From what I've read and heard from those who've had it, it seems that DCS symptoms come on fairly gradually, and get worse over the next couple hours.
The treatment is hyperbaric oxygen therapy, but time is of the essence, and the longer you wait the greater the risk of permanent damage. In most cases, it will probably be a couple hours before you get into a hyperbaric machine even if you call right away. In addition, because of the time sensitivity, you'll probably be taking an ambulance (at least $3000), in addition to whatever they charge for the emergency hyperbaric chamber -- probably at least $2000, and probably another few grand in Doctor's fees etc.
I'm struggling to understand why this is considered a "reasonable" treatment for a diver who is seeing signs of DCS immediately after a dive, but is still calm and in control. Why not simply have a spare 100% O2 cylinder in case of emergency, strap it on and go for a second dive? It would seem to give you the exact same thing as oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber, except you don't have to wait around for hours to get into a hyperbaric chamber while symptoms get worse, and instead of costing $5,000+ it costs only a $10 preventative air fill.
And if you don't have O2 available, why would you not recommend the person at least go back down and chill out for a few minutes at 15 ft with standard compressed air?
Note: Obviously, you'd have to be careful about the depth and time which you breathe 100% O2 on this treatment dive, but there could be simple tables that give you estimates of this based on your nitrogen loading -- or it could even hypothetically be a feature built into your dive computer if it detected you ascended too fast/ missed a DCS stop.
The treatment is hyperbaric oxygen therapy, but time is of the essence, and the longer you wait the greater the risk of permanent damage. In most cases, it will probably be a couple hours before you get into a hyperbaric machine even if you call right away. In addition, because of the time sensitivity, you'll probably be taking an ambulance (at least $3000), in addition to whatever they charge for the emergency hyperbaric chamber -- probably at least $2000, and probably another few grand in Doctor's fees etc.
I'm struggling to understand why this is considered a "reasonable" treatment for a diver who is seeing signs of DCS immediately after a dive, but is still calm and in control. Why not simply have a spare 100% O2 cylinder in case of emergency, strap it on and go for a second dive? It would seem to give you the exact same thing as oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber, except you don't have to wait around for hours to get into a hyperbaric chamber while symptoms get worse, and instead of costing $5,000+ it costs only a $10 preventative air fill.
And if you don't have O2 available, why would you not recommend the person at least go back down and chill out for a few minutes at 15 ft with standard compressed air?
Note: Obviously, you'd have to be careful about the depth and time which you breathe 100% O2 on this treatment dive, but there could be simple tables that give you estimates of this based on your nitrogen loading -- or it could even hypothetically be a feature built into your dive computer if it detected you ascended too fast/ missed a DCS stop.