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Can you help me, I’m Bent?
Anonymous - 8/13/2008 11:03 AM
Category: Anonymous
Replies: 7

I feel just like the Matchbox20 song. I had a little air embolism of the central nervous system with secondary decompression illness (bubbles in my head) and I am looking for a nuerologist that specializes in that sort of thing. DAN and I are playing phone tag. It would also be nice to hear from anyone else who went through this sort of thing, and what they did on subsequent dives to ensure it did not happen again (or if it did happen...?) I’m gonna write a blog about the whole thing, as soon as I get my thoughts in order (side effects??). Thanks!!
Anonymous - 8/13/2008 11:31 AM
Sorry to hear about your bend, and look forward to reading your blog, as you have chosen to post this as anonymous, I do not know from what part of the world you are from, here is a link that you may find of use http://londondivingchamber.co.uk/index.php?id=home

My advice is to contact these people Diving Medical Hotline: 00 44 207 806 4028
 
mo
Anonymous - 8/14/2008 11:05 AM


Dude, sorry to hear about that. If you’re bent, you need to get help quick. Not a matter to be toying with. Obviously you have DANs phone number so they will help you find a chamber close to you. Im guessing that you didnt have insurance for diving accidents? When you get better everyone would would be interested in reading your whole story. Good Luck.


Mike
Anonymous - 8/14/2008 1:56 PM


You probably already have this but in case you don’t...


DAN 24-Hour Diving Emergency Hotline: (919) 684-4DAN (4326) collect, or (919) 684-8111



Please let us know how things work out for you.


Sandra
Anonymous - 8/14/2008 4:21 PM
Most major US cities have chambers if your are in the US. What ever you do I wouldn’t fly to the chamber.
Anonymous - 8/15/2008 12:06 PM


What doctor have you seen to obtain your diagnosis? It is fortunate you are funtioning quite well for a CNS hit. DAN’s hotline is answered directly and you should only be waiting for a call back for proper treatment (hopefully obtained by now). For future reference here is a link including DAN’s contact directives with contact numbers in BLUE taken from site. http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/articles/article.asp?articleid=65


IV. Get the Injured Diver to the Nearest Medical Facility and Call DAN Call for local EMS first; then call DAN. Depending on the severity of the injury (see above), take immediate care for the diver’s Airway, Breathing and Circulation and contact local EMS. After making contact with EMS, then call DAN.


Call DAN’s Diving Emergency Hotline


+1-919-684-8111 or +1-919-684-4DAN (-4326) - to talk to an expert in diving medicine. Remember, +1-919-684-4DAN (-4326) accepts collect calls. DAN medical staff is on call 24 hours a day to handle diving emergencies.


When You Call the DAN Hotline:


1. The Hotline numbers are answered at the switchboard of Duke University Medical Center. Tell the operator you have a diving emergency. The operator will either connect you directly with DAN or have someone call you back at the earliest possible moment.


2. The DAN staff member may make an immediate recommendation or call you back after making arrangements with a local physician or the DAN Regional Coordinator. DAN Regional Coordinators are familiar with chamber facilities in their area, and because they’re qualified in diving medicine, they make recommendations about treatment.


3. The DAN staff member or Regional Coordinator may ask you to wait by the phone while he / she makes arrangements. These plans may take 30 minutes or longer, as several phone calls may be required.


This delay should not place the diver in any greater danger. However, if the situation is life-threatening, arrange to transport the diver immediately to the nearest local medical facility for immediate stabilization and assessment of his or her condition. Call DAN TravelAssist at 1-800-326-3822 (1-800-DAN EVAC) at this time for consultation with the local medical provider.


A Perspective The above tries to paint an accurate picture of DCI and its consequences; you should not conclude, however, that recreational diving is likely to cause injury. In fact, DCI is rare: researchers estimate between three and four cases of dive injuries reported for every 10,000 dives - approximately 1,000 cases per year. In addition the vast majority of the DCI cases are minor and treatment results in complete resolution with no impact on future diving activity.


DAN is not resting on its laurels, though. We’re continuing to look for ways to reduce the number of diving accidents even further. Project Dive Exploration (PDE) is a study designed to do just this. This study trains observers to recognize DCI, and they then collect dive profile data and compile information on behavioral and health aspects. The principal goal of PDE is to establish a recreational dive database that will serve as resource research in dive safety. To learn more about PDE, see www.DiversAlertNetwork.org/medical/research/pde/


Good Luck......Daniel
Anonymous - 8/15/2008 1:42 PM
So sorry that you took the hit. I hope you come out better than before. I was reading the answere to your blog, they all are right. Get medical attention as soon as possible.
Anonymous - 8/16/2008 3:12 PM
First when you say you are playing phone tag you can get a live person 24 - 7 with DAN’s emergency line. The correct number for the main DAN line is 919-684-2894 or 919-684-8111. Second you need to get clearance from the neurologist before you dive to be sure what you did is not a contraindication to diving again. What specifically happened to you to get you bent? All the information is critical before anyone can say what not to do next time you dive or what to do. I will say that you need to go over basic dive procedures. Anyone can get bent or AGE by diving deeper that 60 feet and coming up too quick. You can actually do everything perfectly and still get bent. It is a very gray science due to an individuals own physiology. Do you hold your breath? What is your ascent rate. Do you (or did you) bounce dive? How about stops (yes plural) one at 50 and a second at 20. I suggest you do more than phone tag DAN on some of this but I can tell you that they will refer you to someone in your area who can help in terms of dive medicine. Also did you do any recompression? What table? Feel free to contact back. I am the husband of ladyfirediver and I am a certified Dive Medical Technician Advance through DAN/Duke/NBDHMT. Good luck, Firediver57