DORSET, UK ? A man who was injured while scuba diving off Dorset was airlifted to hospital for treatment of potentially fatal decompression sickness (the bends).
Updated: January 01, 1970, 01:00
DORSET, UK — A man who was injured while scuba diving off Dorset was airlifted to hospital for treatment of potentially fatal decompression sickness (the bends).
Authorities have not yet identified the victim but told CDNN he was scuba diving off the Predator II dive boat at the site of the Kyara wreck near Swanage on Sunday afternoon when he was severely injured.
The crew of the Predator II called for help and the Coastguard scrambled a rescue helicopter that airlifted the injured scuba diver to a hospital in Poole for hyperbaric medical treatment.
Coastguard officials said the injured scuba diver is expected to recover.
Decompression sickness (the bends)
Well over half of scuba divers afflicted with decompression illness report symptoms within 1 hour of surfacing from the dive, some 95% of victims show symptoms within six hours and almost all show symptoms within 24-48 hours.
Nitrogen bubbles released while resurfacing cause damage by mechanically obstructing blood flow and can also cause a local chemical disruption of the vascular beds.
Any scuba diving accident victim with signs or symptoms of decompression illness, which can cause death or permanent paralysis, should IMMEDIATELY SEEK EMERGENCY MEDICAL TREATMENT.
Specific symptoms include:
