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Well a visit to the chamber was educational to say the least. In the context of a ResQ course that I was teaching, we visited the chamber in Baltimore. Dr. Kelton was our guide and gave us the tour and answered a myriad of questions from angular concrete chambers to familial DCS trends among Mosquito divers. Having recently returned from the UHMS meeting in Anchorage, AK (which I begrudgingly missed), we querried him RE: new, salient, interesting topics. Strikingly what was most interesting (to me) was not the 'recent findings in ........... [fill in the blanks], but my ignorance. It follows: Abstract of Abstract by Hampson & Dunford - Pulmonary edema of SCUBA divers may occur in 'cold' or 'warm' water. Signs & symptoms of pulmonary edema: development of severe dyspnea (breathing difficulty) at depth. Associated S&S: cough, weakness, expectoration of froth. chest discomfort, orthopnea, wheezing, blood in sputum, diziness. Pulmonary edema is readily diagnosed via chest X-ray and rales, but can only be so diagnosed if diver perceives problem & submits to the procedure. Unfortunately it is possible to overlook or disregard these S&S. In particular since it is not apparently limited to cold water, increased awareness may be of import. The problem is readily reversible, either spontaneously or through appropriate medical intervention. Prior medical history of cases presenting PE were not remarkable save for 1 (out of 6, age range 24 to 60, 4 females, 2 females) with for hypertension and MVP. Cold water episodes occurred despite use of drysuits & one case, with reoccurrence, was in 27 deg C. The authors warn that the syndrome may occur in warm water & incidence may be higher than that suggested in the literature. Regards Esat Atikkan
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