DCS in Cozumel

[Blue1800]

Well, I suffered round 2 of DCS in Cozumel last week. (First one was five years earlier, also in Cozumel.) I've spoken with two doctors and DAN since; they agree on using EAN 36 in the future, watching hydration, using air tables to plan dives, avoiding exertion, and planning for long surface intervals, although they offered three different recommendations for dive profiles. I can't dictate the dives to an entire boatload of divers but I don't want another session of Navy Level 6 treatment either, so I'm wondering how to arrange future dive trips - specifically how to accommodate the restricted depth and long surface interval.
For clarity, one doctor said 80 feet on the first dive and no deeper than 45 on the second; the second doctor advised no deeper than 60 feet and diving on alternate days only (which really doesn't make a dive trip worth doing), and the third (DAN) did not recommend a specific profile but advised me to plan the dives conservatively.

Who was the the Dive operator you used .

 

[El Graduado]

BTW, I have been shooting for almost 20 years and have won/placed in many contests and been published in Scuba Diving Magazine.

Have you thought of entering the Museo de la Isla de Cozumel's U/W Video contest? It is free to enter and over 100 prizes including airfare, hotel, dive trips, equipment, camera, etc.

 

[MMM]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

off topic bickering deleted. Play nice. Marg, SB Senior Moderator

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[Christi]

One comp per buddy pair is enough. The diver w/o the comp will be fine with Timex (to do the safety stop in case they get separated accidentally). And still, as another option, there always are good old dive tables which I've used for 7 years. Computers only make safety calculations for diving more convenient, and that's all they do.

Bottom line, I see no point in sacrificing dives to Christi's obsession with liability.

obsession: a persistent disturbing preoccupation with an often unreasonable idea or feeling;

OK, I will play. I logged many dives without a computer too - just using tables. But if using a computer, there are protocols.

I don't find following standard dive protocol, safety standards and mitigating liability unreasonable - I call it being prudent and responsible.

Sharing a computer also violates standard safety protocol and is specifically addressed by all major training agencies.

 

[El Graduado]

Then you are not buddies. You are two solo divers diving together.

You can't have it both ways, pretend that you follow the rules of the buddy system ("The divers must remain in the immediate vicinity of the others during the entire dive, close enough to communicate adequately and to render assistance in time") and come up with different profiles.

Guess you never saw or read Peter Pan. Wendy had to hold Peter's hand to fly. You can dive with a buddy but not be so close you are holding hands all the time!

 

[Christi]

...I find it ironic, that you require the diver to clean for 24 hrs, while he/she will be good to fly airplanes in 18. The diver who was diving your boat for a week and was out of water at, say, 12:30, will be OK to take a 6:30 flight next morning, yet you'll refuse to rent him a comp for 11 am dive.

Hmm - no that is not correct either - you make a big assumption here and your example has holes in it. There is a big difference in what is in the control of the dive operator or not - and what constitutes a dive operator contributing to or being negligent/reckless/irresponsible.

1. I do not give ANY diver "permission" on when they can fly after their last dive nor do I have any control over that. I can merely make suggestions. Divers are responsible for their own decisions, in and out of the water. I am not their mother nor do I play one on TV. If if a diver makes the decision to dive within 18 hours of flight time, that's really out of my control. I could refuse to provide them the service if I knew for a fact that they were flying without sufficient offgassing time, and I would if I felt they were being reckless. HOwever, so far in my 15+ years in business, I've never had to make that decision to "cut someone off" - most divers in my experience aren't that reckless - and my shop doesn't attract reckless divers - I am grateful for that.

2. If a diver is diving with a computer all week, it will give them their no fly time which more often than not, allows them to dive the day previous to their departure date. There are no commercial flights out of Cozumel before 11:00am - so that's to the Cozumel diver's benefit. If they are not diving with a computer, then it is up to the diver to give themselves enough time out of the water before flying.

3. On the other hand - I DO have control over whether or not I will rent them a computer mid week. If I provide them a computer after they have already started diving - I have then become a party to their violation of safety protocol. HUGE difference. The reality is that I would follow DAN's protocol's on that as well - which would be 18 hours. However, the likelihood of someone meeting the boat exactly 18 hours after their computer pooped out is not very practical or realistic - so it would mean sitting out for the rest of the day and waiting until the following morning to dive. Every situation is different - how many days and how many dives per day they had done would also be a factor of course.

If this makes me "obsessed" with liability as you said in previous posts - then I proudly own that and have no shame, regret or guilt over it whatsoever. I simply call it being prudent and responsible - because as a business owner that IS my responsibility.

 

[tarponchik]

Whatever. Like you, I have been diving for many years, and like you, I do not need your advice on how to do it.

I commented on your description of your own dives. If you saw any advice in my comment, you have vivid imagination.

 

[tarponchik]

@Christi, where did you find the 24 hr requirement for swapping comps? I could only found the following: If circumstances require that you switch to a "fresh" machine, says Eric Douglas, director of DAN® Education, a diver will need an extended surface interval to allow his body to offgas accumulated nitrogen. "I would follow the flying-after-diving guidelines before considering myself clear enough to start over," he says. Those recommendations call for a minimum 12-hour surface interval for a single no-decompression dive or a minimum 18-hour interval for multiple dives or multiple days of diving. Meaning, I was right; ED suggests same timeline used for air travel.

Again, please do not take this personally. I just wish the industry was more relaxed. I really like the way they dive in Florida: every man for himself and nobody gives a damn.

 

[Christi]

@Christi, where did you find the 24 hr requirement for swapping comps? I could only found the following: If circumstances require that you switch to a "fresh" machine, says Eric Douglas, director of DAN® Education, a diver will need an extended surface interval to allow his body to offgas accumulated nitrogen. "I would follow the flying-after-diving guidelines before considering myself clear enough to start over," he says. Those recommendations call for a minimum 12-hour surface interval for a single no-decompression dive or a minimum 18-hour interval for multiple dives or multiple days of diving. Meaning, I was right; ED suggests same timeline used for air travel.

Again, please do not take this personally. I just wish the industry was more relaxed. I really like the way they dive in Florida: every man for himself and nobody gives a damn.

Did you not read my last post? I clarified that:

The reality is that I would follow DAN's protocol's on that as well - which would be 18 hours. However, the likelihood of someone meeting the boat exactly 18 hours after their computer pooped out is not very practical or realistic - so it would mean sitting out for the rest of the day and waiting until the following morning to dive. Every situation is different - how many days and how many dives per day they had done would also be a factor of course.

 

[tarponchik]

@Christi: OK, thank you for the clarification.