fred (11/24/82)
RE: Article by Richard King " A rule of thumb used by divers is that a sudden reduction of pressure by a factor of two is safe." While perhaps that statement is considered true for gas coming out of your blood stream as is the case for the bends it is not at all true in terms of being "safe". All scuba divers are taught to ascend no faster than their bubbles and to breath normally. The greatest danger is not from the bends but from not letting your lungs ( which have been pressurized to compensate for the hydrostatic pressure) purge the two or more times the amount of air they can safely hold at the surface. If this is not done the lungs can rupture forcing large gas bubbles into the blood stream which have a nasty way of stopping the flow of blood to the brain. This problem is the greatest danger to untrained people trying to dive. Something happens to their air flow, they panic and try to reach the surface HOLDING THEIR BREATH. The results are usually fatal or worse. I don't know how this affects some of the other arguments flying around the net about low pressure space suits, I just didn't want people getting the wrong idea and try to scuba dive in their pools because it is "less than 10 m" and therefore safe. With out proper training IT IS NOT SAFE EVEN IN 6 FEET OF WATER. HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL Fred - BTL INDY