Educational chamber rides

[piikki]

I hope the OPs do not mind me quoting from another thread (partial quotes too) but here are couple of good posts made about dry dives:

On a recent "chamber dive", I asked the attendent about some of the more interesting experiences he has had and the most interesting he had was when he took a group of police officers (from a dive team) to 135'. Apparently the group was made up almost exclusively of "Type A" personalities and under the effect of narcosis these personalities came out in full force and although things didn't get to a physical altercation state ... there was some raised voices and a lot of "opinions" of each other shared.

CDNScubaMoose I absolutely agree! I think my "chamber dives" were two of the most important dives I will ever do! People are willing to travel for the opportunity to dive with certain fish... well I think if you have to travel to get to do a chamber dive it is well worth leaving that fish for another day!

I am a much safer diver because of what I learned in that chamber about myself, my regular dive buddy and others. The Chamber tech separated normal buddies so we could watch each other on the screen without being nark'd. We learned a lot about each other that way too!

 

[guamguy]

I'd love to do a chamber dive, just to see what it's like. From what I've read, the narcosis is much more visible on a chamber dive, and it sounds like fun to do a "dive" to 150' and see how everyone reacts.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I would love to take a chamber ride......I personally think it would end up being a great educational and "fun" experience. Unfortunately, I have not heard of any of those days locally until too late.

 

[nwbobber]

Years ago I did a chamber ride as part of a class. Six of us went to 112'. We were told NO talking. At 112' the instructor asked us to state our name and address. Well, air has different qualities at 112" and vocal chords work differently, and our instructors voice had changed from his ordinarily dignified tone to a bad donald duck imitation. So a few giggles were heard. Not one of us could stand, however, the sound of our own voice without losing it completely. I don't think any of us KNEW we were narced until we tried this. Very enlightening.

 

[piikki]

This video (third one, Decompression Chamber) gave me the chills when I first saw it. It's about different thing you could do in chamber but very educational too. I'll post it here in case someone missed it the first time around:

BBC - Horizon - How to Kill a Human Being

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

Speaking as someone that has taken a 'real' chamber ride, I don't think it's something to fool around with. I would be surprised if there are many chamber operators that would take on the liability of giving tour rides. As divers that should understand pressure affects on the human body, there's very little if anything to learn from taking a ride anyway. Most of the learning comes from re-evaluating what got you to the chamber in the first place, not the ride itself.

 

[piikki]

Speaking as someone that has taken a 'real' chamber ride, I don't think it's something to fool around with. I would be surprised if there are many chamber operators that would take on the liability of giving tour rides. As divers that should understand pressure affects on the human body, there's very little if anything to learn from taking a ride anyway. Most of the learning comes from re-evaluating what got you to the chamber in the first place, not the ride itself.

IMHO, the most to learn would be for the ones who claim they are not affected by depth "at all". Get them to depth, make them perform simple tasks, have a timer running, tape the session and have them review the tape.

Even for those divers who acknowledge the slowing down etc I can see the point Petunia was making - really getting to see the reality. Putting things in perspective. It's another thing to "yeah yeah", another to really see what might be going on. (True this might vary day to day).

I am no expert on the risks of chamber rides but personally I'd think I'd rather risk one chamber ride to know more. Just going in for giggles like in entertainment park might not be worth it. I would like to choose a place that had some protocol like mentioned above - way to observe, some tasks or the likes. That would be more valuable.

I am sure majority of divers never end in chamber for treatment, so that learning might never occur.

 

[Stoy D Dabbs]

Posted by piikki
I see in this video that this is a Altitude Chamber Ride for mainly for pilots, who need to know there symptom of hypoxia (lack of Oxygen), That is available to pilots threw FAA.
I use to fly Gliders (Sailplanes) Years ago. Soaring Society of America, the source for Gliding in the USA
Divers can experience Hypoxia, by use of Rebreaters, Hypoxic trimix breath on the surface by tech divers, and bad air or air been in tanks for long time with moisture.
Yea I would like to take a chamber ride, to see what is like being narc out of water like.
I wonder if there is one to go to in the pacific northwest, To take a educational Chamber Ride?

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Thanks for the link, TC. I didn't know people do chamber rides for training/education purposes.

Does it count as a dive in your log book? I'm thinking NOT

Sure logged mine and had them signed by the Chamber Tech.

For groups.

You need to have a medical release signed by a doc and fill out a standard liability release. Cost is $20.

Here's the info- Volunteer Crew Information

If you have your own boat it's easy to get over to Two Harbors, if you need to use the express then summer is the only time they have more than one boat a day- the rest of the year you would have to spend the night at the banning house or the campground.

Wow our chamber dives cost closer to $150! but worth every penny!

Speaking as someone that has taken a 'real' chamber ride, I don't think it's something to fool around with. I would be surprised if there are many chamber operators that would take on the liability of giving tour rides. As divers that should understand pressure affects on the human body, there's very little if anything to learn from taking a ride anyway. Most of the learning comes from re-evaluating what got you to the chamber in the first place, not the ride itself.

If done with a qualified technician and medical clearance I would say a Chamber dive is safer than a "wet dive" of the same depth! As someone else said here... we are not talking about doing this as a Fantasy Island thing for giggles.

I learned by doing tasks assigned exactly how I was effected at what depth. I am better able to make decisions about what depth I will chose to go to and recognize how I am reacting.

My though processes were less effected than my motor skills. I didn't know before that often people who complain about their regs breathing a bit wet at depth were likely nark'd and not holding their regs in their mouths as well... fine motor skills impaired making it harder for them to keep their regs in place...one of the earlier indicators of narkosis.

The Hospital Chambers of course have to be available for emergencies so finding a place to do the Chamber dive is a big issue. As far as I know.. it is no longer available in our area.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

I remember seeing another thread about this but I think it’s worth bringing the topic up again now that the issue is discussed buried inside another marathon thread. I had not realized how valuable an experience taking a chamber ride could be because, honestly, I had no idea how accessible it is to get divers in chamber ‘for fun’. I would like to hear more personal experiences from people who have done it. What happened, what did you learn? What did it cost? Was it worth it?

Never mind the poll, it’s just there to attract attention I did not bother to distinguish whether certain kinds of divers have done it or not. It’s probably related to accessibility and opportunity a lot too.

I searched before I started my thread in Basic Scuba discussion and didn't have your thread show up. I didn't mean to make a redundant thread.

Reading this thread I was debating asking a mod to delete my thread but I think I will leave it in Basic Scuba in hopes newer divers will be more likely to respond there.

Having a link to this thread will help for those who want to check further. Thanks