Phlebas

Diving Turtle Reef With Dawn.wmv

2010-05-19T16:12:00.000-07:00

A rough guide to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

2009-09-10T15:19:00.000-07:00

What is the hyperbaric chamber?
The chamber is just a small room in which air can be compressed to a pressure greater than normal. If you have been in an airplane, then you have already been in a hyperbaric chamber. The chamber has port holes and a comfortable bench to lie down on.
What is hyperbaric oxygen therapy ?
We normally take in 21% of oxygen from the air that we breath. By putting the patient into the higher than normal pressure then giving them 100% oxygen, the beneficial effects of oxygen is greatly increased. It’s a painless procedure which can for example, reduce the size of the bubbles of nitrogen in the body and in doing so the damage to the tissues is decreased, reducing the pain and improving micro circulation. The hyperbaric oxygen that is dissolved in the plasma, helps to restore the damaged tissue. The subsequent reduction in swelling further improves circulation in the damaged areas. So in the case of a stubborn wound which refuses to heal because of poor circulation hyperbaric oxygen can increase microscopic blood vessel growth and improve the ability of white blood cells to fight off infection.
Why have I been referred to the hyperbaric chamber?
There are two main reasons why you may have been sent to the chamber.
Decompression Illness (the bends).
This is where excess nitrogen bubbles have been trapped in the body, causing DCI.
DCS type 1. Joint pain & skin bends only. Caused by the physical effect of the bubbles and immune reaction on the tissues.

DCS type 2. Typically due to bubbles in the nerve tissue of the spinal cord or brain, causing a wide range of neurological problems including, but not limited to:

Numbness and tingling in the limbs particularly in the fingers and toes.
Limb weakness or paralysis
Back or torso pain.
Urinary retention (cannot pee).
Lack of balance, poor gait and poor co-ordination.
Extreme fatigue.

Wound Healing.

You may have a wound that is not responding to antibiotics and you may suffer from poor circulation. This can be helped by hyperbaric oxygen as it forces oxygen to those tissues which have been damaged, encourages blood vessels to grow, which will promote and accelerate healing.

What should I expect when I arrive?

When you arrive you will introduces to our staff and then you will asked to sign a consent form for your hyperbaric treatment. You also need to provide some form payment, which is usually a DAN insurance card or a credit card. You will be supplied with suitable clothing, and be asked if you have anything flammable like lipstick or vaseline in your pockets. Because hyperbaric oxygen therapy requires 100% oxygen, any form of smoking material, electrical appliances, lighters, books and magazines are prohibited. If you watch is not used for diving, then you should leave it with a friend or family member.

We will give you an oxygen mask, to try on your face so that it’s comfortable for you. You will also be asked to describe your symptoms before you go into the chamber and during treatment so we can monitor your progress. Our staff will be with you throughout the treatment so feel free to ask any questions.

How will it feel?

For the first 10 minutes or so the chamber will be quite hot and noisy, but it will get cooler and quieter once we have reached the required pressure. If it gets too cold, you can have a blanket, or if the noise is too much for you, then let the attendant know that’s with you.

You will feel the pressure change in your ears, just like in an airplane. If you have problems equalizing your ears, or feel any discomfort, you should tell your attendant immediately. You will be given an oxygen mask to put on and encouraged to breath deeply. The remainder of the treatment should be relaxing, you will occasionally be asked to remove the oxygen mask for an air break, and take in fluids. Non greasy foods are allowed in the chamber like fruit or granola bars; ask the staff if you are not sure. If you need to go to the bathroom there is a bed pan and male urinal under the bed. The attendant will move into the outer lock and the TV monitors switched off for privacy. You are encouraged not to “hold on” as this can cause great discomfort, especially on the ascent.

How long will the treatment last?

If you have been diagnosed with DCS then the treatment should take about 5 hours however this will depend on your progress and what the doctor who admitted you decides. Once you have had a treatment, you will then need to go back to the doctor to be evaluated. The doctor may send you home, or may recommend more treatments.

Wound healing treatments tend to last 2 hours but often multiple treatments of 20 or more are required. These tend to be scheduled either in the morning 6 – 8am or afternoons 4-6pm.

Family members and friends are welcome to come along in the first instance, however we find that after the treatment has started many leave and return near the end of the treatment.
What if I am a smoker?
To get the most from your hyperbaric oxygen therapy, you are encouraged not to smoke as this causes the blood vessels to constrict which in turn decreases blood and oxygen supply to the tissues, this negates the effects of hyperbaric oxygen.
Where can I find out more information.
The Divers Alert Network. Website http://www.diversalertnetwork.org
Hyperbaric Medicine at Duke University. http://hyperbaric.mc.duke.edu/index.htm
Or call DAN +1 919 – 684 - 4326

Caribbean championships Barbados 2009

2009-06-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

Cayman 54 - Barbados 3.

I dont think the Bajans realised what had happened since we scraped a win from them in the 7s in the Bahamas and they beat us once For sure, we were a different team out there on Sunday June 21st.

We played like were drilled to play, with the forwards making penetrating runs for 2 to 3 phases before giving it out to the backs. Olive made some really god runs and intercepted one ball for an easy try. Loletta also did some good strong running and she also scored.

I came on in the second half to replace Caroline and had a good game, doing what i do best, scrapping for the ball, and stealing it...we lost a little strucuture in the second half as we allowed ourselves to play to the ability of the bajans, who were, by now, bickering amongst themselves. This is always a good sign! Karen Hart and Jess had outstanding runs as did Jo Zeigler who put in some monster tackles. the referee was shit!missing alot of hands in the ruck and not stopping the game in time fo (potential) injuries.

Rowena desprately wanted to score a try herself, she went to take the ball over but was stopped a foot short, I was supporting her and was about to take the ball out and put it down, when Lisa said "I have it" she took it from me and moved it 6 inches to score the try! Of course the team took the mick out of her..saying once again she has stolen the try from Sharon...Lisa rang Mick and told him
, which was just as well becuase
Rowena, eventually scored a try in the last 5 minutes , which was just as well because we would never have heard the last of it!
We had won, and the pressure was off! We were all ecstatic. Ypu would not believe the relief and for the next 5 hours the game was all we talked about, and the piss taken out of everybody at some stage or another!

We lounged by the pool, drank beers and I made some Martinins whilst we all waited to have the compulsory ice bath..then it was off for a lovely meal followed by dirty dancing at McBrides in St lawrence Gap. What a great day!

In the news.Cayman net News. Tuesday June 9thhttp://www.radiocayman.gov.ky/servlet/page?_pageid=1816&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&_mode=3&p_thi_id=1

2009-06-10T08:01:00.000-07:00

CCMI Gets Lionfish Fighting Tools
09/06/2009
The recent appearance of the beautiful, but dangerous Indo-Pacific Red Lionfish in our waters has united Cayman's divers and marine conservationists in their efforts to preserve our treasured marine environment. A recent example of this union was a generous donation of specialized equipment to the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI) by the not-for-profit dive club, The Cayman Islands Divers - BSAC # 360."Thanks to the generous contribution of this specialized equipment from Cayman Islands Divers, CCMI is properly equipped to do our part in helping to control the population of lionfish here in the waters of the Cayman Islands." Commented Claire Dell from CCMI's Little Cayman Research Centre

The lionfish is a voracious predator capable of removing large numbers of native marine species from local waters with few, if any, natural predators in their newly invaded range. Combined with their ability to reproduce more often and at an earlier age than most other reef fish they have the potential to become the most abundant predator on the reef and rapidly devastate populations of local reef species if management and control measures are not implemented. Such a rapid and severe change to the balance of the ecosystem could have permanent affects on the structure and composition of the local marine ecosystem. With this in mind, the Department of Environment has taken the stand that all lionfish must be removed from our waters. "Red Lionfish should only be caught by those trained and licensed to do the job, they have venomous spines and can be harmful to humans. Specialized equipment is needed to safely capture the species" stated Bradley Johnson of the DoE. Members of the Cayman Islands Divers are very committed to preserving the marine environment, and promoting sustainability of the coral reef ecosystem. Several have recently attended the lionfish licensing sessions provided by the Department of the Environment.

"Many of us are actively involved in spotting and capturing this invasive species." newly elected Chairman, Sharon Whitmore confirmed. "We are pleased to be able to donate not just our time, but this much-needed equipment to the CCMI to help with their efforts in Little Cayman."Cayman Island Divers- Bsac-#360 is a not-for-profit club based in Grand Cayman whose members are divers of all ages and walks of life. All share a passion for diving and love to take part in a variety of social activities.

With a custom built 26ft dive boat, they are able to dive most sites around the island without the constraints of many commercial dive boats. It remains one of the most affordable, flexible and enjoyable ways of diving in the Cayman Islands. For more information about the club, contact Sharon Whitmore on 926 1966 or swhitmore@jghs.edu.ky or visit the website for further details http://www.bsac.ky/

The Central Caribbean Marine Institute was incorporated in 1998 as a non-profit 501 (c)3 organization. CCMI was established as an international charitable organization after becoming incorporated in the Cayman Islands (2002) and in the UK in 2004.Since its first years, CCMI has proven a valuable asset to the effort to understanding changing coral reef and tropical marine environments, and its research and education programs have established a solid foundation for future reef education and awareness in the Caribbean and for students and researchers from around the world.

For more information on the Central Caribbean Marine Institute, please see www.reefresearch.orgFor more information on the lionfish please visit the DoE's website at http://www.doe.ky/. To report a lionfish sighting please call the DoE on 949-8469, after hours contact information is also available at this number.PHOTO CAslands Divers working together against invasive species.L-R: Photo Caption: L-R, Bradley Johnson (DoE), Sharon Whitmore (BSAC), Claire Dell (CCMI), Jenny Tordoff (BSAC)
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Lionfish.http://www.londongrip.com

2009-06-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

2009-04-29T11:56:00.000-07:00

Invasion of Lionfish into Caribbean Waters

In the last few months individual lionfish (Pterois volitans) have been spotted in and around the dive sites of Grand Cayman. First spotted in Little Cayman, in March 2008, since then a multitude of reports have come in.

A Lionfish captured at Eden Rock dive site. Grand Cayman. (Chris Burrowswood)

They may look pretty but in actual fact their presence on here on our reefs could mean the total devastation of the reef fish populations over a very short period of time. In fact in the Bahamas the lionfish reduced the number of native fish by 79% over a 5 week period[1]. These fish have voracious appetites, picking juvenile fish at will that have not evolved any natural survival instincts against them. In many areas it is thought that the whole coral reef community may be decimated as a result of lionfish predation.

Photo of invasive and non invasive areas (taken from Florida Museum of natural History website).

Lionfish are native of the Red Sea and Indo – Pacific regions. This covers most of Western Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Japan and throughout Micronesia.

Photo of invasive areas
(ref NOAA)

The first documented sight of lionfish on this side of the Atlantic was in Florida in the late 1990s, but since then they have spread rapidly down the eastern sea board and are now been caught as far as Haiti and Puerto Rica.

Lionfish like to be in warm marine tropical waters like the Red Sea, they have been found in depths of up to 400ft, but are usually seen from 80 to 200ft. They don’t mind what type of habitat they live in. It could be either coral reef, or hard pan. The author has also seen them around and in wrecks. They tend to like overhead areas like caves, so you have to look up rather than down !. Lionfish hide in crevices during the night, coming out to hunt in the morning.

Lionfish are conspicuous predators, slow moving, they seem to glide along the reef without a care. Like “boys in the hood” The spines are not used for killing but for cornering their prey. The bright colours; dorsal, anal and pectoral spines ward off potential predators, and as a consequence they tend to be the top fish in the food chain, indeed even the nurse sharks don’t like them and spit them out when they have been fed them.

Lionfish had thought to be brought into Caribbean waters in the ballast of cargo ships however; studies have shown this to be erroneous. It is now known that most of the lionfish in our waters now came from just 8 fish (1 male and 7 females!) that were accidentally released in Biscayne Bay, Florida when an private aquarium broke during Hurricane Andrew in 1992. However since then it’s thought that other private aquarists have released fish into the water, probably by flushing them down the toilet.

So what can be done about this invasion? The answer is that we cannot possibly stop the lionfish now that they are in our waters. Scientists have had very little base line information to go on since there was never a problem in their native habitat, where the ecosystem has remained in balance for hundreds of years with the lionfish a part of it. It’s only now that information is being gathered in order to understand the nature of these creatures.

The news is not good for the native fish, the bottom line is that these fish reach sexual maturity very quickly and breed all year around. The female release two egg masses that are then fertilized by the male. These float rise to the surface when, after a few days the larvae become free floating. The larval stage lasts between 25 to 40 days, enough time for them to reach far on the Yucatan and Caribbean currents [2]

In order to control and manage the invasion a culling program has been introduced here in Cayman as well as in Bermuda and the Bahamas. In Cayman the Department of the Environment (DOE) invited, first local dive masters and later the general public, to a presentation given by a NOAA/REEF/USGS representative. The talk was aimed at educating local dive operators and showing them the best (tried and tested) technique for capturing the lionfish. Spear fishing had been tried but the most effective way is by using two nets and then, carefully grabbing the body using spine resistant gloves, and putting them into a clear dry bag. (see photo)

The lionfish are then collected by the DOE, the gill filaments are removed for DNA testing and their biological data collected.

There have been many workshops all around the Caribbean to facilitate early detection and a rapid response to this threat; licenses have been issued to those people who attended the talk as local marine laws prohibit the taking of any marine organisms from protected waters.

These programs represent the front line in the defense against invasive species and the work of organizations such as REEF have been incremental in finding; not just lionfish but other invasive fish around the world.

At the time of writing this article some 60 lionfish have been captured in Cayman waters and over a hundred have been reported. However, as is often the case, for every one lionfish seen there are many not seen lurking in cracks and crevices ready to ambush defenseless species of fish that have never seen the like of these in their existence. They have no chance, adaptation and evolution takes hundreds of years and by then it will be too late for this population. All we can do is, like King Canute, try and hold back the tide.

Acknowledgements

Photos : Chris Burrowswood

NOAA

Bradley Johnson, Department of the Environment. Cayman Islands

REEF

[1] Albins MA, Hixon MA. (2008) Invasive Indo – Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans reduce recruitment of Atlantci coral – reef fishes. Mar Ecol Prog Ser Vol 367:233.
[2] Morris et al (2008) Biology and Ecology of the Invasive Lionfish, Pterois miles and Pterois volitans. Proceedings of the 61st Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute. Nov 10-14.

Ecology: Cayman Coral Phlebas & Shaw

2009-04-28T10:14:00.000-07:00

Ecology: Cayman Coral Phlebas & Shaw

Cocktails in the Bahamas

2009-02-18T09:35:00.000-08:00

Gustav August 29th 2008

2008-08-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

I took this this morning as I moved Miles's car up onto higher ground. They ave picketed the mosquito planes ready for the hurricane. Gustav is about 200 miles away at the moment but its still heading right for us.

I have moved some stuff up a few feet so I am hoping that we dont get too much water damage. Miles (my new house mate) was flown out to Miami yesterday so he could still work.

Facebook | My Photos - Dawn and Sharon at the Ritz (Dawns last day on GC this year)

2008-08-12T05:08:00.000-07:00

Facebook My Photos - Dawn and Sharon at the Ritz (Dawns last day on GC this year)

Piccies of Pippa

2008-05-20T14:49:00.000-07:00

Hakuna Matata: Hammerhead seen on the North Wall

2008-04-14T09:25:00.000-07:00

Hakuna Matata: Hammerhead seen on the North Wall

www.bsac.ky

Hammerhead seen on the North Wall

2008-04-14T09:22:00.000-07:00

We saw a HAMMERHEAD..We saw a hammerhead! Not only did we see it, we hung out, for a good 10 mins as she cruised the top of the wall at Black Forest...what a joy. You could hear our hearts beating faster, the oxygen surged through the bronchioles as we witnessed something majestic. A perfect example of evolution, a top predator.
Okay, now we are calm we can also talk about Tarpon Alley, it seems that the Black Tip Caribbean Reef Shark has made this his territory. We (like Peter and Ron on their last dive) pretty much dropped onto him. The vis was good at first and then regressed as the tide rolled in, however the big pelagics seem to favour this, so we should too.
We pottered along to the next dive destination, enjoying a small boat population, and having Jack all to ourselves. Which is to say, that we let Jack do all the work whilst the chics gossipped!
Black Forest was awesome, Sharon and Pippa spotted the Eagle Ray at the wall, Shaz signalled to her buddy, however all she could see was a pair of legs wiggling around in the water column, as he was face down in the coral photographing something random. When Jack did emerge he saw a beautiful Eagle Ray, as did Laura. She left us, and then returned to the top of the wall to forage. It was lobster city down there too, much shaninigans were going on for sure, within the Lobster Community. It was like the election for the next American President, with Lobsters vying for positions, and territory, not to mention the other power plays that were taking part between those of opposite genders....
The shark came along as we all headed up for our safety stop. First a grey ghost and then a manifestation of a pure killer. She hung around a long time (unlike the Black Tip) she came in for a good look too, extremely curious. There was one time where she turned to face us, with her teeth bared..I was not frightened..all I had to do was to stab Jack, take his camera (well, its expensive) and reach for the surface whilst he got eaten!
Jack got some wicked shots of her, at one point we had the hammerhead and an Eagle Ray both in our sites! We were all mega excited at the safety stop, Pippa less so as she had dived with shoals of Hammerheads in the Cococ Is..yawn) but it was a great day. "We do not remember days, we remember moments" this was one of them.

Shore diving Babylon Reef w. Eileen

2008-04-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

We did this at about 3.00pm Thursday. The best way to get out is to tow your gear through the surf zone, have a snorkel in and I put training shoes on to get over the rough coral. Its a good 20 minutes swim out, we took back bearings off the car as we lost the bouys in the swell occasionally, it was fun though. There was a little surface current, however I think this is normal for this area.

Having reached the bouy, we had a breather, discussed escape plans and descended into the deep blue. I tied my Nikes onto the bottom of the mooring bouy, hoping that I would be able to find them on the return!

The reef here, every diver knows, is awesome, Eileen and I took our time and dived along the wall some 120ft on Nitrox 32, then emerged at the top with well over 1500psi in our tanks. We were encouraged when we saw the first mooring bouy, and then the seconcd one with a pair of Nikes still tied to it! Such is Reef life that a litle Damselfish had already claimed the shoes as his house and was very upset when I started untying them, attacking my fingers all the while.

We had taken a bearing from the bouy back to the shore, and knowing that Eileen had just fisinished her advanced course, one dive which, was on Navigation, I handed her the compass to lead us back into the shore. Little did I realise that she would attack this challenge with gusto, as she raced off, eyes glued to the compass.....it was all I could do to slow her down :)

The nav was spot on and we just had to negotiate the surf zone. I got mashed up a little on some coral outcrops ( wear a full body wetsuit!) but it was a fantastic dive.

We eneded a great day with red wine, corona, a roast chicken from Hurleys with bread and a greek salad. We stopped off at Durty Reids, then got wrecked playing pool at the Country and Western...awesome!

Memorable moments and friends.

2008-04-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

Orland Rugby Tour, we lost badly but won the boat race. Abobe, Pippas birthday bash at Compass Point. Great fun!

Ben, Sian, Jenny and myself .
The shark we saw on our dive March 23rd. She was out patrolling (us!)

Left, Peter and Uli trying to look as if they know what they are doing! It is Ulis catamaran though. We had a lovely morning on this "shake down cruise.

Eco weekend

2008-04-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

North Wall dive sites

2008-03-22T02:01:00.000-07:00

We had a somewhat bumpy ride around the headland but it was well worth it as we all geared for a our first dive on the North Wall this year.

Blue Pinnacle is a beautiful dive with a panoromic swim through into an azure blue abyss. A gyre of horse eye jack circled slightly above us as we then headed East down the wall. The vis was excellent, as we spotted a lobster that would feed at least four people and a large crab that would probably do the same. A 5ft green lobster layy exposed at about 70ft for us all to see. The top of the wall was teeming with spawning parrot fish and creole wrasse. Four eyed butterfly fish fought for territory.

The surface interval was longer than anitcipated, we tucked inside the reef at Stingray city moorings and listened to diving stories (nightmares?) as told by Terry and Adam (Gibbons) so it was 1.35 mins before we eventually got back into the pool at Eagle Ray Pass. Almost immediately we saw an Eagle Ray above us, Ben raced to get a shot. Julia, Rhonda, Terry and myself watched as the Ray almost decided to come back towards us, change her mind and headed out over the wall again. We saw her again (I think) later on in the dive. We saw three turtles, one huge girl, who had 2 remora under her and some big barnacles on her back. At the top of the wall there was a slight current but this only brought more fish out to feed onthe plankton, especially the Bar Jacks. It was all good.

What a lovely way to start the Easter holidays, 2 great dives with ya mates..cant ask more than that, except of course, if we had ALL of our friends with us this day..Get well soon, Jenny and Sian. Peter and Jack...step away from the household chores! Pippa, "wha'appen in Cuba girl?"Happy Easter everyone

The best of 2006

2007-01-05T12:54:00.001-08:00

The best of 2006

Nimrod my Hungarian Vizsla

2007-01-05T12:04:00.000-08:00

An article on the Hyperbaric Chamber

2007-01-01T11:24:00.000-08:00

Diving and Diabetes

The hyperbaric chamber of the Cayman Islands:

I think it’s fair to say that most people do not what a hyperbaric chamber is, or what it does. Not to mention that it is attached to the hospital, as much a part of treatment as the A&E or the Psychiatric Ward. Perhaps most divers have not come across these either, thank goodness.

It sounds like scientific jargon so it must be complicated and for only the elite to know about, unless of course you have a relative who has diabetes, and then, it becomes as important to them as scuba divers. So how come? What is a hyperbaric chamber and what on Earth has diabetes and decompression sickness got to do with it?

I want to start off by saying; I am no expert on either subject, and I am certainly not a brain surgeon. However, I am a diver and an educator with a penchant for writing. I want to expose to you a world that you may not be familiar with and in doing so I hope that you will understand more of what happens in our chamber on the Cayman Island.

I was initially shown the chamber by a work friend, and when I found out that there was a course, to learn to how run the chamber by some diving friends of mine, I wanted to get involved. The first evening of the course 14 people of all genres, all filed into a very small room filled only by a cylindrical gray metal tube about 60cm in diameter, with lots of gauges and valves. You can imagine how intimidated we all where, and it was not just the valves and gauges, it was the 8 or so pipes that joined these and ran from the steel, foreboding cylinder, up to the ceiling, turned a right angle and disappeared into another room.

The room the cylinder was housed in, is part of the hospital, a cold light blue room, austere, and sterile looking despite the smell of freshly brewed coffee which did little to detract claustrophobic minds from entering the chamber and closing the door. The feeling of been trapped inside what can only be described as a glorified pressure cooker can be too much for those with imaginations, so those that that had them, left after one look. It is human nature to be claustrophobic to a certain extent, so perhaps those that stay are not quite right in the head, for sure we are a weird bunch of people, in a nice way!

We were down to 12 when the training began. A brief overview of the course and then a summary of decompression sickness, the signs and the symptoms, interspersed with anecdotes from the lecturer, some were humorous, like trying to squeeze a 300 lb tourist from the cruise ship, having dived, unfit and dehydrated from his holiday. into a 60cm diameter tube for treatment. The treatment was successful; the patient recovered fully, but the human condition never goes away. Others where the treatment was not successful and the patient became a quadriplegic. We all push our limits, I think, one way or another. We would not be alive else right?

Most of the time divers come in with less severe, however, nevertheless upsetting symptoms; a skin rash on the tummy, and a general feeling of malaise. Numbness or aches in the joints, nausea or pins and needles after a dive, sometimes 48 hours after when the diver (usually on holiday) can no longer stand the discomfort, either the alcohol has wore off or the diver has taken a day off from diving and hence not realized that there has been an insult to the body.

Many of the symptoms can be treated by putting the patient into the chamber and pumping air into the chamber, thus compressing it, which is physiologically the same as taking the patient down to 60ft or 45ft in the case of diabetes. What does this do?

If a diver comes up too fast or is unfit, dehydrated, poor dive profile, there are many reasons why and how a diver can experience decompression sickness, and it is by no means an exact science, however, the principle is the same. Imagine screwing the top off a fizzy drink, all the bubbles of carbon dioxide rise to the top right, and they also get bigger. This is Boyles Law, the more pressure you put onto a gas the smaller the volume becomes, in other words, the deeper you go, the smaller the air bubbles become in your lungs. This is usually fine, your body absorbs the excess Nitrogen (from air, air is a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen and other gases) as you ascend from your dive slowly, however, sometimes things go wrong and the bubbles of Nitrogen get stuck in the tissues, your bodies immune system does not like this and begins to fight this insult. This is where all the pain comes from. The main areas that are affected are the joints and the nervous system, where there is little circulation of oxygen, which helps to heal these tissues, which release and absorb the gases slower to other tissues in the body. Bringing the patient back down to a depth of 60ft and giving them oxygen to breath, decreases the size of the bubble, giving almost immediate relief, and oxygen promotes healing of the tissues surrounding the insult. Sometimes 1 treatment will do, but other divers may need 3 or 4 before their body fully recovers, and tragically, some divers never recover fully.

Back to training the team, it takes 5 hours to treat a patient for DCS the system here requires a team of 15 people, a senior operator (they make the coffee) as well as all the important decisions, liaise with doctor and the rest of the team. There is then the outside operator who “drives” the chamber controlling the decent and ascent of the patient and the attendant. Making sure they come up slowly and descend slowly in addition to timing oxygen and air breaks that the patient must do if they are to heal. Lastly (but by no means least) there is the inside attendant who goes into the chamber with the patient and makes sure the patient is comfortable, and as relaxed as they can be. The attendant also monitors the efficacy of the treatment and informs the outside team of any team of any improvements or complications that may arise. All of the team have had to attend a course in CPR and First Aid, in addition to running the hyperbaric chamber and many if not all are enthusiastic and experienced divers willing to give up their time to put something back into the sport, and to raise their own awareness and hopefully make them better divers.

As a result, 12 of us spent three weeks of theory, re learning the gas laws and diving physiology. In addition to understanding what the gauges show and what the valves allow in and out. We followed the pipe work, switched air on and off. We were deafened by compressed air generators and learnt how to man handle our fellow trainees into and out of the chamber. There was some role modeling, we acted as a grumpy patient, in denial or not understanding what has happened to them. The grumpy model went well for the retirees, it came easily as they were roughly transferred from stretcher to treatment bed !

The course was great fun, nurses, teachers, lawyers , diving instructors and retirees attended. This meant many diving stories being told over coffee and water both inside and outside the chamber whilst doing practical sessions after the lectures. Some of the younger students struggled to make the 10am start on Saturdays, it reminded me of being back in university, hungover, tired, wanting only to get the handout, sign that we had attended the lecture (for about 5 mins) and retire to bed. The mind of the latter, still being at Hammerheads or at Sunset House after a night of partying.

So what has this got to do with diabetes? Well the hyperbaric chamber also helps patients , not just diabetics, but any one who has circulation problems which may require additional oxygen to promote the healing process. Diabetics fall into this category. Oxygen, when breathed in at higher pressure, is pushed into the cells that need or promote the healing process. Thus, whereas a toe or foot may need to be amputated, with treatment some of the circulation and hence healing can be brought back thus saving the limb, and improving the morale and quality of life of the patient.

The use of hyperbaric chambers is becoming more and more widespread both in the medical and the sporting community world wide. I think we are lucky a) to have one in the first place and b) one of the best run and staffed chambers in the Caribbean. We also happen to be one of the busiest!
I hope you have enjoyed the tour and that we don’t see you in the near future.

The Hyperbaric chamber

2007-01-01T11:15:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone.
Below is the photo we took, of a manta ray whilst diving at Babylon Reef last week. Awesome isn’t it! We were doing our safety stop at 20ft when the ray passed over us. Sights like this make up for certain other aspects of life ;-)