DCS a real problem.

[orm]

I wasn't sure where to put this thread, when I was shown this article back when I did my DM, it change my whole perspective of diving/tables/planning and the real risks of getting it wrong. So I think anyone that dives should be aware of stories like this.

I was also in two minds if I should post it at all. It's old news and in a way thinking and practice have come on quite a bit since this happened, but looking at it another way it's our history and we should always learn from that.

Apologies if this has been posted before - I've only seen one post back in 2007, but I think it's too important to go away and anybody that straps a tank on their back and goes underwater should read this.

As a side note, I also read this when I was working in a conservation project, in the same little town where lobster fishermen that took a tank down, caught lobsters, when the tank was empty, they came up, got another and went back down again.

Needless to say a lot of them got bent out of shape before too long and at the Hyperbaric chamber was a queue every day.

Anyway here's the link: Confessions of a Mortal Diver

 

[Garrobo]

Scaaaaaaaary.

 

[Mike Boswell]

This is a very interesting article about a foolhardy young man who deliberately took enormous risks, was extremely careless, got badly bent, survived by pure dumb luck, miraculously recovered with the help of a lot of hardworking, dedicated people, only to go back into the water and repeat his past mistakes.

 

[boulderjohn]

It is also a very old story about by one of the most famous divers in history. This happened long ago, long before we know much of what we know today. His second bad DCS experience was much more recent, and he has published that as well.

If you want to ask him more about it, you can. He is a member of ScubaBoard, although I forget his user name. He is more active on The Deco Stop.

When you ask, he will freely admit all his faults in both incidents. He publishes his stuff so that you can learn from it, and he is not at all reluctant to share his thoughts. I can't imagine what I would be willing to give for the opportunity to dive with him.

 

[njedrn]

wow... what a story...

 

[ajduplessis]

I got the bents just reading this story.

 

[vladimir]

As boulderjohn points out, this story is pretty old, and Richard Pyle is well known as a scientist, a pioneer of deep stops, and somebody who swears a lot in falsetto under the right circumstances. He occasionally posts here under the name deepreef.

 

[orm]

I saw it had last been posted in 2007. The story alone deserves to be passed on to people new to diving.

It's a grim 'reality bites' knock on the door from a legend in our diving world.

Most people take this sport seriously, you teach the importance of tables and planning dives and DCS risks, but there's evidence around that as long as people are on resort dives, with a DM, they don't need to bother.

This is extreme, but an invaluable lesson about DCS.

 

[spacemanspiff1974]

I'd love take a class on in water recompression in the event of an emergency. While I plan my dives to avoid such a situation, it could certanly come in handy in the event of equipment failure in a remote location during deep dives.

Interesting article.

 

[Rhone Man]

I have to say, what most amazed me about the story is how much abuse Richard Pyle was able to heap onto his body before he got bent. Really astonishing.

It is also slightly ironic that as a scientist he has become more famous for his research in his 'hobby' (DCS) than for his published work in his primary field (fish).