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It sures sounds like classic case of O2 tox. A few questions come to mind, is the diver a smoker? Also did the diver take any medications that day, including over the counter stuff like sudaphed? Keith ----- Original Message ----- From: "Capt JT" <captjt@mi*.co*> To: <vbtech@ci*.co*> Cc: <techdiver@aquanaut.com>; <FLTechDiver@mikey.net> Sent: Monday, July 16, 2001 5:11 PM Subject: The Seizure > I will write a regular trip report in a couple of days, but think everyone > would be interested in this now... > > The Seizure: > > The diver had made their previous dive some 24 hrs before and prepared for > the last dive of the trip along with 2 divers that would accompany them. > The divers had only intended to stay 15 min to 220ft, the 2 other divers > had made dives that morning and were making conservative second dives. > > The dive went as planned, 16 mins BT had been done and the diver elected to > dive 20 min tables, all 3 ran exact profiles. All divers were on board but > 4 when I went over to unshackle and make a breakable tie in to remove our > mooring. I saw the diver who was decoing on our hang bar at 20ft and they > looked fine. I took a minute to relax on the hang bar before I descended > and everything looked fine. > > The following events were told to me as I was not back on board until 20 > mins after I went down. > The diver realizing something moved over to the buddy and signaled > something was wrong, the buddy not knowing what was wrong asked if they > wanted to go up. The buddy also knew that they were diving 20min tables for > a 16 min BT and had already done 18 min of the 20 min required stop at > 20ft. The diver should be clean enough to surface. > > A normal ascent was made by the 2 divers from 20ft only the buddy had put > himself in the face to face position. At 5ft the diver seized and the reg > came out of their mouth. Bubbles exited the divers mouth during the > remainder of the ascent and once on the surface a call for help was made by > the buddy, another diver jumped in and the victims head was raised out of > the water, the body was in a complete convulse and the arms were so stiff > they could not be bent to remove the gear and the harness was then cut. The > diver was pulled from the water, within a minute of being out of the water > the seizure stopped and the victim puked, lips were blue and color had gone > from the face during the seizure, with in seconds those things returned to > normal after the seizure. The drysuit was removed, the victim was unaware > of what had happen and was disoriented, 02 was administered. The Capt went > and made a call to the USCG. > > The victim was moved to the cabin until it could be determined the next > course of action, I at this time was boarding the boat sensing something > was wrong and quickly assumed the rule of carrying information between the > radio and the victim, Rick Atkins took control of care for the victim. The > victim was now in full control of all their faculties and was stating > nothing was wrong, in due time they would admit to a tightness in the > chest. I was concerned if there had been any aspiration of SW, a condition > I have seen in the past that can result in more complications. > > The diver was transferred to a ship that had a trained medical staff and a > more suitable platform for an airlift if that was necessary. The USCG > flight surgeon agreed to the transfer and contacted "DAN" as another source > of information, once on the ship ( in which they walked/ climbed over the > rail on their own power) Dan ask the medical staff to perform a > neurological test which the victim showed no negative signs to. The medical > staff, Dan, and the USCG saw no need to airlift the victim and arrangements > were made to pick up the diver when the ship came to port. > > When we arrived at the dock, Rick, Pete, and myself chose to drive and pick > up the diver. Once there and the ship became moored up, we found that the > ships staff would transfer care of the victim to the local hospital that > had a hyperbaric chamber. When we arrived there was a bit of confusion as > to where the victim was, having found the victim on our own we were asked > to consult with the attending physician. > > The physician I felt was grasping at poor conclusions and we had seen him > consulting the hyperbaric manual and at one point made a different opinion > on the condition of the victim. He finally made the decision to do a table > 6 as a precaution, the victim exited the chamber no different from when > they entered. Exactly 24 hrs after it happen we stopped to eat at McDonalds. > > I have a hard time buying that it was an oxtox, the diver never did > anything wrong and was well with in the limits for such an event to happen. > I leave it up to those on this list and the lurkers to help solve this, I > will answer any questions that are reasonable. > > JT > > Personally I would like to thank everyone on board who did a superb job > during a very stressful event and for once the buddy system really paid > off..... > > > > "You can't learn to dive on the net, sooner or later you have to get in the > water" > Your Guide to Great Wreck Diving along the East Coast & more > Web Site http://www.capt-jt.com/ > Email captjt@mi*.co* > > > -- > Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. > Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'. -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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