How to launch a "Weekend Warrior"

or "Don't hold your breath" in this case.......

After reading an account of a recent dive accident I felt compelled to share this true story.

"Weekend Warrior" refers to the overzealous novice type we all know so well.

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To the layman a "hyperbaric chamber" is something Micheal
Jackson uses to improve his looks and health.

To a diver the "chamber" or "tank" represents something a bit more serious.

To me it brings back vivid memories of life and death.

Living on an island may sound romantic and cool but day to day life can leave you wanting something more.
For me anyway but we loved it for a few years before "Island fever" set in.

Working for a university did however afford a learning environment. Inasmuch, my myself along with my wife learned and were trained to operate in teams of 4-5, a fairly good sized hyperbaric chamber.
Of the older variety it required the manual turning of valves and monitoring of guages.

It was pretty awesome at first. Simulated training dives in the tank yielded giggles and silliness associated with "rapture of the deep" better known as "nitrogen narcosis" when plunged to 165 swf. Rapid compression of the air would produce temperatures up to 125f upon the rapid descent.

I had no idea of what would follow in the years to come..

I got used to being called up 1-2 times a week and report to the "Lab", as we called it, to assist with a hyperbaric treatment. Typically the call would be either a commercial urchin or ab diver in need of treatment for DCS
Decompression sickness is the most common dive injury and results from the saturation of nitrogen to the point of forming gas bubbles in the blood and tissue. Time and depth being the controlling factors.
These types of accidents usually requires a treatment (simulated)depth of 60 ft followed with periodic O2 treatments at pressure. Normally two 6-12 hour treatments are given.
Success rates are very good if treated within 24-48 hrs but varies in individuals as does their own physiological amount of nitrogen/oxygen tissue saturation.
The attending physician(dive doctor) makes the treatment call based on circumstances and evidence.

The other more serious and deadly scenario is called "air embollism". This is similar in likeness to having a stroke, only instead of a blood clot in the brain one gets an "air" clot or bubble, if it were.

It's a very sad event when a emergency call comes in over the Bay Watch radio.
A siren wails and you jump out of bed, you jump in the truck and drive the 3 miles of winding narrow roads to beat the incoming helicopter.
Firing up the two compressors you manage a cup of terrible coffee in anticipation of the next patient.
You then find out it is a young diver in full cardiac arrest. Minutes later the Coast Guard chopper lands and we wisk the man still in CPR into the chamber.

WE try but can't revive this poor man.

Not more than 2 weeks later while I was working in the shop at the lab I heard the siren and dashed down to the chamber to check in.

"Ship Rock" sits not more than an 1/2 mile off-shore and provides awesome vertical wall dives and is always a popular spot for deeper dives.

That day, in mid summer, a small group were doing a deep dive and there were many boats in the neighborhood including our local "Bay Watch" guys patrolling nearby.

Apparently one of the guys on the Bay Watch boat saw an animal, possibly a big seal leap some ten feet out of the water near the big rock.
They quickly zipped over to investigate.
By now people were screaming and hollering for help.
On one of the boats' deck was a man laying unconscience.

The guys started CPR immediately and applied the air bag.
Nary a pulse and in full arrest they sped him over to our waiting gurney on the dock.

I was almost sick to my stomach as I was told to take over CPR and prepare for an emergency descent to 165 ft.
I am looking at this guy whos' heart is stopped and he's turning grey colors and his palms were turning out.

This person we later discovered, did an emergency ascent from 100 ft. Not that big of a deal unless...........................
...unless you hold your breath that is.

The animal it turns out was a human being launched clear into the air as he hit the surface of the water ..

When you breath compressed air at depth it expands via Boyles' Law proportionally as you surface. The result of breath holding during ascent is air expanding rapidly and thereby forced thru the avioli in the lungs and into the carotid artery by where it lodges in the brain and can kill you quickly if not treated promptly.

Since a bubble can't be physically removed it must be shrunk to a size that allows blood to flow again in the brain.
Compressing to the equivalent of 165swf rapidly affords considerable shrinkage. 100% oxygen at this pressure is very beneficial for tissue and helps diffuse the remaining air bubble(s).

THe time it took for the for the diver to hit the deck of the boat till the time we got him in the tank and "blown" down to 165swf was in the neighborhood of 8 minutes.

While I am watching and helping with the CPR I look at this guy and like a miracle his heart started beating.

A minute later his eyes popped opened and only seconds later the man turns and looks at me and says "what's happenin' man?"

I replied , "you were dead a minute ago".


THe gentleman never returned for his recommended and probably necessary retreatment.

Bueno suerte "Weekend Warrior"..

larger is better

At least there was a tank available.

When we were in full operation we would get many vitems that had drowned but since there was a possibility of saving them they would bring them in from many So. Cal beaches. The other chambers at that time were the Navys' at Pt. Hueneme and a small unit on San Clemente Is.
I lodged somewhere around 150 hrs inside and many on the outside as operator or recorder. We could treat 4 patients simultaneously, comfortably but not literally.

Nowadays they take most of them to the Northridge facility which has multiple locks, tanks and is modern. It can treat 6-9 patients at a time.

We did however treat 6 novices who on a checkout dive when off the deep end after the boat apparently swung on its' anchor off a deep shelf. The divemaster told the beginners to frollow each other to the bottom which he thought was at 60 ft.

They all ended up at 130 ft waiting for the instructer who, after realizing what happened, brought them up and directly to the chamber. None were hurt but boy what an eye-opener for them!