Read this please, because I see so many posts and people mention dive incidents/accidents/fatalities as if they are operating under a hogarthian framework of interpretation, regarding IWR.
The authors do a great job of presenting data that paints a very clear picture of what is or is not effective. Written by Richard Pyle and David Youngblood. iwr
This article has well over 500 total data points (cases where recompression attempts were made underwater). 2 fatalities, from a lost buddy team in rough seas. And over 90% of cases with tremendous success.
I won't tell you to do or not do inwater recompression. But I can tell you that I have a personal conversation with all dive staff wherever I may be working/guiding/teaching/fundiving, and I let them know exactly what I will be doing if I surface from a dive and my arm goes numb. I will drink water, grab a fresh tank.............................
The framework of legal liabilities, has unfortunately "poo-pooed" inwater recompression and marginalized it. When it is in fact, not theoretically, but practically, incredibly effective.
Now............ should a brand new diver do inwater recompression if they get bent? I don't know - depends on the diver. But IWR should not be interpretted by the diving public as "voodoo" for all divers - techical, recreational, or any others.
I would much rather prevent additional bubble formation, than wait 1-24 hours for "proper" treatment in a chamber - while those same bubbles only grow in size and do their worst. Let me see here......... I can spend another half hour in the water and there is perhaps a 90 percent chance of getting out of the water with no symptoms, or I can chance a run into shore while I might die in route? And in either case, the data seems to show that IWR reduces the total bubble formation when done immediately after a dive - which can only be good as the captain makes a call to ready the chamber. If I notice DCS hours or days after a dive, obviously I will go straight to a chamber, as I no longer have a practical variable of being in or on the water in a vessel, and the bubble formation is clearly slow enough that I don't need such a prompt reaction as to swap tanks in one minute, drink fluid for five seconds, and get back in the water.
As an aside, they even have a data set describing two divers suffering dcs after diving together - one got back in the water. Subsequently, he surfaced with no symptoms about an hour later when the boat returned. The other died in route to the chamber. It's kind of a no brainer, really. But you should obviously decide for yourself, and evaluate environmental conditions, because the lost buddy team from the data set, was diving in rough seas.
You still aren't convinced enough to open the link? Most of the recompression dives were not done according to a specific or established guideline of depth/time. They were winging it. They went down between 10-40 feet in most cases, and came back up when either temperature, hydration, boat logistics, weather, air remaining may have prompted them to end their recompression dive.
Read what the authors wrote, because they do a better job explaining it in detail. But really. Read the link.
This article may already exist, buried in the scubaboard archives, but it must be repeated because many of the "established" certification and safety organizations not only do not endorse IWR, but incidentally, marginalize IWR. The public is not readily told this information, and it is very enlightening.
The authors do a great job of presenting data that paints a very clear picture of what is or is not effective. Written by Richard Pyle and David Youngblood. iwr
This article has well over 500 total data points (cases where recompression attempts were made underwater). 2 fatalities, from a lost buddy team in rough seas. And over 90% of cases with tremendous success.
I won't tell you to do or not do inwater recompression. But I can tell you that I have a personal conversation with all dive staff wherever I may be working/guiding/teaching/fundiving, and I let them know exactly what I will be doing if I surface from a dive and my arm goes numb. I will drink water, grab a fresh tank.............................
The framework of legal liabilities, has unfortunately "poo-pooed" inwater recompression and marginalized it. When it is in fact, not theoretically, but practically, incredibly effective.
Now............ should a brand new diver do inwater recompression if they get bent? I don't know - depends on the diver. But IWR should not be interpretted by the diving public as "voodoo" for all divers - techical, recreational, or any others.
I would much rather prevent additional bubble formation, than wait 1-24 hours for "proper" treatment in a chamber - while those same bubbles only grow in size and do their worst. Let me see here......... I can spend another half hour in the water and there is perhaps a 90 percent chance of getting out of the water with no symptoms, or I can chance a run into shore while I might die in route? And in either case, the data seems to show that IWR reduces the total bubble formation when done immediately after a dive - which can only be good as the captain makes a call to ready the chamber. If I notice DCS hours or days after a dive, obviously I will go straight to a chamber, as I no longer have a practical variable of being in or on the water in a vessel, and the bubble formation is clearly slow enough that I don't need such a prompt reaction as to swap tanks in one minute, drink fluid for five seconds, and get back in the water.
As an aside, they even have a data set describing two divers suffering dcs after diving together - one got back in the water. Subsequently, he surfaced with no symptoms about an hour later when the boat returned. The other died in route to the chamber. It's kind of a no brainer, really. But you should obviously decide for yourself, and evaluate environmental conditions, because the lost buddy team from the data set, was diving in rough seas.
You still aren't convinced enough to open the link? Most of the recompression dives were not done according to a specific or established guideline of depth/time. They were winging it. They went down between 10-40 feet in most cases, and came back up when either temperature, hydration, boat logistics, weather, air remaining may have prompted them to end their recompression dive.
Read what the authors wrote, because they do a better job explaining it in detail. But really. Read the link.
This article may already exist, buried in the scubaboard archives, but it must be repeated because many of the "established" certification and safety organizations not only do not endorse IWR, but incidentally, marginalize IWR. The public is not readily told this information, and it is very enlightening.
