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Decompression Sickness--What is it and how can you reduce risk

© Linda Gettmann

DCI can strike a scuba diver at any time, whether you're a new guppy or an old salt that has hundreds or thousands of dives under your weight belt. All divers need to know what the symptoms are and how to prevent it.

Decompression illness consists of two conditions, DCS is a series of symptoms that result from the presence of bubbles formed in either the tissues or blood as a result of changes in pressure on the body. These may directly cause symptoms locally by mechanical injury to tissue or indirectly resulting from the blockage of blood vessels. Arterial gas embolism (AGE) occurs when gas bubbles enter the blood stream usually as a result of decompression damage to a lung (pulmonary embolism), where the bubbles travel in the blood to the brain and cause cerebral symptoms.

Symptoms:
Itching skin, rash
Joint or muscle pain and swelling
Fatigue
Tingling or numbness in limbs
Muscle weakness, stiffness
Headache, nausea, vomiting
Breathing problems
Abnormal bladder or bowel function
Vision disorders, hearing or memory problems
Personality changes
Blackouts

Early detection and treatment with 100% oxygen is the most effective way to ensure full recovery and no permanent damage. Divers Alert Network (DAN) reports that the majority of injuries reported to them involve a significant delay in symptom recognition and treatment whether it is being put on oxygen at the dive facility or being sent to a recompression chamber for treatment.

If you or your dive buddy experiences any of these symptoms following a dive, whether it's the first dive of the day or the 10th in a week-long dive vacation, notify the divemaster immediately and seek further help in evaluating your symptoms. Don't just ignore it, hoping it will go away and keep diving. This will worsen any episode of DCI and make recompression treatment more likely to fully resolve the injuries and remove the nitrogen gas bubbles from the blood stream or soft tissues.

Lower Your Risk
Follow these basic guidelines to reduce your risk for DCI:

Ascend Slowly, giving the absorbed nitrogen bubbles time to be exhaled as the pressure is reduced. Recommendations now are 30 feet per minute maximum ascent rate. Go slow and watch your depth gauge.

Safety Stop at 15 Feet, again giving the nitrogen an opportunity to leave your system through the lungs at reduced pressure. Do a safety stop after every dive.

Watch Your Time, leaving a little extra cushion in your dive profile or green on your computer dial is wise and safer than pushing the deco limits on every dive-especially when you're doing multiple dives on multiple days.