DCS type 1

[Mats Edenfeldt]

DCS type 1 (2004-09-04)

I excuse for spelling right away I hope you understand what I have written, if not ask me

Location: Åland
Wreck: Notung

Diving depth: 45-50 m
Gas: 21/35 (stage) and 21/50 (doubles) Deco 50%

The days before the trip:

It hade been a quit stressed week with lots of errands and many hours spent in the car. I hade no regular meals and I hade at most 1 meal a day and a very pore intake of water. The day of the trip it was the same as the week that hade pasted, allot of stress and no time to stop and relax or to eat or drink. The only positive thing was my sleep which was normal during the whole week, this was much because I have hade 3 weeks vacation before Åland.

Diving, day 1:

We went to bed quit early the night before and we hade a few extra hours of sleep that morning. We got up and the whether was grey and we hade a calm sea with only light wind. This is in the archipelago on Åland just between Åland and Finland.
We hade breakfast and I hade a cup of coffee and a sandwich and then a few glasses of water. No stress and no rush just a quiet morning. After this we went down to the boat and started to analyze the last of the bottles and get our kit together. Ville gave us a debriefing of the wreck as we were packing the boat, it is a quit demanding wreck with a bit of current and usually bad visibility (1-1,5 meters). She lies in a pit at a depth between 45-50 meters and is rarely dived just because of the difficulties and the long transport to the site.

We got almost everything together at the doc and then decided the order of diving, then we started the 10 min transport out to the wreck site. Still no hurry or stress just any day diving. The only thing new with this was that this was one of the fist 50 m dives me and Linda would do. We hade done a few earlier but not under these circumstances.

The first team got in the water and disappeared, it was now about 25 min until it was our turn to get down there. We prepared and went trough everything again. The plan was to do a maximum of 25 min on an average depth of 50 m and then a 30 min deco, we also included a scenario if the visibility was so low that we could not do the dive. We got in the water and did our checks and my light did not work (18w Halcyon HID), OK back in the boat again and Linda was still in the water, did not get the light working and I hade to wait for the first team to get on the boat again so I could borrow a 10 w HID from them. Linda came back to the ladder but stayed in the water while I got onboard again and got my kit of.

First team got on the boat after about 15 min and I got the light and I was quickly in the water again and we did our checks again. A bit stressed out now because we held up the whole boat since we where the last team in. Linda wanted to take it easy down so we did a rely slow decent down to the wreck and landed on here side after 7 minutes, on the way down we met the mast of here on 33 meters and here the current was quit bad for being the Baltic. The current was in different directions during the whole decent. Also the viability was down to less then a meter at 33 meters, It got a bit better down at the wreck but not much, about 1,5 meter.

The rest of the dive was uneventful and we did get to see all of the items that was described during the debriefing. After 19 min BT (26 RT) we decided to head back and start accent. We took about 1 minute to get ready and where at (what we thought) the right place and started the accent. The line was tide in at one the life boat davit and we started up the one that we though it was. We got up to the rope and all was good and then continued a few more meter and came to a dead end…the rope was cut…shit.
I signaled Linda and she did not quit get me the first time so I took the rope and held it in front of here and did a irritated gesture… Shit we have to do this the hard way…drifting deco in a bad current and in bad visibility…great.
Took a second to think and saw that the rope was old and probably not the one that we came down on, I signaled Linda to go back down again. Down on deck I was a bit disoriented and my stage was almost empty, changed to back gas and started looking for the other davit, found it within 1-2 minutes and as soon as we found it thumps up and started accent eminently. At this sage we hade 30 min RT and about 24 min BT. As soon as I saw that we where on the right track I changed back to the stage again to breath it down on the way up. I later changed the stage just before the gas switch, so I was on back gas maybe 2-3 minutes before the change to deco.

During the way up Linda hade some troubles getting on with the accent, I was with here and urged here to get it on with and move faster, the deep stops cant take up to much time on a quit shallow dive like this. So time passed and we lost several minutes between 45-28 meter. When we finally where at 21 I was still in the belief that we could do the intended deco of 24 min of deco because we hade only done a little bit over 20 min bottom time and not the maximum 30 that we hade planned for. We prepare for the gas switch and got on to 50%, then we started to talk about the deco, I insisted that we could do the 19 min deco profile but add a few minutes on the way to compensate for the (in my mind) 22-24 min BT. If you have an average of about 45 m you get 100% or 1/1…24 min BT/ 24 min deco.
Linda was not pleased with this and wanted to do the 30 min deco, she was more aware of the fact that we hade blew the deep stops and collected more gas during our accent then we should. And that we hade bounced a few meters down on the wreck looking for the right line and davit. We argued for a minute or two of the 21 m stop and she finally gave in, we did the 24 min deco.

The rest of the deco was uneventful but at 6 meter we could see the rest of the team on the boat looking down on us and we where a bit stressed about this since we hade blew the surface to surface time by about 5-7 min. So the last 6 meters was not the slow accent it should rather 1-2 minutes up. So of the 24 min deco we did about 22 min.

Deco: 21/3, 18/3, 15/3, 12/3, 9/4, 6/5, 6-0/2

Maximum depth first dive was 48,5 meters

At the surface we hurried out of the water and the rig and then went trough the dive on our way back in for lunch. We agreed that this was not one of the best dives we hade ever done and talked about what went wrong and what we could do better the next time. We where both happy whit the wreck and what we hade seen but not the deco and the argument during deco. But we where both feeling good and was looking forward to the next dive.
Back in port we took it easy and did not hurry to unload the boat, changed my stage and got the 50% refilled and analyzed it. I felt OK a bit disappointed at myself that the communication was of and that I lost so many minutes on the accent…where did they go..?, The deco was perfect when we where in the 21-6 m region and I was happy with that, it was just the deep stops that concerned me. And I was tired…quit tired but not more then that.
Now we hade lunch and I hade two sandwiches and a cup of coffee and a few glasses of water again. Now I was rely tired and I went to bed for the next 3 hours.

Second dive day 1

After about 4 hours of surface time we where on our way back out to the wreck again, still tired and a bit off in general. I thought I was just tired and bummed out over the last dive still. I hade a slight itch on my belly but I blamed that on my very smelly suit and underwear. I hade checked myself for signs of skin bends just before getting on the boat and I did not see anything so off course it was my undergarment…right!?!
Still tired and a bit slow we started to kit up and I psyched myself and I was back in the game again. Linda was fine and not tired or slow. Still used the borrowed 10w hid and I hade come to the conclusion during the surface interval that my 18 w HID was busted and this was just not my day…bad deco and tired and a busted 18w bulb…it sucks.

Anyway this dive we did in a 4 man team this time and we decided to go with there profile and it was about the same as we planned the last time. 20 min BT and then a 24 min deco.

Deco: 21m/3min 18m/3min 15m/3min 12m/4min 9m/4min 6m/7min

This dive went without any problems and we did the deco perfectly, the current was still a pain in the ass and we hade to swim almost the whole deco. The thing was that I felt so much better as soon as we passed 10 meters on our way down, I rely felt perfect. Didn’t think much about that until much later. Back on the surface I felt good, we hade a great dive and everyone was exhilarated over the photos taken and the film that was produced. We did not hurry back in the boat just took the time and lay in the water and chatted for a few minutes before we handed over stages and deco bottles to the rest of the team in the boat. I was one of the last ones to get back in the boat and sat down and got my rig of and then stood right beside Linda and just relaxed and hade a big smile on my face thinking about the dive.

A few minutes went by, and I started to feel a slight pain in my right arm…like a tennis arm, a sort of joint pain, not a specific location just inside my shoulder/arm. Did not think much of it, I could just have stretched a muscle when I got my kit of. About a minute when by and the pain just grew… At this time we hade been on the surface for about 10 minutes.
Maybe 30 seconds passed and the pain just grew and I started to realize this was not good but I kept it for myself for another minute, I just hade to see if this would go away..then it just exploded and the pounding feeling I hade in my arm hade changed in to a pin that more felt like my arm and shoulder wanted to explode. I turned to Linda and made here aware of my pain and that this was most likely a bend…right then my knees got week and she helped me in to the cabin. Within 1 minute I was laying down and I hade a bad pain in all of my arm and it was starting to come in the other arm to, same thing, burning and pounding from the major joints. Got oxygen and water and we started the 10 min trip back to land. I quit soon was so week in my arm I could not hold the oxygen mask by myself. Linda sat by my side and helped me with both water and the mask. During the whole event I tried to tell everyone how I felt and where I felt it so they where clear on what was happening and could help to give me the right diagnose. About 7 min in to the whole circus the pain moved down in to my hips and knees, just before we got back to port I hade major pain and this exploding feeling in all the major joints in my body and I hade trouble standing on my own. I stayed on oxygen in the boat and got aspirin and water after we got to port, after about 20 min I got of the boat on my own and lay right down on the doc and got blankets and more oxygen. At this moment both the Finnish and the Swedish hospitals with chambers was consulted and I was just waiting for this either to get worse or better. If it got better I knew it would just hurt but I would be fine, if it got worse I would be in bad trouble. The rescue chopper was 3 hours away on another mission and could not come until way later so we where on our own. Every one was quit shaken by all this but both me and Linda took this quit calmly, after about 25-30 min I could feel the pain reside…it was getting better. YES!!! The pain was still there but it was getting better by the minute and I knew that now I just needed to hang in there and bare the pain but I would be all right.

An hour went by and it was getting better and better but I was tired, extremely tired and the pain in my joints hade moved to my belly and all of the other fat reserves I hade on my body. I moved up into one of the cabins and in to a bed and I was frozen and tired but feeling quit good, still some pain but much better. Another hour or two went by and the pain slowly drained out of my system, still on oxygen and water and lying down. All during this event we did the 10 min neurological check and kept an eye open for any marks or signs on my body, I got some skin bends but not that much, my fatty tissue was swollen and tender but not more then that.

After almost 4 hours the chopper came and we hade then talked to both the chamber in Stockholm and Helsinki and they where ready for me If I felt I wanted to come in, they knew I was feeling better at this point. The chopper crew gave me check up and concluded that I was in quit good chap but that I still should come with them if I wanted to. At this moment I was both tired but felt good so I said no but that I would visit a doctor when I got home instead. The next day was the last dive day and then we where on our way home again. They said that if we leave now we won’t be able to come back until tomorrow so it is up to you. So I stayed and kept on going with the oxygen the rest of the night.

Day 2

The night did not give me to much sleep, I hade some pain in my joints and hade some trouble finding a good position to lie in, and my fat was swollen and tender. But the joint pain was gone completely during the early morning hours. The day after was as the day before but much better, no pain in any joints but swollen and tender fat around my belly and but and legs, and I was tired, extremely tired. It felt like I hade been beaten with a bat all over my body and as if I hade a bad hangover. It got better by the hour during the day and at around noon I was on top again except the fat that was going to be swollen and tender for the coming week.

I was happy with my diving this weekend, I did well in the water the problem was just some communication errors the first dive and a bad deeper deco. I used a stage both dives and it worked without problems, the only technical that went wrong was my busted 18w HID. The problem in the end was that we did a to short deco on the first dive and to long deep stops, I could have fixed it if I hade done more deco the second dive because I hade a slight DCS already before the second dive. That is why I felt better after passing 10 meters again in the second dive. And on top of this was the actual chap I was in before the days diving, did not drink enough water and was stressed and stressed the last 6 meters on the first dive.

It is all in the small details in this, not enough water, sloppy deep stops, and argument over deco, stressed week, bad luck with accent from the wreck on the first dive, me being stubborn, not taking in account the last dive and adding time. This ****ed it all up for me, Linda came out of this just fine and we both got by the first dive although we did way to little deco, I should not have done the second dive, I know that now. Don’t dive if you don’t feel like it, don’t dive if you at all feel tired, sad, thirsty…what ever. Leave it, the wreck will be there the next time as well.

This is several years ago now and this is the only time I have been trough this. I have done both more aggressive dives and longer and deeper dives since and have not felt a thing, but I have been more aware about how I feel and what I do before and during the dive. And I will skip a dive if I am not feeling 100%. It is just not worth it.

[Kevrumbo]

Good report and glad to hear all turned out well. . .!
I'm an interning Hyperbaric Technologist, and based on what I've learned so far, I still would've elected to go to the Chamber for at least further prophylaxis treatment (US Navy Treatment Table 5), even though the DCS type I symptoms were apparently resolving. . .

[Ahmed Adly, Marlin Inn DC]

Congratulations on your first hit and may you never get another I guess one of the advantages of getting bent in civilised countries is that you get to go for a chopper ride! Out here, the best you get is a speed boat (if you are in range)

What seems strange is how you spread your deco time though. Normally for 24 minutes deco, I will have 12min from 21-9 and 12min. on 6-3.
What you described sound more like a profile where you would use oxygen on 6 meters.

Basically, it is great you got out fine and especially happy that nothing adverse happened to your buddy.

It seems that we can learn from this incident too by how you felt before and then during the dive! Very interesting note on your behalf.

I agree with Kev, as decompression illness is a serious medical condition, even slight bends can have after effects and a good old table 5 never hurt a sole. I am very glad, that you have not experianced any relapses.

Dive safe

[Mats Edenfeldt]

I agree with you both and today I would have taken the chamber just in case. But as it was then and there I was in my mind feeling better and way to stubborn to go on a chopper ride to Finland which was the chamber they where going to take me to. But hey you learn as you go right It was and is a aggressive deco and I have learned allot here to but the basic principle of it is still there. You have two major factors in this as I see it that will get you bent any day if you blow it and that is the slow accent from 6-0...that should never ever take less then 5 min and the deep stops...you have to be spot on and be on time here, no more no less just right. Then what you do between 21 and 6 is important but not as important as the deep stops and the final accent.

As I wrote this was a few years ago and I just yesterday decided to do the report in English to, it have been out since the day of the event on Sweden’s biggest site as an incident report. There is always something to learn so why not chare it.
You can learn in different ways but as one of my old technical instructors said to me “we all get bent some day” my day was in the beginning and I hope that I never have to do this again, and I am almost certain that I wont as long as I use what I have learned and the experience that I have collected the last years.