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MuddyFox

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Our club had its first DCS case in decades last weekend. The diver spent six hours in the chamber after recognizing symptoms of DCS. Four hours after his dive, he felt nauseous, his forearms hurt, and the left side of his face went numb. The doctors classified it as a "Class C" dive injury, saying it was only minor. They also stated had he been drinking alcohol, he would not have lived.

The diver, a "divemaster", submitted the following profile of his day:

1st Dive: Max Depth: 100 feet, within NDLs, 45 minutes total dive time. Ascent rate unknown.

Surface Interval: Consisted of vigorous free diving to 25' and enjoying tasty Coca-colas.

2nd Dive: Max depth: 80 feet, at some point he incurred at 10 minute deco stop at 10'. He completed his stop and also put in a 2 minute safety stop.

While the doctor told him to stay out of the water for two days, DAN told him to stay out for one month. The club suspended him for two months from all diving activities.
 
I am sorry to hear about the hit. It sounds like all will be well soon and I am happy to hear that. Thanks for posting this so we can all learn from it.

Chad
 
Freediving after scuba diving is a pretty scary idea...maybe someone else will chime in here, but it seems to me that if you come up bubbling and then do some freedives you are in danger of compressing those bubbles, allowing them to pass through the lungs and enter the arteries, and then giving yourself a hella case of DCS when you come back up and the bubbles expand again.
 
O-Ring,

That is the first thing I thought of too. Not to mention the increased risk of shallow water blackout.

Glad your friend is ok though.
 
Theres a transcript of a lecture by George Irvine that discusses some of that -

http://www.baue.org/library/irvine_baue_talk.html

Click bounce diving in the index and it discusses some concepts like what happens if you go down for a bottle at 20 feet etc right after a dive and then right back up - which sounds like an equivalent profile to what your friend might have experienced. Good explanation there.

steve
 
But it looks like a well earned hit. Within limits but not a lot of cushion on the first dive. Freediving to 25' during SI. and then 2nd dive beyond no deco limits. Deco requirements unable the compensate for the effects of freediving. Good lesson for all of us . Thanks
 
Wetman,
Thanks for the link to transcribed lecture, very informative read.

Best Regards
Don Costanza
 
For a recreational diver to incur a deco obligation of 10 min on a rep dive (using a computer?) implies he was really pushing it. This is not a profile that someone with training in deco procedures would do. Profiles that result in a deco obligation are not to be taken lightly. When we do such dives we trust our lives and health to what amounts to a bunch of theory which someday will likely prove to be little more than witchcraft. You must move into these dives a little at a time in order to find out what works for your body and your computer has no idea. I would assume learning took place!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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