Questions About Truk

[Peter69_56]

I've seen someone get bent on a relatively easy non-tech, "no deco", non-penetration wreck dive. Warm water, 27 meters max, negligible current, same profile as everyone else, seemed fit and healthy. Had him on oxygen 15 minutes after he got out of the water when symptoms showed, called DAN, and had an ambulance meet us at the marina when we got back. Dude was fine, left us scratching our heads a bit too as to how it happened. Some people are just more susceptible to it I guess.

Often the person in question has a PFO and doesnt realise it. Of the people I dive with, of 5 that have been bent, 4 had either minor to major PFO problems. The statistics show that 1 in 4 people have a PFO of some description, and nearly all dont realise it and show no symptoms UNLESS they dive.

If you know someone who has had this happen, advise them to get tested for a ultrasound stress test on their heart. They may get a suprise.

One diver had been doing deco dives on wrecks to 55m in Bass straight no problem, went to Truk and did 2 conservative deco dives to 35m on air and got bad skin bends. Analysis, a PFO, which was subsequently repaired and he now dives deco no problem.

(A patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a hole in the heart that didn't close the way it should after birth. During fetal development, a small flap-like opening — the foramen ovale (foh-RAY-mun oh-VAY-lee) — is normally present in the wall between the right and left upper chambers of the heart (atria))