The Reef: A brief history

[BillT5]

I was told that Pete sold the compressor before he died to raise cash. Apparently he was deeply in debt before his death. I was only there once to buy air before TL had an air stand. Unless the situation is different where the place isnt full of people playing loud music and crowding the docks, I doubt I will go there.

It always amazes me that divers are expected to pay higher prices for entry into such facilities when everyone who enters uses the same facilities(docks,bathrooms). I like the policy of the Lagoon. If not diving or with a diver no getting in. Or CSSP, same price for everyone who gets in the water.

I was told when I asked if the Reef had air fills last year sometime around June (I think) that the compressor had been sold. The staff there told me that.

 

[Cudabait]

FACT:

There ain't no air. Stolen or sold.

Regards,

 

[ems_cougar]

Cougar...feel free to use it, edit it, whatever. I designed it myself and just wanted something that kinda represented me...Texan, Diver, and Medic. In fact I may tweak it a little in a few weeks after I pass my state boards and become a RN.

Holy Cr@&!! NREMTP, GN, SSIAD/RD, DAN specialist, and now RN?
You looking to write your own ticket in Houston or what?!

Thanks for permission to use the avatar, I think I'll put a cougar in the white part. I like it for the same reasons you made it, it sort of encompases all the important things in life, in one little symbol!

Coug.

 

[ParamedicDiver1]

Holy Cr@&!! NREMTP, GN, SSIAD/RD, DAN specialist, and now RN?
You looking to write your own ticket in Houston or what?!

Thanks for permission to use the avatar, I think I'll put a cougar in the white part. I like it for the same reasons you made it, it sort of encompases all the important things in life, in one little symbol!

Coug.

Actually, not NREMTP...just LP. Back in the day, when I got my paramedic certification national registry was not required and no one I knew had it because we had no intention of leaving the state. When they offered Licensure for Paramedics, I was one of the first ones to apply for it because I had all the necessary credits for it. Now that I am going to be a nurse I will keep my LP for fun, but will probably not ever bother with national registry, it just seems like a hassle now. I am planning on continuing my dive medicine education though, I am thinking about doing DAN’s Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine Class next year...that seems like fun.

 

[ems_cougar]

I am thinking about doing DAN’s Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine Class next year...that seems like fun.

As a diver, you are going to LOVE Hyperbaric medicine. The physiological impact of hyperbaric pressure on medications at different atmospheres is amazing. Drugs work differently under pressure. Sp02 sats can be brought from levels non-condusive to life, to 100% quickly. Non healing wounds can be "force fed" 02, even when distal circulation is almost non-existant. I find it all fascinating.

Hey....maybe you can answer a question I have been wondering about. I was always taught that most people think our tanks are filled with oxygen, instead of 80 cu. ft. of compressed surface air; 100% oxygen is actually lethal at a depth of 25 ft., due to oxygen toxicity. However, I know it is common practice to take a wound care patient, put them under 3-4 atmospheres, running 100% O2 for 1-2 hours at a time. Never made sense to me. Was I taught wrong about O2 being lethal at 25 ft.?

Coug.

 

[ParamedicDiver1]

As a diver, you are going to LOVE Hyperbaric medicine. The physiological impact of hyperbaric pressure on medications at different atmospheres is amazing. Drugs work differently under pressure. Sp02 sats can be brought from levels non-condusive to life, to 100% quickly. Non healing wounds can be "force fed" 02, even when distal circulation is almost non-existant. I find it all fascinating.

Hey....maybe you can answer a question I have been wondering about. I was always taught that most people think our tanks are filled with oxygen, instead of 80 cu. ft. of compressed surface air; 100% oxygen is actually lethal at a depth of 25 ft., due to oxygen toxicity. However, I know it is common practice to take a wound care patient, put them under 3-4 atmospheres, running 100% O2 for 1-2 hours at a time. Never made sense to me. Was I taught wrong about O2 being lethal at 25 ft.?

Coug.

This is from http://www.mindspring.com/~divegeek/oxyconcern.htm

It is a lot of information but I beleive it really explains why the chambers can put so much oxygen in the patient. Get a drink, and read.

There are two types of oxygen toxicity: Central Nervous System (CNS) toxicity can lead to a highly excitatory state (like an epileptic seizure). The rapid depth-related onset strongly suggests a direct chemical reaction with oxygen involving the formation of a central nervous system excitant (like NO. ). Since empirical evidence (diver seizure and death) has indicated the approximate threshold (varies with individual diver's body chemistry on day of dive) is 1.4 to 1.6 ata, divers limit their risk to this malady by keeping the partial pressure of oxygen in their breathing mix below 1.4 ata. Breathing pure oxygen in a first aid scenario at sea level (1.0 ata oxygen) is well below the established threshold. NOAA has developed a table for approximating the depth/time dependent exposure. Use of this table is typically discussed in oxygen-enriched dive training classes. CNS toxicity is not considered a significant risk factor in air diving at recreational depths. It is a major risk factor in non-air diving to depths beyond typical recreational levels.

The second type of oxygen toxicity is termed pulmonary or whole-body oxygen toxicity. This situation arises from changes in the respiratory and circulatory system's cellular structure when exposed to high concentrations of oxygen. Typically, this takes many hours and is characterized by gradually increasing difficulty in breathing. The respiratory people have developed a system of measuring oxygen exposures to monitor amount of oxygen dose received (and therefore, relative risk). They have defined an Oxygen Toxicity Unit (OTU) as 1 OTU = 1 minute of breathing 100% oxygen at sea level. Since it has been observed that most people can tolerate 24 hours of breathing pure oxygen without trouble, the accepted allowable dose is 1440 OTU's (1 OTU per min x 60 min/hr x 24 hr/ day) per day

I believe the relative concerns are about oxygen toxicity can be best expressed by looking at some computer-generated numbers, with the understanding that different computer programs may give slightly different absolute values for the numbers quoted. The exact numerical value is NOT as important as the relative magnitude of the number and its comparison to the accepted tolerance limits. Besides, in the clinical situation, even though numbers are important tracking devices and guidelines, therapeutic protocols (time/depth/breathing gas) are evaluated and determined by the medical staff based on individual patient behavior and needs. Lastly, while 1440 OTU's is the allowed daily dose of oxygen, under physician's care in a hyperbaric procedure, doses in excess of 1700 OTU's may be acceptable.

Now, let's address accumulation of OTU's during recreational diving on typical recreational diving breathing gases.



Table One examines the % CNS toxicity (as a measure of CNS toxicity risk) and accumulated OTU's (as a measure of whole body or pulmonary toxicity risk) for dives on air to the no decompression limits of the US Navy tables. These numbers are well below the daily-allowed dose of 1440 OTU.

Table 1: Oxygen Toxicity Values While Breathing Air

Depth (fsw) ----- Time (min) ----- % CNS ----- OTU's

-----40--------------200------------0---------0.00

-----50--------------100-----------12---------9.10

-----60---------------60------------8--------14.67

-----70---------------50------------8--------19.04

-----80---------------40------------7--------20.40

-----90---------------30------------7--------19.11

----100---------------25------------6--------19.07


There has been some discussion in the recreational diving literature, especially in the early 1990's, about withholding oxygen to divers who have made dives using a breathing mix of oxygen-enriched air. So, let's look at "the numbers" for oxygen-enriched air. Table Two is a compilation of oxygen toxicity values for dives to the no decompression limits while breathing NOAA Mix 1 (32 % oxygen). Again, these values are far below thresholds of concern.

Table 2: Oxygen Toxicity Values While Breathing NOAA Mix 1 (32 % Oxygen)
Depth (fsw) ----- Time (min) ----- % CNS ----- OTU's

----40---------------310------------55-------149.19

----50---------------200------------45-------133.17

----60---------------100------------29--------84.16

----70----------------60------------20--------60.80

----80----------------50------------22--------59.42

----90----------------40------------20--------54.38

---100----------------30------------18--------46.32


In addition, Table Three is a compilation of oxygen toxicity values for dives to the no decompression limits while breathing NOAA Mix 2 (36 % oxygen). As with Mix 1, these values are below thresholds of concern.

Table 3: Oxygen Toxicity Values While Breathing NOAA Mix 2 (36 % Oxygen)

Depth (fsw) ----- Time (min) ----- % CNS ----- OTU's

-----40---------------310-----------68-------200.48

-----50---------------200-----------56-------166.46

-----60---------------100-----------35-------103.36

-----70----------------60-----------26--------73.35

-----80----------------60-----------31--------85.01

-----90----------------50-----------31--------80.43

----100----------------40-----------31--------72.39

To help put this is a bit more of a proper perspective, consider (only for the purposes of examining the "numbers" for oxygen toxicity: this is certainly not a suggested mission profile. The "numbers" here are taken to absurdity only for purposes of illustration) making three consecutive dives, with no surface interval, to 60 fsw for 60 minutes. The accumulated % CNS and OTU's for this series of decompression dives is shown below in Table Four.

Table 4: Oxygen Toxicity Values For Three Consecutive Dives of 60 fsw for 60 minutes

Mix --------------- % CNS ----------------- OTU's

Air ------------------ 25 ------------------- 3.90

Mix1 (32 % O2) ----- 54 ----------------- 152.40

Mix 2 (36 % O2) ----- 64 ----------------- 188.49

It should be obvious that even after three consecutive 60 fsw dives for 60 minutes, a diver would be well below th-e allowed OTU accumulation of 1440. I also suggest that, especially in Michigan waters, thermal considerations have more control of the dive durations than whole body oxygen toxicity while diving conventional mixes to traditional recreational diving depths.

Hyperbaric treatment of DCI will involve added exposure to high concentrations of oxygen and significantly add to the OTU accumulation. Table Five lists approximate OTU values for the standard US Navy Treatment Tables.

Table 5: Oxygen Toxicity Values For Standard US Navy Treatment Tables

Treatment Table --------- Approximate OTU's

-------5-------------------------297

-------6-------------------------607

------6A-------------------------820

So, even with a DCI treatment for an air embolism (Table 6A) for a diver injury at the conclusion of three consecutive dives to 60 fsw on NOAA Mix 2, the total whole body oxygen exposure (820 + 188 = 1008 OTU's) is less than the acceptable standard daily dose of 1440 OTU's.