Posted by Jim Hoffmann on March 10, 2001 at 09:18:36:
I was reading some of the post below and was disturbed by some of the takes divers had on Lung Overexpansion Injury (Arterial gas embolism, Pneumothorax, Subcutaneous Emphysema, Mediastinal Emphysema).
Lung Overexpansion Injury is probably the worse of our diving maladies, it will flat out kill you.
If you hold your breath in the a water column you run the risk of getting a Lung Overexpansion Injury.
It doesn’t matter that you are hunting or taking pictures, you should not hold your breath!
Some of the divers below feel that it’s OK to hold their breath if they can maintain good buoyancy control at one level. That’s fine but, what is happening overhead, and round you.
Is there a 4 or 5 ft. swell overhead, is there surge that is moving you?
We as divers have to follow some rules to survive, not holding our breath on SCUBA is the number one rule. If you break this rule you will injury yourself.
Jim Hoffmann
NAUI 5888
PADI 6301