Blue Season Bali Newsletter 2010
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Tips from the Experts - This month we will be looking at decompression sickness, also called DCS.
Let’s kick off with a basic definition and some ways of detecting decompression sickness. Decompression sickness is a medical condition caused by excess nitrogen forming bubbles in the blood vessels and body tissues following a dive. These bubbles can then block blood flow and nerve signals. Some of the symptoms associated with this condition are pain in the arms, legs or torso; local numbness, tingling or paralysis; dizziness and vertigo; unusual fatigue; skin itch and shortness of breath.
The signs associated with the decompression sickness are blotchy skin rash, staggering, coughing spasms, collapse and unconsciousness. Back in the old days, divers would be using dive tables to avoid this condition. These tables were used in conjunction with a depth gauge and a dive watch and would allow the diver(s) to determine the amount of time left at depth or to determine the necessary decompression stops on the way back to the surface.
Later the dive equipment manufacturers introduced the dive computer. These computers are also based on the dive tables but eliminate the need for doing mathematics whilst diving and they normally don’t make calculation errors. As time goes on the computers get more and more sophisticated, including air consumption and thus telling you whether you have sufficient air left to continue diving or informing you about the frequency of breathing and telling you to slow down.
As you can see divers may still choose to dive with dive tables, but if you have the choice between a dive table and a dive computer, the obvious choice would be the dive computer. The range of computers is vast and choosing the right one for your needs can be a bit tricky and that’s where our staff comes in handy. Please do not hesitate to bring up the subject with your Blue Season Bali divemaster/instructor or contact us if you want to get some help in choosing the right computer for your diving.
If you have any further questions about how to dive in currents please CONTACT US now.
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