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SPRING 2014
I
t was late June, and my wife and I were
nearing the end of a two-week dive trip in the
Philippines. Our first week had been spent in
the Anilao area photographing macro subjects.
We did three dives each day on 32-percent enriched
air nitrox (EAN). Each of us carried two identical
Suunto computers, and we stayed clear of our
no-decompression limits. On the eighth day we did
not dive, instead transferring to the Puerto Galera area.
There our trip assumed a more relaxed pace, with spa
treatments and hot lattes after the morning dives. And
in line with this casual environment, we dived on air.
The third dive of the third day was close to the resort.
Current was minimal, and the dive was uneventful.
Soon after I surfaced, while waiting for the other divers
to board the boat, I began to notice a dull pain in my
back, just off center and slightly above belt level. At first
I mentally pushed it aside, but it steadily increased in
severity. “Oh no,” I thought. “I have a kidney stone.”
A quick double check of my computers confirmed that
I was at least 10 minutes shy of my no-decompression
limit during the last dive. As we pulled up to the dock, the
pain was getting to me, and it took some effort to carry
my camera rig up to the camera room.
The pain was somewhat higher and more centered than
previous kidney-stone episodes I’d experienced. I never
made it to the camera roomwith my wife’s rig. About
halfway there I began to lose all sensation from the waist
down, and I sat down in the nearest chair so I wouldn’t
fall. I called to my wife, who in turn called for oxygen.
Immediately the divemasters appeared with a dark green
case just like the one I have been practicing with for the past
12 years as a volunteer diver at my hometown aquarium.
After three or four minutes on oxygen the pain subsided,
and I regained full feeling in my lower extremities. In
the short time since I called for oxygen, the resort had
contacted the recompression chamber in Batangas and
arranged for a private boat to make the two-hour transfer.
The crew responded with a high level of professionalism
and accident-management expertise. My wife quickly
grabbed a few personal items, and, along with a resort
manager and a spare oxygen bottle, we left for the chamber.
Waiting for us on shore was a private ambulance
manned by a driver and a medical technician from the
hospital’s hyperbaric department. Upon arrival at the
hospital I was given a quick neurological examination
and then, together with a technician, I entered the
chamber for a U.S. Navy Treatment Table 6 — four
hours and 15 minutes after the dive.
My wife and I stayed at the hospital overnight, and as
a safety precaution I underwent a second Table 6 the
next morning. I was discharged with the admonishment
to not fly for three days and to avoid diving for 30 days.
The doctor also suggested that I contact my family
RESEARCH, EDUCATION & MEDICINE
//
D A N WA S T H E R E F O R ME
B y A l l a n J o n e s
DCS or Serendipity?
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY ALLAN JONES
