"Undeserved" DCS hits

[TSandM]

I've been tested by transcranial Dopper, and I do not appear to have one.

 

[Tortuga68]

Just building on that, and on Howard's earlier comment - how many people in this forum have had themselves tested for a PFO?

Not me. I don't think I even knew of it before reading about it here on SB, and to be honest I have no idea if I am at risk or how I would get tested for it apart from asking my doctor

 

[ianr33]

My thoughts (and they are nothing more than that) are:

1. Deco/preventing DCS is - currently anyway - an art not a science
2. We don't know what the "rules" are
3. The actual "rules" (unknown) cover pre- and post-dive, not just in-dive eg hydration and rest before the dive, not doing X after a dive etc

So my point is that I don't think there are "undeserved" hits, just unknown rules ?

I would pretty much agree with that,except I can quite believe that truly "undeserved" hits do happen,albeit rarely. Maybe they are just statistical outliers 10 standard deviations out from the mean,who knows?

Have never been bent personally (discounting a couple of times when I've felt unduly tired after diving)
Have been on a dive where a buddy got bent. We did the same profile,followed the same computers on the same conservatism setting. I was just fine. He had a chamber ride.
Analyzing it afterwards the rules he "broke" were:
1)Getting very cold after flooding his drysuit. (How much more deco do you need to do to compensate for that???)
2)Carrying a steel tank up a slight hill immediately after the dive (how long do you need to wait? how much exertion is acceptable?? )

Seems there are just too many variables to ensure nobody ever gets bent.

 

[Cave Diver]

I've been tested by transcranial Dopper, and I do not appear to have one.

Are there any other effective tests?

 

[Rainer]

Are there any other effective tests?

Transesophageal Echocardiogram (TEE) is the gold standard, but it's expensive and invasive. TCD is just about as effective and non-invasive.

 

[Cave Diver]

How about a standard Echocardiogram? Effective, or not?

 

[Tortuga68]

Is it that important to get tested?

Seems there are just too many variables to ensure nobody ever gets bent.

I don't really care that much if people get bent so long as I'm not one of them

 

[TSandM]

Transthoracic echo is not nearly as good -- IIRC, it may miss up to 30% of PFOs, particularly small ones.

 

[ianr33]

I don't really care that much if people get bent so long as I'm not one of them

Well,yes

Realistically though the longer I dive and the deeper I dive the more chance of getting bent one day.
I accept that. Stuff happens. And unless you are really unlucky,or do something really wrong/stupid getting bent is very fixable.

It's a sports injury.

 

[Tortuga68]

Realistically though the longer I dive and the deeper I dive the more chance of getting bent one day

Statiscally, that's true. But getting back to my OP, do you believe it's inevitable, or avoidable? Why is it that some segments of the diving public (anecdotally, DMs as I mentioned before) get bent semi-regularly, while some technical divers don't?

Is it luck, volume or good management?