Scuba Diving Week 5

07/25/11

Every class we seem to review what bad things can happen under water. Of course, it is all a precaution so it won't happen.

We went over squeeze again and how to rid of it. Excess pressure in ears = the Valsalva maneuver, sinuses clear on their own, lungs = just breathe and don't hold your breath, intestines = farting (watch your diet around a dive), and teeth can't be solved but it's only really an issue if you have older fillings (they can pop out!). Dry suits can also cause excess squeeze but that would be covered in the dry suit diving course. MythBusters had an episode which included a deep diving suit which proved you can be squeezed up into a helmet due to excess pressure.

Pure oxygen treatment was emphasized again as well as following your dive tables and computer to prevent decompression illnesses. The one thing I will remember is to keep breathing because this prevents any lung injuries. These can include:

• air embolism- air bubbles in blood can be lethal. remember to breathe!
• pneumothorax- fancy way to say collapsed lung.
• mediastinal emphysema- air trapped in chest cavity, no tissue damage
• subcutaneous emphysema- bubbles form around the neck creating a rash. when person moves head they pop like bubbles wrap.

Nitrogen narcosis is a type of sickness that happens usually below 60 ft of water. Divers call it "getting narked" and a lot of times a diver doesn't realize it is happening to them. The narcotic effect is caused by excess nitrogen in the system which makes people act drunk. There are stories of people trying to save fish with their regulators and doing other stupid things. This is one major reason to have a buddy with you. To get rid of the effect you just have to ascend to shallower water. Some people can experience this at fairly shallow depths just based on different factors so divers should be aware of it.

Other tips were to never leave a boat unattended and that one should only administer pure oxygen at sea level, above water. If it is given underwater one can have oxygen toxicity. It's the same idea as not going into deeper water to try to recompress after a decompression injury since the lower depth allow the gases to be released much more easily into the bloodstream.

When we got to class there was an underwater frisbee and torpedo toy in the pool. We enter by falling in backwards which is unnerving with the wide gutter lip of the pool but actually felt better than the giant stride entry. We got to play in the deep end for a bit before practicing the sharing of air in the shallow end. Once Amalie was taught this (she missed that class) and everyone else practiced it, we went to the deep end to do it with an ascent. Ashley and I managed to do this wonderfully. No problems with learning things this day but recommendations that the rescuer inflates their BC as soon as we reach the surface and to make sure I'm pressing down on the button hard enough to let my full breath enter the BC to inflate it.

Now we just have one more class before our testing happens and then, in about 3 weeks, we will be doing open dives on Skaneateles Lake.

Also, as a reminder to myself more than anything, SSI Syracuse emailed us a flyer of future dive trips and I'm hoping my internship schedule allows me to go on one. Which means I really have to save up my money.