Decompression Chamber by Tracy Crump
(Pictured by the hyperbaric chamber are from back to front (l-r) Ricky, Alan Harman, Brendan Hardy, Chris Shorter, Angela Shaw, Ted Lester, Tracy Crump, Stuart Crump and Guy Williams)
YOU’VE got air in your boots and despite all attempts you are going to the surface… and fast! You try to do a forward roll to correct yourself but you are just going too quickly. And…before you know it you’ve missed your safety stops and the soles of your boots have popped out of the water like a marker buoy on the surface.Or, you've sent up your SBM but unbeknown to you a loose strap has become entangled around one of your hoses. As the SMB shoots up to the surface you start going with it... that is until you can locate and cut the strap.
No matter how hard we train to avoid these situations accidents can and do happen and it’s not just trainees that are affected. It can happen to anyone.
Thankfully the Decompression Chamber at the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth in St John's Wood, London, offers NHS funded recompression to divers with Decompression Sickness (DCS) together with other Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) treatments.
London Diving Chamber specialises in Diving Medicine and provides a 24 hour clinic.
It offers:
- NHS funded recompression
- Fit to dive, BSAC and HSE diving medicals
- Free consultation if you think you have DCI (the bends)
- Dry diving
- Phone advice
The London Diving Chamber enables people to try a 'dry dive' for £30 (40m dive) or £40 (50m dive). It is the perfect environment to test a diver's ability at depth, but in a safe and water-free environment.
Decompression illness DCI can result from a diver's inability to handle nitrogen narcosis. If a diver is underwater the first time they experience narcosis they can panic and risk DCI. A dry dive can prepare a diver mentally for what can happen underwater.
For more information call the London Diving Chamber on 02078064000 (ext 4445) or the 24-hour hotline on 07940353816. Alternatively, check out their website at www.londondivingchamber.co.uk.
TIPS
1. Always identify where your nearest decompression chamber is before you go diving just in case... You spend time researching the dive sites, comparing boats and booking nearby hotels and getting directions this should be part of your planning.
2. Always make sure you know where the oxygen kits is on the boat. If the skipper doesn't tell you in the dive briefing where it is don't be afraid to ask!
3. Take the club's 02 kit on all dives. Most boats only have one 02 kit and if diving in buddy pairs, like HSAC strongly recommends, quite often it is two people who need 02. This saves two potentially bent divers sharing one 02 kit.
4. Have the number of the London Diving Chamber saved in your phone. If in any doubt at all over any symptoms give them a call. It is important to act quickly. Even if you just fear DCI the chances are the skipper will call the coastguard and get you taken by ambulance to hospital immediately so as not to take any chances. (If you do a dry dive you can pick up a mask strap band which features the London Diving Chamber's number.)
IF GOING TO HOSPITAL GIVE THE DIVERS....
1. Their mobile phone, once you have checked the battery is fairly full. Put your number into it if it isn't already in their saved numbers. That way they can keep you updated on their situation.
2. Money for food and a taxi or train back
3. Take a number of their friend or relative to inform them what has happened.
