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Christopher;
I fully agree with you. In Northern Ontario, (Tobermory) there is a
hyperbaric chamber in the health clinic that is happy to perform "sport runs",
which is exactly what you're talking about. The cost is far from prohibitive,
I think it's less than $25.00 Cndn. per diver for a group of 6 or so.
Brown, Christopher wrote:
> 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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