An Encounter with SIPE

Dear Undercurrent,

I experienced Submersion Pulmonary Edema (SIPE) while diving on the Aggressor II in Egypt on July 3. I began to experience it but didn't recognize it at the end of a 47-minute dive in 74°F water wearing an old 3mil suit. At the end of the dive, I suffered breathlessness but decided I must just be out of shape. After 3-plus hours off-gassing, we penetrated the wreck of the Thistlegorm for 83 minutes (76 °F). Although diving 31 percent Nitrox, my blood O2 level was 84 percent at the end of the dive, and I was coughing blood. After 100 percent O2 and a two-hour trip back to a rendezvous close to Hurghada, I got a marine rescue trip to the hospital, where I spent the next three days. I'm 71 years old and in good health. My last 80-plus dives were in 84°F water in Raja Ampat in November 2022 without incident.

This incident of SIPE has likely ended my dive career, but happily not my life!

- Randy Kettering (Bonita Springs, FL)

Dear Randy,

We're so sorry to hear of your misfortune but share your joy that you survived.

One early indicator you may be suffering from SIPE is if you find your perfectly performing regulator seems hard to breathe from and your buddy's is the same. It might be you, not the regulator, so get out of the water as soon as possible. Many who have suffered such have fully recovered after a few hours out of the water. A simple explanation is that body fluids normally retained in the lower limbs migrate to the lungs instead of the bladder while you are immersed.

Medical professionals have begun to realize that many of those mysterious deaths of scuba divers who appeared to have drowned while carrying full tanks of air have been casualties of SIPE because autopsies reveal similar results. It's far more common than previously thought. Undercurrent has carried several articles over the years. Here are recent ones:

https://tinyurl.com/35h9m2z5
https://tinyurl.com/2n2m73kc