Question About USS Thorfinn Incident

[TerriB11]

Hi All!
I'm a newb here so if I do something wrong, please have patience.

My friend just returned from a 7 day liveaboard at Truk Lagoon on the USS Thorfinn. While there, he became ill with decompression sickness. Mostly skin bends symptoms but with some mild neurological ones. The DM called DAN for instructions then they gave him oxygen for 3 days while the symptoms dissipated and he returned to diving and finished his trip.

The shock for him was at the end of the trip he was informed he would have to pay an additional $600.00 for the oxygen he used. He has been told that this is usually not the case and wanted to check around to see if anyone else is familiar with customary procedures regarding a situation like this.

FYI they took his dive computer and went over everything he had done for the last few days and he had done everything correctly. Still not sure what caused the situation. He is a very experienced diver - since the mid 1970's and has over 300 dives.

Thanks for any input.

 

[Quero]

At remote places like Micronesia, oxygen may be expensive to produce and transport. I've seen mention of charges of $1 per cubic foot for oxygen there when a diver wants rich blends beyond Nitrox 32, for which there is generally a standard per-tank charge. If your friend was on O2 for prolonged periods, he could easily have used 600 cu. ft. of gas during his therapy.

 

[fisheater]

Did he have DAN or some other dive medical insurance? Will his regular medical insurance cover?


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[TerriB11]

He does have DAN and had been in contact with them. He is to submit to his regular Health Insurance then to DAN.

The Captain also charged him $30.00 for the phone call to DAN.

 

[fisheater]

Then the best thing for him to do is to concentrate on taking care of himself and let the insurers worry about the appropriateness of the fees.

Based on the location, I can see how things could get very expensive very quickly. How much would a delivery pizza cost there?


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[Quero]

He does have DAN and had been in contact with them. He is to submit to his regular Health Insurance then to DAN.

The Captain also charged him $30.00 for the phone call to DAN.

Most likely satellite phone, then.

I'm sorry your friend became ill, but it doesn't sound to me as though the boat operator or the dive operator were taking unfair advantage of him. These sound like legitimate charges to me, given the remoteness of the place.

 

[fdog]

Neuro Sx ...? And he didn't end up in this?

O2 for 3 days, in lieu of recompression therapy, is odd to say the least. Heck, I would be kicking and screaming to send me to the chamber for just a Type I hit.


All the best, James

 

[mike_s]

, he became ill with decompression sickness.

[snip]

The shock for him was at the end of the trip he was informed he would have to pay an additional $600.00 for the oxygen he used. .

While I've never seen or heard of a boat ask for "payment of o2 used"

He should be glad that they forked out $600 (or more) in buying o2 for the boat just in case someone like him had a true emergency need for it.


I have a feeling that the $600 worth of o2 is a LOT cheaper than being in the Hospital, paralyzed, or dead. (funerals cost more than $600).


Seems to me he should pay them their $600 and say THANK YOU>

The Captain also charged him $30.00 for the phone call to DAN.

and he should be DAMN happy that the captain had a SAT Phone for him to use.



EDIT: Btw... most operators charge for use of Satellite phone, at least in non emergency situations.... Why? because it costs them $XX per month plus $$ZZ.ZZ per minute. It's a fair way of extending courtesy use without having being taken advantage of by guests who overuse it.


If it wasn't a Sat Phone, and was a cell phone, a international long distance call back to the states isn't cheap on those either. Seeing how the call(s) consulting a decompression doctor would have been detailed and lengthy, $30 bucks for a international cell phone call seems reasonable also. (it would have been worse in a hotel land land billed to the room. figure $2-$5 per minutes or more).

 

[Layla]

I went on O2 on two separate trips a year apart on Truk Odyssey
and they never asked me for payment

Considering where Thorfinn is 'parked' I'm pretty sure regular phones work at that spot
Certainly people on Odyssey were using cell phones around there

 

[Layla]

removed, because it was a silly comment