Annual Diving Report - Divers Alert Network

Case #3. Mild neurological DCS (DCS II).
2. PROJECT DIVE EXPLORATION
This 45-year-old male, experienced diver, dived in Scapa Flow and made three wreck dives in
two days. His third dive was the first dive of the second day. He went to 116 fsw (35 msw), using
open-circuit scuba with nitrox (24% O2) and a drysuit. He omitted 18 minutes of his planned
decompression because he couldn’t dump air from his suit to control buoyancy at the
decompression stop. The estimated DCS risk after his third dive was 1.98%. Ten minutes after
surfacing he developed itching and pins and needles in his left hand. He was administered
surface oxygen and his symptoms resolved. The doctor at local hyperbaric chamber where the
diver was admitted soon after his symptom onset, considered this DCS and treated him on Table
6. No symptoms or findings were reported before the treatment and he stayed asymptomatic
throughout and after the treatment.
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
-20
-40
-60
-80
-100
-120
-140
Time (min)
PDCS = 2%
Figure 2.5.4-3 Itching and pins and needles in left hand resolved with First aid
oxygen. Classified as mild neurological DCS.
Case #4. Serious Neurological DCS (DCS II).
A female diver on a liveaboard in the Caribbean reported in her 48-hour report that she felt faint
and weak, had numbness in her right arm, and could not grasp with her right hand. She was sent
to a local hyperbaric chamber and received two treatments on Table 6 and two on Table 5. She
was symptom free after treatment and flew home four days later. Her dive profile was lost due to
a technical error.
Case #5. Cardio-pulmonary DCS (DCS II).
This was an experienced 25-year-old female technical diver with a history of previous DCI. She
dived in Scapa Flow and made six wreck dives over three days. On the last day, her first dive was
to 110 fsw (34 msw). After a three hour surface interval, she made another dive to 62 fsw/19 msw
(Figure 2.5.4-4). The estimated DCS risks for these dives were 1.8% and 2.3%. Upon surfacing,
she experienced tightness in her chest and a general feeling of being unwell. She fainted during
examination at a local hospital, but her chest x-ray revealed no abnormalities. She was
transferred to a hyperbaric chamber and treated on Table 6. Her symptoms resolved during
treatment. Subsequent echocardiography revealed she had a PFO.
30 Annual Diving Report: 2006 Edition