BREATHING
AIR AT DEPTH
Almost
all cases of decompression illness require
treatment in a recompression chamber,
during which the diver is put back under
pressure to help the body absorb bubbles
in the tissues. This treatment usually
takes several hours, requires the use
of pure oxygen, and often drug therapies.
Don't allow a diver suspected of having
decompression illness to go back underwater.
Attempts to treat a diver underwater
typically end with worsened symptom
and disastrous results, and only delay
getting to proper treatment.
Although
decompression sickness is a serious
condition, both painful and potentially
life threatening, it is avoided by properly
following the established safe time
and depth limits of dive tables and
dive computers. Lung over expansion
injuries are also serious, painful and
potentially life-threatening, but avoided
by breathing continuously and never
holding your breath. Additionally important
in preventing decompression illness
(both DCS and lung over expansion injuries)
is a slow, safe ascent rate with a stop
for safety at 5 metres/15 feet. You'll
learn more about this stop in Section
Five.
