What happens when you get 'Bent'?

[Helen F H]

Ok, i know what happens to you physically- you get all fizzy and it hurts like hell. Lets not go into that here.

But what is it like being air lifted to the pot? Do they stick needles and tubes in you at every given opportunity? And then what do the medics do to you? More needles? Chest x-ray? or do they just chuck you in the pot asap? How do you get back from the pot considering you are usually air lifted in your undersuit and thats it?
Also what do they do if you have lung damage?
What about follow ups?

I know what they do will be dictated very much by the severity of the bend - a CNS is going to be treated very differently to a skin rash. Also ABC's will be priority. Lets not be silly, we all know that.



I dont ever intend on getting bent, im just sat here wondering what happens when you do.....

[Fiona]

Helen

I can only tell you what happened to me.

Transported by Ambulance all of 500m from the Links Hotel to Seahouses golf club, Airlifted from Seahouses golf club in small helicopter by two very nice guys, pilot had a sense of humour as we headed at low level for a tanker and he said "look no hands". I think he did it to check I was OK.

Taken to hospital at South Sheilds, assessed and put on O2. Taken by ambulance to pot. Assesed again by doctor, usual tests - stand up, nerve damage to fingers etc, touch nose, thumb to fingers that type of test.

Bunged in pot for 6 hours.

Friends came to pick me up and take me back to Seahouses.

About it really

[DecoWarrior]

yep

i was in a bad way, doc had to come pic me up in her car from the boat, and lthen did all the usual tests and prodding and banged iv drips in all night!, i was in for 13 hours and then was told i was being shipped to aberdeen, with no money and only the clothes i was wearing, if it wasnt for some fool being prepared to drive from stoke to aberdeen i would have been stuck there!

regards

kieran

[JohnD]

I felt bad on saturday 3-4 hours after a trimix dive. totally uneventful and nothing was amiss till I started to get a bad headache and called the duty diving doc (07831151523) was driven from Bristol to Poole in 2 1/2 hours and had full neuro exam, then spent the night in the pot 4 x 45 minutes on HeliOx with 10 minute Airbreaks and then started to decompress including a few hours at 6metres on O2. towards the end I was finding it hard to breathe from the mask in the pot so they put me in a Hood to deliver the mix. I am told that this was a side effect of the high doses of O2. been out of the chamber for 32 hours now and still finding myself short of breath and I am told that will pass. in the hospital afterwards I had full monitoring of my blood sats & pressure, chest Xray and then a full neuro exam before being discharged. I was quite looking forward to the chopper ride but there isnt quite room in my garden to land.....

[Mdemon]

Hope you are all mended now.

Surprised they took you to Poole - isn't Plymouth closer?

Originally Posted by JohnD

I felt bad on saturday 3-4 hours after a trimix dive. totally uneventful and nothing was amiss till I started to get a bad headache and called the duty diving doc (07831151523) was driven from Bristol to Poole in 2 1/2 hours and had full neuro exam, then spent the night in the pot 4 x 45 minutes on HeliOx with 10 minute Airbreaks and then started to decompress including a few hours at 6metres on O2. towards the end I was finding it hard to breathe from the mask in the pot so they put me in a Hood to deliver the mix. I am told that this was a side effect of the high doses of O2. been out of the chamber for 32 hours now and still finding myself short of breath and I am told that will pass. in the hospital afterwards I had full monitoring of my blood sats & pressure, chest Xray and then a full neuro exam before being discharged. I was quite looking forward to the chopper ride but there isnt quite room in my garden to land.....

[beanie]

Originally Posted by Mdemon

Hope you are all mended now.

Surprised they took you to Poole - isn't Plymouth closer?

quicker to get to

theres one in cardiff or swansea too ??

[JohnD]

it was a choice between the Wirral and Poole, but the Ambulance crew didnt want the extra risk of driving that close to Liverpool
I apologise for that last remark immediately, and slap myself on the wrist.
I think Plymouth wasnt an option for some reason, and Poole was available with 2 chambers ready to roll.

[Helen F H]

Originally Posted by JohnD

it was a choice between the Wirral and Poole, but the Ambulance crew didnt want the extra risk of driving that close to Liverpool
I apologise for that last remark immediately, and slap myself on the wrist.
I think Plymouth wasnt an option for some reason, and Poole was available with 2 chambers ready to roll.

Glad you are ok mate.

[Northern Monkey]

Hi Porg

I have had both sub clinical and clinical DCI.

Sub clinical is when the ache or tingle is mild, and you don't want to make a fuss. But really you better off going to the pot. I had a climbing accident 10 years ago and its the this spot that usually aches.

I have experienced pain in my elbow after a needle bending tri-mix dive at 6 metres underwater, this has got really sore during ascent and worse on the surface. I went back down to 6 metres very quickly did another 20 mins and resurfaced with no pain.

I have usually been able to pin the bend down to a cause, dehydration, low water temp, lack of sleep couple with the fact they are all sub 80 metres.

My only time in the pot was last year, I surfaced after videoing a trip into the sump tunnel in Dorothea. It was a red hot day, i made a few trips to carry video kit and diving kit down the ramp in a thick neoprene dry suit, drank no water. Did the dive no problems, deco was will within VR3 limits. At 6 metres started to get a pain in my right arm. I surfaced and told my mates I had a pain in my arm and was going to do another 20 mins at 6 metres. I jumped back in and kept the PPo2 at 1.5bar on the rebreather. On surfacing again the pain had become more of an ache. I took off my dry suit, it was still a read hot day. I drank some water, but I started to feel sickly, I did not want to be there. Within 1 hour I was lying in the back of the car feeling really shit, I drank 4 to 5 litres of water and was unable to pee. The call was made. The police sent a local bobby to review the situation; he was told by my friends that I needed the chamber and a fast means of transport.

The Seaking arrived and landed, I was placed on a stretcher and carried in to the chopper. It was the worst ride of my life. Once we got going the pain increased 10 fold, I was strapped down but my whole body started to spasm, I could not control it. The pain in my arm and shoulder was acute, my pulse was monitored with a finger clip. I continued to spasm and complain of the pain the crew were concerned enough that my shirt was cut open and I was connected up to the heart monitor via pads stuck to my chest. I line was put into my left arm and fluid was using to keep it open I was also orally given apple juice. The inside of the chopper is as hot as hell and noisy so you can hardly communicate. My line on sight was the chopper ceiling, no sightseeing trip.

I was quickly transferred to the examination room on arrival, given a quick medical examination then transferred into the big chamber; I was in for about 9 hours. I spent the first 2 to 3 hours on the bed my body was still spasming with pain and I held my arm rigid and held onto to a piece of piping. This was the focus of the pain, and I thought if i didn't move it the pain would go away. After 3 hours I slowly turned the corner. I staggered out out the treatment into a bed in the hospital next door. I was re-examined in the morning, I still had pain in my wrist, elbow and shoulder. I continued a short course of 2 hour treatments ( the daily cancer treatment sessions) for the following days and the pain went.

The doctor said he had only seen this type of muscular skeleto DCI on three occasions and they were all trimix dives. He assured me I didn't have a PFO and told me to dive sub 80 metres a little more conservative, after a lay off of 4 weeks.

I have dived since but not greater than 85 metres yet.

The key lessons to be learnt are

Drink plenty of water, your pee should be clear pre-dive.
Not ignore any signs of DCI, get to the chamber, they will not pot you unless you need to be.
Do not task load or overwork yourself at sub 80 metres.

Thanks again to the Staff at the North West Chamber, Ellesmere Port and RAF Valley for the worst ride of my life.

[Richie]

Long ago when only the likes of Haldane knew about these things (and he wasn't too sure about 'planes).
i.e late 60's, me v. young foolish and self taught (I see the garlic and crucifixes coming out now). I knew about the "limiting line" - no stop time and what a pretty graph it was. The theory being too that if you had a 71.2 cu ft bottle or less with "average" SAC you would always be within the limiting line.
Anyway- last day of hols in Malta, 3 dives to more than - I guess - 15m or so. Flew late evening. It hurt. Right shoulder was hot needle time. It must have been bad, the stewardess stopped and asked if I was alright. I smiled bravely and said I was fine.
I was when we landed apart from a residual ache. Spoke to the GP a bit later and he said it must have been a bit of a bend. That shoulder has always been a bit tender -Psychological?
The second was when working on the fish farm and we got caught up in a net and a suddenly free lift bag. Whehay Polaris time from 20+. Got a niggle from that and a "silly bugger" from the doctor in Oban (ex Navy hyperbaric so the rumour went).
So apart from being lucky, I have missed out on rides in choppers and sympathy from pretty nurses. I'm more careful though........and know a hell of a lot more.