A Crisis Lurking Below the Surface Emergency Hyperbaric Treatment Availability

By Dan Orr (danorr@danorrconsulting.com) There are millions of recreational scuba divers in the U.S. and hundreds of thousands of traveling divers from countries around the world making tens of millions of enjoyable recreational dives each year in unique dive locations all over America. In the unlikely event that any of these divers would suffer a … Read more

Considerations Of Oxygen In Diving Gas Mixtures

Oxygen is the most basic life support system our bodies employ, and yet also has the capacity to cause great harm.  Keller (1946) has called oxygen “The Princess of Gases.  She is beautiful but has to be handled with special care”.  We cannot live without it, but in prolonged breathing exposures or in deep depths … Read more

Alternative Protocol for In-Water Recompression by Dr Carl Edmonds

This is an alternative Protocol by Dr Carl Edmonds of the Australian Navy School of Underwater Medicine for treatment of DCS in water at a shallower depth, as suggested by John Lippmann. In-water Oxygen Treatment Procedures Oxygen should be supplied at maximum depth of 9 msw (30 fsw), from a surface supply system. The ascent … Read more

Bret Gilliam’s Protocol for In-Water Recompression at Remote Dive Sites

Presentation of DCI Problems If a diver surfaces and reports any signs or symptoms of decompression illness (DCI), they should immediately be evaluated against the list of DCI symptoms and equipped for re-entry into the water as quickly as possible. Be certain that the victim is functionally responsive, mentally aware, and capable of answering questions … Read more

Remote Dive Site Contingencies: When Evacuation Is Not An Option

As secret agent James Bond once sagely observed to Q, who supplied his special equipment and was complaining that he was bringing it back damaged, “It’s hell out there in the field.” Divers aren’t dealing with jet-packs, ejection seats in Aston-Martin sports cars, or the best way to use the strangling wire released from the … Read more