Date: 10 December 2018 Location: Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain Company: Otech Marine Services Client: Diamond Offshore Project: Ocean Great White - Thruster Anode Welding Incident Type: Type 2 Decompression Sickness (Vestibular Bends) Outcome: Diver airlifted to Tenerife for hyperbaric treatment THE INCIDENT A commercial diver suffered Type 2 DCS with vestibular symptoms (severe dizziness, balance loss, ear pain) after a 56-minute bottom time at 60ft. Within 10 minutes of surfacing, the diver reported symptoms. What followed was a textbook example of how NOT to manage a diving emergency. THE SETUP: Recipe for Disaster Aggressive Schedule Dive Tables Used: USN Rev. 7 at 60ft/63min What Should Have Been Used: Norwegian tables (more conservative) Reality: Diver had completed 5 consecutive days of hard repetitive diving Red Flag: No formal deviation request submitted for using non-Norwegian tablesThe Dive Profile (Last Day) Date Bottom Time Surface Interval Max Depth Table Used 05.12.18 38 mins N/A 16.6m 18.3/63 60/63 06.12.18 38 mins 38 hrs 18 mins 13.5m 15.2/92 50/92 08.12.18 57 mins 26 hrs 56 mins 17.4m 18.3/63 60/63 09.12.18 24-45 mins 24 hrs 45 mins 17.6m 18.3/63 60/63 09.12.18 56 mins 19 hrs 34 mins 17.6m 18.3/63 60/63 Bottom line: This diver was being pushed to the absolute limit, repeatedly. THE CRITICAL FAILURES 1. REFUSAL TO RECOMPRESS IMMEDIATELY What Happened: Diving Supervisor decided AGAINST using the onsite DDC Reason given: "Faulty O2 analyzer - can't control O2% in chamber" Diver left breathing surface O2 instead Why This Was Wrong: Treatment Table 6 requires recompression to 60ft IMMEDIATELY O2 analyzer failure does NOT prevent chamber use Could have vented chamber and topped up with fresh gasEvery minute delayed = increased risk of permanent injury The Expert Opinion: "We should have used the Otech DDC immediately (treatment table 6) with direct communication with the hyperbaric doctor and not wait for the ambulance and the Hyperbaric facilities of the island because Lewis had obvious neurological signs and

Hi everyone, I am opposed to the use of wrist‑mounted dive computers in commercial diving. However, I do wonder whether it might be worthwhile for commercial divers to wear a small electronic sensor of this type. The device cannot be read underwater, but it records and stores all dive information, which can later be downloaded to a computer. Several inshore divers here in Belgium have been using it for many years, and personally I find this kind of logging device very useful. In the event of a dispute, it can provide a great deal of valuable information about any problematic dives.