44
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WINTER 2014
Within a few minutes of surfacing
from his second dive of the day,
Richard Stroh began to experience
numbness in his left arm. It quickly
became clear to him it was DCS.
M
y husband, Richard, suffered a dive
accident on Sept. 17. Upon surfacing
from his second dive of the day, his
left hand began to go numb. The
numbness persisted, and within moments a sensation
of pins and needles began to work its way up his left
arm. He realized within a few minutes that the feeling
was getting worse. The implication of the numbness,
tingling and pain was obvious: He was bent (i.e., he
had decompression sickness).
The DAN® classes we had taken in the past and
the knowledge we had gained from reading Alert
Diver allowed us to remain calm and gave us some
understanding of what would come next. That was just
the beginning of how DAN helped us.
Richard started breathing pure oxygen within
minutes, and the boat crew administered it skillfully.
At that point another, faster, dive boat agreed to take
Richard to a dock to get him to the closest appropriate
medical facility. Prohibited from accompanying
Richard, I waited on the liveaboard with nothing
to do but to worry and bide my time. I had no way
of knowing his condition, what was happening, the
severity of the hit or if he was even alive.
I took comfort in the fact that DAN was aware
of what was happening and would provide expert
medical consultation if needed. I was relieved by DAN’s
assurance that Richard was being treated by the best
physician available and that DAN was in some way
aiding in his care. We were in a remote area of the
B Y S H E I L A S T R O H
RESEARCH, EDUCATION & MEDICINE
//
D A N WA S T H E R E F O R ME
Cared for in the
Turks and Caicos
STEPHEN FRINK
STEPHEN FRINK
