The next second I’m thinking “that was weird”. The next thing I know I’m being brought back from dead.

I was convinced before this happened that I’d know what to do. I had trained for it. Drilled over and over again what to do. Had one of the best CCR instructors out there train me on how to react. And when the time came my brain was mush.

Don’t for a second think it can’t happen to you. I thought that way and I ended up nearly losing my life.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Here’s the thing.

It’s not “shrugged off”. It is impaired. Like when drunk divers thing they’re ok to get behind the wheel. One second I’m fine. The next second I’m thinking “that was weird”. The next thing I know I’m being brought back from dead.

I was convinced before this happened that I’d know what to do. I had trained for it. Drilled over and over again what to do. Had one of the best CCR instructors out there train me on how to react. And when the time came my brain was mush.

Don’t for a second think it can’t happen to you. I thought that way and I ended up nearly losing my life.

It's a serious note. I get it....but... you said drunk divers get behind the wheel.... and I lol.

Serious question though, I thought the point was to not do gas the wrong gas switches at the wrong depth? Do you really train for what to do if you do the wrong thing? I honestly don't know, I'm not cert that far yet...

 

[hroark2112]

Mine happened on the surface on a rebreather. All I would have had to do was to pick my head up out of the water and breathe. Couldn’t think to do it.

Do we train for what to do if we have a wrong gas switch? I didn’t. I trained for how to do a proper gas switch. I grab the regulator. I trace it back to the tank and verify the MOD. Then my buddy traces from the regulator to the tank and verifies the MOD. Then we both check our current depth again and then he gives me the OK to switch. Then and only then do I switch. Then we repeat for him. Does it seem like a lot? Yes. Would I do it that way every time? Yes. It’s important.

 

[boulderjohn]

In the majority of cases I know, the fact that the diver breathed the wrong gas was not a mistake made during the dive. It was made before the dive, when the diver assumed a gas being carried was something other than what it turned out to be. this was mostly because the diver was sure that the tanks contained a certain gas, so they did not confirm it through analysis.

One such case relates to the question of how much warning you get and what you should do about it. I was given the details of the case by the man's buddy on the dive, who happens to be a physician. The man had planned a dive but broken his foot, so he had to wait months before diving. When he was ready to dive again, he "remembered" that his double tanks had air in them, and he did a tech dive to about 160 feet with them. It turned out they had EANx 36 instead. During the dive, he suddenly seemed to panic and began to sprint to the surface. According to his buddy, the actual cause of death was an embolism. The buddy felt he had sensed something, had a sudden realization of the true contents of his tanks, and sprinted to a shallower depth in the hope of preventing the seizure.

 

[boulderjohn]

I know two common acronyms frequently taught for symptoms warning of coming oxygen toxicity: VENTID and ConVENTID. The difference is "Con," short for "convulsions." IMO, having convulsions is not a good warning for oxygen toxicity. I doubt if I would make good decisions while convulsing.

 

[Akimbo]

Good discussion so far. Some readers who are not up to speed on Oxygen toxicity may find this thread useful.

Info - Oxygen Toxicity Limits & Symptoms

Oxygen Toxicity Limits & Symptoms Oxygen toxicity limits can be very confusing, especially for PPO2 (Partial Pressure of Oxygen) levels above 1.6 ATA used in chamber-based hyperbaric treatment (recompression) and decompression tables. For example, here is a chart of one of the most common DCS...

scubaboard.com

 

[NothingClever]

@Etmutt

Is this the Jeddah incident?

 

[Etmutt]

@Etmutt

Is this the Jeddah incident?

Yes from last Monday

 

[doctormike]

I have never heard of a post seizure diver being combative to the point of harming or killing their rescuer. This has never been reported and is inconsistent with chamber seizure recoveries too. Net, the incidence of that is extremely low or non-existent.

Dunno. I have seen postictal patients being very disoriented with discoordinated movements, even though conscious. My point is that sitting around at depth with a postictal, unconscious or impaired diver and hoping to keep their airway secure has very specific risks - both to the rescuer and to the victim. So as mentioned several times above, it's a question of doing very difficult calculus on the fly, and factoring in both the diver's safety and the rescuer's safety. I wouldn't imply that the answer is to always stay at depth and clear deco.

Sending up an unconscious diver (unattended) will almost for sure lead to their drowning however. Toxing to drowning victims sometimes live a day or two because the high ppO2 minimizes their brain (hypoxia) injuries from the subsequent drowning. But they more often than not they die.

Right. So it's a tradeoff. You would do that if you felt that bringing the victim to the surface yourself would significantly compromise your own risk of survival. And of course, you would be more likely to do that for someone who you felt was unlikely to survive (found at depth with the reg out) vs. someone with a better chance (witnessed seizure with no loss of the mouthpiece).

 

[Celt]

If the reg was still in the divers mouth I’d start for the surface. If he regains consciousness I’d put him through the deco, if not I’d send him to the surface at the first stop.