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FrankT:Has anyone ever used a shot of compressed air in the leg or sleeve when dawning their wetsuit (7mm)? I have read that it helps to get it on. Anything to watchout for?
miketsp:I would never blast compressed air against my skin.
I remember about 40 years ago during apprentice training I worked in a shop with some HP air lines available, 6000psi+ and we had a very dramatic safety talk from the company doctor about how easy it was to blow air bubbles through the skin into the blood stream and then these bubbles could lodge in inconvenient places - like the brain for example.
He used some nice coloured charts and cited a series of accidents at that plant - all due to compressed air blasts against or near to the skin.
See this quote:
Second, compressed air itself is also a serious hazard. On rare occasions, some of the compressed air can enter the blood stream through a break in the skin or through a body opening. An air bubble in the blood stream is known medically as an embolism, a dangerous medical condition in which a blood vessel is blocked, in this case, by an air bubble. An embolism of an artery can cause coma, paralysis or death depending upon its size, duration and location. While air embolisms are usually associated with incorrect diving procedures, they are possible with compressed air due to high pressures. While this seems improbable, the consequences of even a small quantity of air or other gas in the blood can quickly be fatal.
Unfortunately, horseplay has been a cause of some serious workplace accidents caused by individuals not aware of the hazards of compressed air, or proper work procedures.
from:
http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/safety_haz/compressed_air.html