The Diving Casualty, Aetiology and Management

Abstract

Adapted and revised from a dissertation read before the Society on Wednesday 1st February 1978

Abstract

The logarithmic increase in diving, both professional and amateur, is paralleled by an unprecedented rise in related morbidity and morality. Improved breathing apparatus and protective clothing are enabling man to remain in water longer and to dive deeper than ever before. Many diving accidents are untreatable owing to

the circumstances in which they occur: in a modern saturation diving system it may be impossible to bring a diver back to atmospheric pressure in less than several days — whatever the medical emergency. However, an increasing number of fatalities are occurring due to lack of knowledge of the basic signs and symptoms which a diver, surfacing obviously with great difficulty, may present.

This dissertation is an attempt to review and collate current work and knowledge of the medical problems presented by the underwater environment.