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Keir Vaughan Taylor writes:
> 
> >There were some saturation dives conducted to 3,4, and 6m about two or
> >three years ago (I forget the exact reference but can dig it up if
> >needed) in which even 3m saturations resulted in bubbles after direct
> >ascent to the surface.
> 
> Well I think you should look it up.  

"Prime Rat" cited the same report, so here's your reference:

Eckenhoff RG, Olstad CS, Carrod G (1990) Human dose-response relationship 
for decompression and endogenous bubble formation.  Journal of Applied 
Physiology 69:914-918

> If you ascend too quickly you
> get bent but your posting declares that because a test explosively
> decompresses someone from 3m that all divers are going to get bent.
> This is does not follow.

Two corrections, please: I said "direct ascent", not "explosive
decompression."  These divers ascended at a controlled rate.  "Direct
ascent" simply means they did not stop on the way up.

Second, I never implied that these divers suffered DCI.  Bubble
formation does not equal detectable DCI symptoms.  It is a myth that
"any bubbles equals decompression illness."  You can find this even in
the DAN journal: they routinely report that the vast majority of
divers in their Doppler tests have detectable bubbles without symptoms.

Did you know that you can form detectable bubbles riding an exercise
bicycle?  It's been demonstrated that tribonucleation can occur in the
shear areas of your muscles and joints, forming doppler-detectable
bubbles in the absence of a nitrogen supersaturation.

> [...] Too many diver I meet seem to think there is something
> machismo is screwing up and getting bent

I have to agree here, much as I wish it weren't so.  Suffering DCI is
a statistical probability, as much as being in an automobile accident.
There are "undeserved hits" (as someone mentioned) both in diving and
driving.  

I think it's up to the diving community to remove the stigma of the bends. 
Individual divers are only reacting to the community's biases.

David Story                        	        Silicon Graphics, Inc.
story@sg*.co*					Mountain View, California

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