Basics of a Dive Accident
The two most serious dive related accidents are Air Embolism (arterial gas embolism), and Decompression Sickness (venous gas embolism). Heart attack, CVA, drowning, trauma, etc. are not diving accidents, though they may be aggravated by the act of diving. Consider all pressure related accidents as directly related to diving, and all other situations as whatever their root cause is. Treat medical emergencies as any other medical...
Decompression Sickness (The Bends)
Due to the gas laws that effect the diver he cannot go to any depth whenever he pleases. Almost everyone has heard of ”THE BENDS” from old movies and T.V. shows. The picture of the hard hat diver coming up in pain, in a storm, to have a cigarette before going back down to re-compress has been in more than one motion picture. The Bends or DECOMPRESSION SICKNESS is not the terrible monster of the deep waiting to grab every...
Environmental stress on diving-induced platelet activation
UHMS 2001:28(4)207-211 Platelet activation has been suggested to play an important role in the pathogenesis of prethrombotic states and thus may be responsible for decompression illness during compressed air (scuba) diving. To investigate the physical, mental, and environmental stress on platelet activation during immersion in ice-cold water, we examined 10 male breath-hold divers (BHD), 10 elite BHD (eBHD), and 10 scuba divers during...