Diver fatality

[Karl_in_Calif]

flw once bubbled...
Please explain why I shouldn't go into decompression or 'push' the limits of ndl?
Assuming you do know what you're at, decompression diving does not make you spontaneously expire

Three assumptions are in my opinion required:

1) you know what youre at (i.e., you are properly trained); and
2) you are properly equipped; and
3) you have a proper support team.

Sport scuba diving of the 1960s and 1970s taught deco as a natural extension of scuba.

Today, deco is normally taught as something to be avoided at all costs, unless you meet all 3 of the above requirements.

Therefore, if you are diving with a single tank, deco is out of the question, under modern teaching and practice standards.

Similarly, pushing the NDL limits is not a good idea either, under modern teaching and practice standards. The main reason being the interval between the onset of DCS symptons and the arrival at the hyperbaric chamber is a risk interval. And unnecessary risk not not tolerated anymore. Several people have died trying it, and I suppose that is the difference, in a recreational industry.

 

[Cudabait]

FredT,

Thank you for a most informative overview of one of your typical "hunting" trips.

 

[flw]

Karl_in_Calif once bubbled...


Three assumptions are in my opinion required:

1) you know what youre at (i.e., you are properly trained); and
2) you are properly equipped; and
3) you have a proper support team.

Sport scuba diving of the 1960s and 1970s taught deco as a natural extension of scuba.

Today, deco is normally taught as something to be avoided at all costs, unless you meet all 3 of the above requirements.

Therefore, if you are diving with a single tank, deco is out of the question, under modern teaching and practice standards.

Similarly, pushing the NDL limits is not a good idea either, under modern teaching and practice standards. The main reason being the interval between the onset of DCS symptons and the arrival at the hyperbaric chamber is a risk interval. And unnecessary risk not not tolerated anymore. Several people have died trying it, and I suppose that is the difference, in a recreational industry.

Ah, I see - the real issue is we're on opposite sides of the Atlantic, depends entirely where you learn to dive really, here in the UK deco diving is taught from day one - you won't actually do it for some time, however the teaching is based on the assumption that at some time you will. A reasonable amount of deco is considered perfectly normal.
I don't remember single tanks being mentioned.
What appears in your final paragraph is an inbuilt fear of deco and the magic ndl line on the computer - you are not 'safe' on one side of the line, nor by definition are you 'unsafe' on the other.
There are risks associated with longer/deeper, they can be managed, although never totally eliminated - simply dumbing down what divers training and by making deco something to be afraid of isn't going to help anything - its simply pandering to the lowest common denominator
Round here, transfer to chamber will take somewhere between 6 and 10 hours, dependant on the availabilty of the plane/weather etc - it doesn't mean we draw a line and don't do deco nor do we have an irrational fear of it - it does however mean we tend to be less aggressive in schedules, and more careful in terms of hydration gas choice etc

 

[narcT]

On my last live aboard we did 4-5 dives a day (4 day, 1 night) for 5 days straight.

Sucked down lots and lots of Nitrox!!!

All depends on the shape your in and how much experience you have.