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Mr. (or possibly Ms.) Cole wrote: >sure i think it would be a better idea to do anything below say 150 on >trimix but i also want to know what will happen to me and how i should >handle myself if something happens to me or a member of my team and i have >to chase him down into the narc zone... There is *no safe* way to learn 1st hand the effects of deep air *while in the water* -- and that includes an in-water situation where your instructor/buddy is using a non-narcotic mix. While underwater, you're in, obviously, an unbreathable medium, so if you have a serious problem, you're within seconds of drowning. A cold sober buddy assistant is still a long way from being able to save your life. Most rational folks realize this by now, right? However, there is a military model, designed to *safely* address a similar need (the need being: to experience and appreciate the effects of abnormal pressures/gas on the body and mind), which has been in place for decades. Long ago while preparing for a higher-than-recreational-limits jump, I signed up for a high altitude chamber ride at McDill AFB. A certain number of civilians per "lift" are accepted, based on need/interest because, after all, we are paying for these things. In these *extremely controlled* chamber simulations, people who may encounter a low pressure/low oxygen situation because of their work/hobby are provided the chance to experience the effects, recognize/appreciate their impairment, and practice what can be done to resolve the problem. *Nowhere* do they pretend/advertise/claim that you can *ever* perform suitably in the abnormal environment. Remember -- the reason it's done in a simulator is because *flying an aircraft* is no time to learn this stuff -- just like *underwater* is no place to learn what deep air does. All participants are required to pass a medical before acceptance -- just a basic one saying you don't have any pre-existing conditions/traumas that would jeopardise your safety while going "up" or being blown back "down". Along the way, you do things like count backwards and forwards, diddle with simple puzzles, try to write, sing, etc. -- simple tasks that very effectively illustrate your impairment -- not that you really care at the time. ;-) Fully equipped medicos are attending; in-chamber instructors/guides/attendants are on an appropriate mix so that they are functioning optimally; the environment is controlled precisely at all times and can be changed back to normal almost immediately if a participant develops a medical problem. It seems the military and civilian aviation agencies believe this experience, and the familiarization/recognition that comes with it, is worth the time and expense as a *preventative* -- so that you recognize your impairment and *relieve it immediately* -- the same kind of thinking which is parallel to the reason many divers give for wanting to take a deep air course. The problem, as I mentioned to start, is that there's no safe way for divers to have a similar learning experience underwater. Efforts by training agencies to do so, while possibly having a noble intent, simply can't be done entirely safely in the water. Maybe some day an agency will come up with such a chamber for simulations or engage existing facilities to provide this service -- allowing divers to learn what they need to know about deep air in a controlled (and dry) situation. Sure as hell would be better than divers doing it on their own, or "supervised", while underwater. I think it would be a popular (read:money-making) course; safely satisfy the inquisitive/needful; improve understanding better than any lecture, textbook, film, or internet spitball and flame throwing; and be a tremendous service to all divers. Every diver course would be enhanced by including a simulation and though it would add to the expense/time, it sure would get the point across. Unfortunately, for civilian agencies it would add to insurance costs -- something the gov't. doesn't have to worry about because you can't sue them -- unless someone tells a dirty joke or makes a pass at you. ;-) (Efforts/claims to train divers to function "normally" in an abnormal narcotic state are total horseshit and are not considered/included in the above.) Christopher A. Brown The Technical Diving Video Library deepedge.com/TechVid Phone (US & Can.):606-272-0255; Fax:606-272-7279 Life is short -- this is not a rehearsal. -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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