#Dx 50 decompressor full

Keep your kit serviced and in full working order.Panic due to anxiety can be a major cause of DCI. If you don’t feel comfortable at a dive site, then don’t get in the water.

Dive within your limits of safety and what you feel comfortable with.

Add in levels of safety along the way and establish good signals so you can communicate underwater.

If you have a health problem, then please declare it on your medical form and seek a dive doctor’s opinion well before you dive.

Eat a healthy balanced diet and do regular exercise and keep your weight within normal limits.

Dive with Nitrox (if trained to do so).

If you are using a computer add on extra conservative settings to limit yourself.

Dive well within your computer and/or table limits, don’t miss deco.

Remember that computers give an average decompression profile for your dive but you may not be an average diver! This list is not exhaustive but covers some of the main ways to reduce risks. What can I do to stop myself getting DCI? If the diver has chest pain, breathing difficulties, is unconscious or has a rapidly progressing neurological DCI or AGE they should be taken to the nearest Emergency Department for assessment.ĭivers without the above symptoms can brought to DDRC Healthcare where the duty doctor will see and examine them immediately. It can also expand within the air filled spaces of the body and cause barotrauma to the lungs, ears, sinuses or gut.ĭO NOT give pain killers unless you have a very long transfer to a chamber, and only after discussion with a diving doctor. Give water or cold drinks.ĭO NOT give Entonox (50% nitrous oxide/50% oxygen) under any circumstances to anyone who has recently dived as the nitrous oxide is highly soluble and will increase the inert gas load, making the symptoms of DCI worse. Oxygen: Administer 100% oxygen immediately and continuously.įluids: Give fluids if the diver is conscious and able to swallow. The well-known mnemonic is cABCDE which all divers should be familiar with. How is DCI treated?įirst Aid: First principles in any first aid situation are to assess for a safe approach to the casualty, look for and treat in order or concurrently: catastrophic haemorrhage (bleeding), airway, breathing, circulation, disability and exposure. It is therefore up to a qualified diving doctor to take a history, examine the diver and then decide clinically whether it is DCI or not.

“Not quite right” – constitutive symptoms such as headache, apathy, inappropriate fatigue, malaise, loss of appetite, difficulty in carrying out simple arithmetic and word blindnessĬurrently, there are no specific diagnostic tests, investigations or imaging techniques which can confirm or deny a diagnosis of DCI.Ignoring a rash could lead to significant disease if not treated correctly

#Dx 50 decompressor skin

Divers commonly believe the skin rash is of no consequence but other signs are often apparent when they are examined fully by a diving doctor.

Rash –Take a picture of the rash and send it to a hyperbaric centre as it may have disappeared by the time the diver reaches a chamber.

Chest Pain or breathing difficulties (Chokes).

Ear problems (Staggers) – Sense of spinning and inability to stand up due to dizziness.

Nerve symptoms – Tingling in skin, weakness in the muscles, difficulty expressing oneself or not behaving normally, poor co-ordination, loss of bowel or bladder control, changes in hearing or eyesight, memory loss, unconsciousness.

Limb pain – Vague pain in a joint or limb that is typically described as like a tooth ache.

This causes a variety of sudden onset, stroke-like symptoms depending on the site of the blockage, such as one sided weakness or loss of consciousness. This can result in a wide range of symptoms including pain, weakness, dizziness or tingling.Īrterial Gas Embolism (AGE): Most commonly occurs when diving as a result of lung over-expansion injury, also known as pulmonary barotrauma. Air passes directly from the lungs into the arteries, blocking them. When a diver surfaces this dissolved gas may form bubbles, which then cause local damage to body tissues or obstruct small blood vessels. Decompression Sickness (DCS): Time spent diving causes an excess of inert gas, such as nitrogen, to dissolve in the body.