SILVERDALE, Wash. – Sailors assigned to Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) – Keyport’s dive locker teamed up with Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 1, from Honolulu, Hawaii, to conduct a dive-related injury recompression chamber drill, July 20.
The drill kicked off at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island with a simulated victim suffering from arterial gas embolism, commonly known as “the bends,” being medically evacuated to NUWC to use their recompression chamber.
“An embolism is something that can be very dangerous,” said Navy Diver 1st Class Mark Larribas, the leading petty officer and dive supervisor of MDSU. “It is a bubble of gas, or air, in the body caused by ascending too quickly during a dive.”
“The most obvious symptom of an embolism is unconsciousness,” said Larribas. “Other symptoms someone could experience are numbness, paralysis, nausea and cognitive impairment.”
The simulated victim was dropped off at NUWC, evaluated by local EMT’s and then loaded into an ambulance to be transported to NUWC dive locker’s headquarters to be treated in the recompression chamber.
“The recompression chamber is used to simulate the pressures that you would experience during a dive,” said Larribas. “What it does for the victim during the treatment process is compress the air bubble that is in the victim’s body.”
After arriving to the chamber, the simulated victim, was put on oxygen, given an IV and had his vitals checked as Larribas and other Navy divers calibrated the pressure inside the chamber to help compress the air bubble in the victim’s body.
Following several tense minutes the victim regained consciousness and began undergoing a full neurological exam.
“In an actual scenario, after a successful chamber treatment the victim would be admitted in the hospital, by the diving medical officer, to undergo examinations and be monitored for at least 24 hours,” said Larribas. “Also, the victim would not be allowed to dive for 30 days.”
The drill successfully wrapped up following the treatment, examination and documentation of the victim’s symptoms.
“This drill gave us some valuable experience,” said Larribas. “In a typical scenario the amount of logistics and coordination that we had to use today wouldn’t be necessary, but going through all of this and being able to successfully treat a victim while communicating with everyone involved was very valuable, and we did a good job.”
| Date Taken: |
07.20.2017 |
| Date Posted: |
07.25.2017 16:14 |
| Story ID: |
242507 |
| Location: |
SILVERDALE, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: |
533 |
| Downloads: |
1 |
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This work, NUWC Divers and MDSU1 Divers Work Together, by Wyatt Anthony, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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