Teenager with DCS, mother in denial, treatment delayed

[BRT]

So you'd just kinda guess? Isn't the evidence that fitness is more important than age? So by "more deco" do you mean less NDL for recreational dives? Is there any data to convert age or fitness or waistline or weight or ANY physiological information into some kind of reduced NDL?

For me it is very simple. I used to dive to the limits of my computer. Now I dive nitrox and stay away from those limits, am very careful about slow ascents, long safety stops, and taking a lot of time between 15' and the surface.

 

[tursiops]

For me it is very simple. I used to dive to the limits of my computer. Now I dive nitrox and stay away from those limits, am very careful about slow ascents, long safety stops, and taking a lot of time between 15' and the surface.

Yes, I do the same. But the discussion had been about monitoring some physiological thing and adjusting your computer to match that. What you and I are doing is entirely arbitrary, not based on any data or studies.

 

[kaylee_ann]

People should add the extra years and inches to their waist line when calculating deco. Definitely not the same calculations they used 20 years ago. They should be a weighing scales on every boat and not just for fish.

Problem is, muscle weighs more than fat so someone that’s in very good shape could weigh more than someone who’s, well, not.

 

[Esprise Me]

People should add the extra years and inches to their waist line when calculating deco.

Is that what you think went wrong with this teenager who got bent on the day of his graduation?

 

[CoralSeaMan]

I learned about IWR years before I leaned to dive; from Sea Hunt. Of course, even if the details were mentioned (O2, etc.), I doubt I would have remembered them by the time I got certified. But the concept was there for me to screw up if the situation had arisen.

 

[Celt]

Problem is, muscle weighs more than fat so someone that’s in very good shape could weigh more than someone who’s, well, not.

Maybe a measuring tape would be more accurate but I'm referring to the someone who's, well not. But even apart from that as you get older you metabolism slows and you put on a few inches and your likelihood of a bend increases. A dive that you made 20 years ago could very likely bend you today.

 

[Celt]

Is that what you think went wrong with this teenager who got bent on the day of his graduation?

Only he and his buddy know that and there not talking, can't say I blame them after reading some of the comments about his mother, maybe he has some medical issue who knows.

 

[Kay Dee]

Two other items I carried 'back in the day' to places far afield. So while I may not have been 'risk averse', I didnt take chances. Unfortunately I can no longer find the photo of my IWR kit, although 'maybe' @Dr Simon Mitchell may have a copy(?). If he reads this and has and would care to post it would be much appreciated (if for nothing else but my own files).

And the O2 deco set below, while actually for O2 decompression, could be used in a pinch 'in-water' for mild deco sickness symptoms, but........................mild can develop into bad, so its not something I would recommend to others.

And nowadays, those with rebreathers, especially if they have a gag strap, carry their own emergency reco gear on their back.

 

[scubadada]

I wouldn’t say a gf high of 95 is very conservative did you use to dive to the m-line

You didn't seem to get that my highest surfacing GF has been 80. I dive 80/95 to give me the bottom time without going into deco. Whether I'm a doing no-stop dive or light deco, I spend the time shallow or at my safety stop/deco stop to lower my surfacing GF. SurfGF is displayed on the 3rd line of my Teric. So, this is kind of like diving a GF high of 80, pretty conservative, wouldn't you say? My average surfacing GF for my last 275 dives is 53.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

I feel like if I were to ever get the bends, I’d feel like an absolute failure of a diver. Because “I know the risk factors and how to avoid getting them, yet got them anyway”. Which is obviously wrong, but…people make it sound like if you get bent, it’s because you were a dumb***.

Hi @kay_ann ,

Decompression illness is a sports injury, just like a torn ACL or sprained ankle. There is a lot of misinformation out there, and coupled with the machismo and ego culture that surrounds diving, it's easy to get the impression that somebody who got bent is somehow incompetent or did something wrong. I've even heard personal stories from patients about their buddies giving them grief for getting bent, as if they were somehow less of a "man". That's complete hogwash and it increases the likelihood that divers won't report symptoms until they're more severe, which unfortunately decreases the effectiveness of the treatment once they do seek help.

Best regards,
DDM