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Unfortunately, after the flights to Dubai, the symptoms got noticeably worse and I went straight to the hospital and met with Dr. Mohab Ahmed Shafei, the extremely experienced Specialist General Surgeon at the Hyberbaric Oxygen Treatment (HBOT) at Al Zahra Hospital. He confirmed the diagnosis of decompression sickness and the next day I entered the hospital’s decompression chamber for the longest possible session there, based on US Navy Recompression Treatment Table 5. It has now been more than a month since the incident, and I am still going through the HBOT therapy to help the healing process of what a subsequent MRI scan confirmed to be substantial damage to the cartilage, ligaments and nerves of my left arm, where the damage was worse because I had been tightly gripping the inflator in an effort to dump air as I ascended during the incident. I am sharing this story because my accident has been a wake-up call for me on the need to never underestimate the potential risks of diving and to improve my own knowledge so that I do not need to rely on the advice of others, even if they are theoretically better trained. There will be problems that you can prevent, are trained to deal with, or which you are able to adapt to and overcome, but there will also be problems that you cannot prevent and
which will be difficult to overcome. All the safety mantras really come flooding home when something like this happens. The inflator on a regularly and wellmaintained BCD should not fail, but if you are diving with rental equipment that is not regularly maintained, has experienced heavy use or is simply old, it can. The BCD inflator that malfunctioned on me looked slightly older and was not the type that I was familiar with, and, in hindsight, as a paying customer, I could have raised this and requested a newer or more familiar type of BCD, or, if this was unavailable, changed my plans to dive with a different dive centre.
TAKE NOTE: • If you are overseas, make sure friends and family know you are diving and expect to hear back from you. • Make sure the dive centre is appropriately equipped with emergency oxygen and trained personnel. • Know the contact details and location of a nearby doctor with experience in diving illness and injuries, and the nearest HBOT facility. • Get Diver Alert Network insurance. • Stay within your limits.
The best advice I can give someone reading this who may experience the same or a similar situation, is to not neglect your training or safety, and to make sure you are comfortable with your equipment before you dive. In any case, if something like this does happen to you or a buddy, you may be better prepared or simply more reactive in such a situation than I was, and it may all turn out ok. However, if you believe that one of you may have decompression sickness, make sure to request emergency oxygen, even if you are not sure – as it can significantly reduce the risk of the resulting symptoms, which can be delayed by up to 24 hours. DECEMBER 2019 | DIVERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
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