A CURIOUS CASE

An experienced diver with signs of DCS doesn’t immediately respond to treatment—what’s going on here?

- ERIC DOUGLAS

About 60 minutes after he surfaced from his second dive, Ted knew something was wrong. He was sick to his stomach, and he couldn’t stand up. He didn’t know what was going on, but nothing about his symptoms made sense.

THE DIVER

Ted was a 54-year-old active diver with no known medical conditions. He had been diving for nearly 20 years and regularly took trips to remote locations where he dived heavily for days in a row.

THE DIVES

Ted and his buddy had planned a series of dives over three days with a charter company. They regularly visited the destination and were familiar with the dive sites and the crew of the operation. Ted’s dives included the following:

» Day 1: Dive #1, 67 feet of seawater (fsw) for 42 min with a surface interval of 58 min; Dive #2, 58 fsw for 46 min.

» Day 2: Dive #1, 137 fsw for 29 min with a surface interval of 80 min; Dive #2, 82 fsw for 41 min with a surface interval of 73 min; Dive #3, 54 fsw for 50 min.

» Day 3: Dive #1, 132 fsw for 25 min with a surface interval of 122 min; Dive #2, 109 fsw for 36 min.

We don’t know their gas mixes nor their decompression schedules.

THE ACCIDENT

Ted and his buddy had planned a third dive for their last day, but Ted didn’t feel well and opted out. After an hour at the surface, he felt dizzy and nauseous. Even simple head movements made him so sick he would vomit. It felt like a sudden onset of seasickness, but if he remained still his stomach settled down. He couldn’t walk without support.