Reply #30: Actually, depending on how you look at it, the air IS kinda "pressurized"... [View All]

[MercutioATC]

...in that, when you're breathing it at depth, the ambient pressure is greater than on the surface...and, so, the air is also at greater pressure.

Marr said it well. As long as you don't take a breath at depth, there's no danger of an air embolism during a fast ascent (one could also just exhale all the way up if one had taken a breath at depth).

As far as the bends, that has to do with nitrogen loading in the blood. Recreational dive tables only go to 130' (the maximum approved depth for recreational diving), but I'd estimate that he'd have to be at 150' for 3-4 minutes to make nitrogen loading an issue...and recreational dive tables are very conservative.