Anybody know much about the 'bends' and 'decompression sickness?'

[demobabe]

Have a friend that was just choppered (low altitude) to go to a decompression chamber on another island. She came back from a deep scuba dive yesterday, and then took a hike up the mountain to go pick vegetables.

So she gave herself the bends. She was given an Oxygen treatment, but then last night had a seizure, so now they're taking her to the decompression chamber...

Any nurses or doctors or other folks have any experience in this area or the outcomes?

[phantom power]

1. Outcome should be good.

The problem is nitrogen gas that gets dissolved at increased concentration in the blood under high pressure. Lower the pressure too fast, and nitrogen bubbles appear. Also joints.

But, re-pressurize, and the bubbles go away. Then they can gradually depressurize her.

[TomInTib]

2. Was she OK after the O2 treatment?

And how much later in the day was her seizure?

Was she conscious when she got into the chopper?

[demobabe]

6. She was fine after the O2 treatment

But then went out sand did a bunch of physical activity and then had the seizure at night and went back to the hospital.

I guess she was in the ICU and was in and out of consciousness. Not exactly sure of her condition after last night as I haven't seen her.

[TomInTib]

10. You're right, she did it to herself.

She should have lain low after her treatment.

The time lag between treatment and seizure is troubling.

I sure hope your friend turns out OK. But she better be damned careful from now on.

[demobabe]

13. Yep, you're right

Only time will tell what happens... hope she can recover fully. She's just young, and didn't think... and that's all it takes.

[billyoc]

3. I was an engineer on a dive boat in the Gulf of Mexico.

A bad case of the bends can be a career killer for commercial divers.

[OKNancy]

4. Probably with DAN

Check out this site
http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/
and you might find a link or you can call someone there.
My daughter works for them. I assume you just want info and that your friend is being taken care of.

[demobabe]

7. Thanks, Nancy

I'm just looking for general info - she's getting the best care she can get right now - probably is where she should have been in the first place.

[demobabe]

11. This was a really good link from that site

http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/articles/article.asp?articleid=65

And of course, my friend did everything wrong... Well, I hope she recovers okay. What did her in was after her O2 treatment, she went and ran around on the beach right afterwards instead of resting like she should have.

[OKNancy]

22. Not to sound like a commercial for DAN, but every diver

should check into their insurance. It's a non-profit and the insurance money is used to help research, especially medical research.

[demobabe]

23. Thanks for the info, Nancy!

DAN is a fantastic resource.

Tonight I've been researching on DCI in general, and even though I have a diver card, and have never had any problems from diving (that I know of), I was amazed at some of the info I was reading. One stat said that 85% of all DCI injury occurs to divers who follow the rules and stay within the dive tables - so your suggestion for all divers to have some kind of dive insurance is really reinforced by that.

My friend is still in the hospital - they did an MRI and found a brain lesion. I guess they're contemplating their next steps, and since she will have to take a plane back home, I don't know how long she'll be away. Hopefully all goes well and she heals quickly, but I guess time will tell.

[Porschenut1066]

5. The Bends is nasty

Nitrogen bubbles form in the blood. The diver needs to be in a decompression chamber to get rid of the bubbles. Depending on the depth of the previous dive, the diver should leave at least 24 hours before flying. In this case the mountain climb could equate to flying which will bring on the bends due to the reduction in atmospheric pressure.
If your friend id in a real medical facility she should be fine. For more info contact the dive organizations either PADI or SSI (www.divessi.com) and get more info. Most divers have dive insurance that will fly them to a medical facility that can help.
I hope everything works out ok for you.

[demobabe]

8. Yeah, I know

I have a diver's license, too - and that's the first thing they teach you - well, actually the second thing after "don't hold your breath!"

Don't fly in airplanes after a dive (or change altitudes)... stupid, stupid.

She, unfortunately does not have insurance.

[yawnmaster]

9. I know this is true at least for dives not requiring decompression stops,

of less than 100 feet or so.
How deep was this "deep dive"?

[demobabe]

12. She went down to 90 feet

The first problem is that she went up a mountain after diving. The mountain is a total of 12000 feet tall, but I think she went about 3000-4000 feet up.

So that's what started it all.

[Porschenut1066]

14. 90 Ft three decompression stops of at least 3 mins or more

You can spend about 30 mins at 90 Ft but must decompress on the way up and stay at or near sea level for about a day.
Does your friend have her diving license? If not how the heck did she get the equipment to dive. Most dive shops require to see your license before they will let you go diving or rent equipment.
The insurance from PADI or SSI for dive protection costs like $50.00 for three years. Sorry to hear she did not have any.
Untrained people often die when they scuba dive because they panic or run out of air 90 or so feet under and then surface too fast and either blowup their lungs(death) or get the bends (potential death) This is why it is worth getting trained.
I hope your friend gets better and then next time follows the rules or learns the rules on what to do and how to do it with scuba diving.

[demobabe]

17. She works for a dive shop here

But she only got her diver card a couple months ago. She's very ambitious and outgoing - the type where nothing can keep her down.

I have a feeling she might rethink some things after all of this... when you're young, you're immortal, until you find out you aren't...

[demobabe]

19. When I learned to scuba dive

The rule was "don't plan decompression dives." It's been a long time since I've been diving, but it seems to me you could stay down at 90 feet for only a few minutes before ending up in a decompression situation.

Whatever her dive plan was, I guess she was fine after doing the dive, but the altitude gave her the problems. But I don't know - I wasn't there. Possible she blew the dive chart/dive plan. I hadn't thought of that.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

15. Sideways to the OP, but do you know how the bends was discovered?

During construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. They built the piers in a pressurized air chamber under the river. The pressurized air kept the water from coming in. Didn't realize they couldn't just climb right up the ladder to the surface level.

The designer of the bridge was crippled by it, and--rendered an invalid--oversaw most of the construction from his window.

[trotsky]

16. That's pretty interesting.

Did they have a method for treating it before hyperbaric chambers?

[demobabe]

18. Wow, that's a painful discovery

I didn't know that.

[Canuckistanian]

20. It was called "Caisson Disease"

So-called because the air chambers were called caissons.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Caisson_Schematic.svg

[demobabe]

21. Well, an update...

Brain lesion. Hoping they won't need to do brain surgery now.