What Agencies Teach Air Breaks

[RJP]

DSAT includes air breaks.

 

[PfcAJ]

What is the reason behind the 12-6? Seems very precise and other recommendations use multiples of 5.
Also interesting to see that for some air breaks count the same for deco and go others it doesn't.

IIRC it was the result of a lot of experimentation by guys doing long oxygen exposures. Seems to work well as no one has toxed using this method and the o2 times that have been done with this is pretty nutty. I don't currently see a compelling reason to change, but if some data came out to support a different approach I'd do it.

http://www.frogkick.nl/files/george_irvine_dir_articles.pdf
page 19 goes over it a little.

Here's some science
[abstract] MODULATION OF HYPERBARIC OXYGEN TOXICITY BY INTERMITTENT EXPOSURE TO AIR
[abstract] INHIBITION OF APOPTOSIS AND OXIDATIVE DAMAGE IN LUNGS BY INTERMITTENT EXPOSURE TO AIR.

inb4 "omg Goerge Irvine was a dickhead and doesn't know anything" comments. This particular thing (gas breaks) works really well.

 

[tomfcrist]

inb4 "omg Goerge Irvine was a dickhead and doesn't know anything" comments. This particular thing (gas breaks) works really well.

Concur 100%.

A lot of George's philosophy's are excellent, but his internet persona did him nor his ideas any favors.

 

[Akimbo]

Air breaks are built into the US Navy’s treatment and decompression tables that use O2 on in-water and chamber stops. Of course they don't teach air breaks, they dictate them. Here is a brief discussion: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/diving-medicine/440726-oxygen-toxicity-limits-symptoms.html

Air breaks are also built into the IWR (In Water Recompression) tables I recall and almost all proprietary commercial diving HeO2 tables I have seen. Treatment Table 5 attached. The Blue bands are air breaks. Note 4 is interesting, but of course only applies to chamber CNS OxTox symptoms.

US Navy Diving Manual Rev. 6 with Change A

 

[rjack321]

OK, so TDI at the AN/DP level does not introduce or mention air breaks.

Likely because a huge chunk of the TDI curriculum is instructor discretion. So "it depends"

 

[kensuf]

Also interesting to see that for some air breaks count the same for deco and go others it doesn't.

Wearing my instructor hat, I'd say that liability is potentially a motivator on why some people choose to teach the more conservative option. Stupid litigious society.

 

[ajduplessis]

5min break every 20min, not added to deco

 

[Nasser]

OK, so TDI at the AN/DP level does not introduce or mention air breaks.

At the AN/DP level that is correct but, TDI does teach air breaks. You can find this information in the TDI Extended Range/Introductory Trimix manual (Rev. 3) on page 41 paragraph 6.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I was taught 20-5 in one of my NAUI trimix classes ... can't remember now if it was Trimix I or II ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[tomfcrist]

I was taught 20-5 in one of my NAUI trimix classes ... can't remember now if it was Trimix I or II ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Air breaks should be discussed even at the Deco procedures level via NAUI.. 20-5 or more often...ie 12-6 on longer exposures.