P - bei Swiss-Cave-Diving

Physiology Workshop
Central Nervous System Oxygen Toxicity
After 3-
month
lay-off
During
intensive
diving
Figure 4. Ventilation while breathing 5% CO 2
during a period of intensive
breath-hold diving activity and after a three month period of no diving (30).
Operational Oxygen Toxicity
The problem of operational CNS O 2
toxicity first became apparent during the Second
World War. The 10 th Light Flotilla of the Italian Navy used oxygen divers to sink or
disable some 30 British and allied ships in the Mediterranean (8). An Italian combat
diver might surface swim to within a hundred yards of a target ship before submerging
for the final attack and placing a limpet mine on the bilge keel (Fig. 5a). The Human
Torpedo was another method of attack for distances greater than a man could swim
(Fig. 5b). Piloted by two divers, this vehicle had a large warhead that could be fastened
under the target ship’s hull (5c).
Technical Diving Conference Proceedings 41