Sterilizing regs for diver with CF

[Pao]

Thanks DocVikingo. Maybe it will be a good exercise to get cultures from a reg immediately before assembly during the annual service then immediately after breakdown during the next service. I might just do that and see what grows.

 

[flots am]

Thanks DocVikingo. Maybe it will be a good exercise to get cultures from a reg immediately before assembly during the annual service then immediately after breakdown during the next service. I might just do that and see what grows.

Every OC second stage regulator ever made lets a little sea/lake/river/pool water in with pretty much every breath in some positions. If you have a leaky second stage diaphragm it might even get aerosolized and inhaled.

Generally it's not a big problem and any liquid water in the reg goes right back out again, but if you're even considering taking cultures of the regulator for health reasons, or your immune system would have a hard time with whatever is in the water, I'd suggest not diving.

It's just not that clean or dry and never will be.

flots.

 

[DocVikingo]

I never put my reg in a dunk tank. You never know what lurks in wet suits.

Hey hert7to3,

Here's a read you might enjoy--> Bacterial Contamination in Rinse Tanks: Undercurrent 06/2009

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[flots am]

Hey hert7to3,

Here's a read you might enjoy--> Bacterial Contamination in Rinse Tanks: Undercurrent 06/2009

Oh, you mean the "Pink Eye" tank.

I tell my students to keep everything away from the shared rinse tanks unless they want to play "Stump the infectious disease expert" when they get back home.

flots.

 

[gert7to3]

Thanks DocVikingo, verrrrry interesting. Whilst I only mentioned regs, I keep all of my equipment out of communal rinse tanks.

Oddly enough it was on a Bonaire trip where I came to my own conclusions about communal rinse tanks. Some of my group were getting lower g.i. issues. I was eating at both the same places and the same food we had bought, but I was not putting my equipment in rinse tanks. They were. I pointed this out to them and they got better and stayed fine.

The water quality on Bonaire is excellent. It's a reverse osmosis desalinization supply. Probably better than most tap water in the U.S.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Just heard from a friend/former Duke fellow who is a Canadian Forces diving physician. She said that they do indeed use Virkon. CF guidelines are that it needs to be diluted to the barest hint of pink (no proportions specified) and rinsed thoroughly so it doesn't damage soft items like mushroom valves... apparently they've had issues with that when it's not diluted enough or rinsed completely. Considering that it was developed for sanitizing hard livestock items like watering and feeding containers, caution is probably advisable when using it on delicate diving gear.

 

[Mantra]

Thanks DDM, and thanks everyone else once again. It's amazing to be abe to get answers to such arcane stuff in one place. What did we all do just 15 years ago? The carrier pigeons never came back in time, and my throat was sore from all the transatlantic yelling. The Virkon s has already arrived here and we used it in what was probably a slightly stronger mix than that last post implies, so will adjust practices accordingly. I'm most thankful you kept the question in your thoughts.