Posted by Wayne on May 27, 2002 at 10:34:39:
In Reply to: Re: What do you think? posted by Ken Kurtis on May 27, 2002 at 08:53:10:
OK, so maybe it was a bit of a troll, but it was fun and hopefully got some thinking done.
Ken, you read the situation right. It did not really look like DCS, but I must admit that if it had been me or my family, we would have gone directly to the chamber for an evaluation by a Dr. trained in hyperbaric medicine. Nice to have DAN and nice to be certain. The water was warm with >200 foot vis. and her group was on an underwater tour and probably never out of the DM's sight. Our dives never violated NDLs and were multilevel dives with the ascent from the 50 foot range -- not 90.
I could not belive that neither the husband or wife knew why the safety stop was important. That ignorance and curiosity was probably the most troubling aspect of the episode. Safetyo stops did not exist when my wife and I started diving. We learned of them and adopted them when they make sense. But it is hard to believe that this was not covered in a class. I suspect this was a couple who, being from Montreal, knew they will never work their own tables and just figure they had to learn enough to pass the written test at the end of class. And maybe they were right, I do not know.
Remember we were back on board the cruise ship at diner when this came. She had been wearing a borrowed wet suit and it was extremely tight around her ankles. We assume/hope that is the reason for the two feet going numb. We tried to get her to go to the ship's doctor for an evaluation and tried to get her to call DAN, but she opted out. She did agree that if ANYTHING else funny happened she would get help immediately and left worried and very self aware.
I guess that I believe that they are typical "follow me divers" and I hope they never try to do it on their own until they have more training and experience. You know what, though, Here in California, our divers are sure better than what I see on vacation. Long live California divers!
Wayne