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buffers to address differences in susceptibility or risk
tolerance. Gradient factors offer one useful option for
altering conservatism (see “Gradient Factors,”
Alert Diver
Fall 2015 or
AlertDiver.com/Gradient_Factors ).
EXERCISE
The timing and
intensity of exercise
can have substantial
influence on
decompression safety.
In the broadest sense,
exercise during the
descent and bottom
phases of a dive
promotes circulation
and increases
inert gas uptake,
effectively increasing
decompression
stress. Conversely, light to moderate exercise during
the ascent and stop phases will increase circulation
and promote safe inert gas elimination, thus reducing
decompression stress. Problematically, though, higher-
intensity exertion during the ascent and stop phases or
soon after the dive can promote bubble formation and
increase the effective decompression stress. The best
prepared divers will have the equipment and skill to
control the amount of exercise needed before, during
and after diving.
The best prepared divers will have the equipment and
skill to control the amount of exercise needed before,
during and after diving. Exercise intensity should be kept
as low as possible during the descent and bottom phases.
Light exercise — on the order of no more than two to
three times resting effort (2.0-3.0 metabolic equivalents
[MET]) and with very low forces on the joints — is
appropriate during the upper ascent and stop phases
to help increase the rate of inert gas elimination. High-
intensity exercise and exercise involving high joint forces
should be avoided before and after dives. If undesirable
physical activity is required, dive profiles should be made
conservative to compensate for the increased risk.
THERMAL STATUS
The thermal status of a diver can also have substantial
influence on decompression status. A study by the U.S.
Navy provides an elegant example.
2
Dives were divided
into two phases: descent and bottom, and ascent and
stop. The water temperature was kept constant in a given
phase to produce “warm” or “cold” (more accurately,
“cool”) status.
Dives were carried
out with the
phases matched
(“warm/warm”
and “cold/cold”)
and mismatched
(“warm/cold”
and “cold/warm”) with divers exercising throughout. The
greatest differences in DCS were evident between “warm/
cold” and “cold/warm” exposures (Figure 2). The “warm/
cold” condition yielded a DCS rate of 22 percent. The
“cold/warm” condition was extended to more than twice
the bottom time and still yielded a DCS rate of only 1.3
percent. Even if the effects of this study are exaggerated by
a prolonged ascent/stop phase that allowed for bottom-
time changes, the results document a dramatic impact by
the timing of thermal status variations.
Figure 2. Thermal status and decompression stress
(developed from material in Gerth et al. 2007
2
)
Diver thermal status — not water temperature, a
potentially very different thing — will almost certainly
be measured in the future, but meaningful monitoring
will require new devices and much research data to
adjust algorithms appropriately.
Maintaining a neutral thermal status during the
descent and bottom phases — certainly avoiding
unnecessary overheating — and trying to achieve a mild
warm status without high-intensity exercise during
ascent will reduce the risk of DCS. The difficulty comes
in reconciling optimal practices for decompression safety
with divers’ desires and normal practices. Pouring warm
water into wetsuits predive or placing chemical hot packs
inside suits is being replaced by active heating garments
available for both wetsuits and drysuits. The problem
with these strategies is that they increase inert gas uptake
early in the dive when uptake is already typically highest.
Since warm water and chemical hot packs lose their
effectiveness over time, and active heating systems can
weaken or fail, the warm-cool pattern associated with the
greatest risk of DCS can develop.
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