Record dive for me - 5 Hours. ...in the chamber.

[Rick Inman]

From a 'new diver' perspective, it's disconcerting to find out that even when everything is 'done right and conservative' it can still catch you.

DCS is not an exact science, as I'm sure they told you in the OW class. DCS comes to everyone differently, and what happen to me is the exception, not the rule. Also, I was inconvenienced less that if I'd broken my leg bike riding.

As to weather I did everything "right and conservative" or not, well. that remains to be discussed.

rick. was this your first hit ever? im sure youve had more agressive profiles in the past without getting bent. do you have any suspicions on what caused your hit?

Yes, first hit, and yes I've had more aggressive profiles. My suspicions are, dehydrated due to no water and caffeine intake combined with the small bounce, and maybe the very hot shower directly following the third dive.

I new to all this. I am Nitrox and Deep certified though and is it just me or does the profile not look right? I am sure that you probably dove on a computer and that it will give you more time, but using the tables and conversions you were off the tables more than some with your profiles.

For your first dive how much time did you spend at depth? If you spent less than 20-25 minutes reaching the surface and at shallower depths then you hit your first strike there because your time at that depth should only be approx 30-35 minutes.

Your second dive has it's own issues. First you went deeper on your second dive, Secondly the second dive time would have required a safety-stop but you didn't say if you made one and that was required if it would have been your first dive seeing as your first dive was off the tables I have no idea where your 1 hour SI would have put you but it should have cut your dive time to much shorter than you dove.

Granted that diving on a computer your times would have been longer. I understand that as I have spent 38 minutes on a dive to 110-105 feet average with 32%, but that was direct descent, 30 minutes from boat to starting ascent and safety stop. I was close to the table limits but not waaay off them like your profiles.

My question is how much is lots of shallow time. If you spent 3-5 minutes at depth and then 40 minutes at 40 feet then your and ascended properly and did your safety stops then the hits were definitly undeserved.

On the other hand if you spent 40 minutes at depth and 13 minutes at 50 and direct ascent to the surface you were asking for a hit.

You left out a lot of information that would let us judge one way or the other if the hit seemed to come out of the blue or from the diver error that many DCS hits come from.

Again, I do understand computers give you much more time, as I dive with one, and do understand Nitrox, as I dive with it, but the information you gave still leaves many questions that would help in deciding whether the hit was undeserved or not.

If your computer showed you with lots of nodecomp time left as you ascended from each depth then yes your hits were most likely undeserved. If you left a depth as your computer started ticking over to 1 minutes left at that depth then yes your hits were deserved.

My times at (deepest) depth were all less than 5 mins. Although I dive my plan, not my computer, my computer never went into deco. In fact, it was never closer than 12 minutes of NDL, and most of the time much more. All the dive shapes were like long check marks, with most of the dive time being shallow. For example, on the second dive (the deepest), we spent about 12 mins below 60', 18 mins between 60' and 30', and 25 mins between 30' and 0' (15 of those mins between 15' and 0'). And that was on EN34.

 

[Rick Inman]

...do you guys have a chamber in Spokane?

Oh, yes. Three at Deaconess, one big one at Fairchild AFB.

Oh, and you should be able to diagnose a PFO with an echocardiogram, which involves no needles

Well, I had one today, which the hyperbaric doc said was "perfect", but I didn't specifically ask about the PFO.

 

[El Orans]

Hi Rick,

you should have known better: go diving when your SB profile says that you are not certified.

Glad to know you're OK.

Laurens

 

[SeanQ]

It's good to hear you're alright Rick.

 

[love2godeep]

Wow,what a story. I'm glad it turned out good. The hyperbaric doctor at Deconess is a nice guy, isn't he? He evaluated me a few weeks ago, but I didn't need the chamber!

 

[D_B]

Thanks for telling us , makes me even more aware of the need of making a good dive profile than before (even though in this case, profile may have had nothing to do with your hit) and I'm certantly glad your OK


DB

 

[MonkSeal]

Oh, and you should be able to diagnose a PFO with an echocardiogram, which involves no needles

AFAIK (and I'm sure you know also) there are several methods for diagnosing PFO. Simple echo sometimes is not enough.

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

Wow, Rick, I'm sorry to hear about it. Thanks for sharing, and I hope it's a once-in-a-lifetime event.

 

[DandyDon]

Wow, what a tale. I didn't see this last night, but it looks to me that you hit on your oops....

Yes, first hit, and yes I've had more aggressive profiles. My suspicions are, dehydrated due to no water and caffeine intake combined with the small bounce, and maybe the very hot shower directly following the third dive.

I'm just a fumbling amateur in diving, but of the suggestions I offer when I dive with less experienced...

(1) 2 quarts of non-diuretic liquids a day minimum when diving, starting the day before!

(2) Coffee is a diuretic. I drink some too, before switching to Decaf, but I also drink sports drinks instead of just water. (I've never had a Mocha, whatever that is. Its caffeinated, right? Hot chocolate is safer.)

(3) A hot shower after diving sounds great - but don't. Just warm enough to not get chilled.

Best wishes...!!

 

[cmalinowski]

Did you feel dehydrated? I try and keep hydrated, but without the pee test, I can't always tell... unless I am thirsty which means you are dehydrated.

I think the hot shower may have had a lot to do with it too. Something about capilary reaction or something like that...

Sounds like a time that I hope I don't have to experience. Glad you are OK.

Chris