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| DECOMPRESSION SICKNESS (DCS) |
| Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor or health care professional. I am also not an expert in diving related health or medical issues. What follows is only a combination of personal opinion and my interpretation of articles I have read. If you think you might have a diving injury, don't just go by this article, seek professional medical attention immediately! If you use the information provided here, you do so at your own risk. |
| Note: Club member Steve B. DCS incident now under "DCS Stories" further down this page. |
| 10 WAYS TO AVOID DCS | |
| 1) REMAIN WELL HYDRATED | Having the proper level of hydration is one of the best ways to avoid DCS. Thirst is not a good indicatoin of your level of hydration. Avoid coffee, soda, and especially alcohol. Drink water until your urine is copious and colourless. Avoid diving if you are feeling hung over or tired. |
| 2) AVOID PUSHING LIMITS | Regardless of the table or computer, begin your ascent at least 5 to 10 minutes before reaching the no-deco limit. |
| 3) ASCEND SLOWLY TAKE A SFETY STOP | Never ascend faster then 30 feet/min. and before surfacing, take a safety stop at 10 to 20 feet. |
| 4) AVOID HIGH RISK PROFILES | Try not to do reverse profile diving (shallow dive followed by a deep dive). Avoid "sawtooth" (many ups and downs) dives. Start the first part of your dive in the deeper area of the dive, then move to the shallower area. |
| 5) EXTRA CAUTION ON MULTIDAY REPETITIVE DIVES | At Dive Resorts, you are often doing several dives a day over multiple days. DAN suggests this makes a higher risk for DCS. Reduce your risk by reducing the diving towards the end of the trip or take a day off in the middle to go sightseeing, or hang out at the beach. |
| 6) AVOID EXERCISE | Well, not really. Take it easy while under water, avoid heavy work. If if you can't avoid it, plan your dive as though you were 10 feet deeper. Avoid heavy exercise before or after a dive. |
| 7) AVOID DECO DIVES | Decompression dives require extensive planning and support, and are dangerous for the recreational diver to attempt. The very definition of recreational diving invloves no decrompression stops and no dive deeper then 130 feet. When you exceed the no-stop limits, you increase the risk of DCS. |
| 8) EXPOSURE SUIT | Avoid diving if you are chilled. If you are diving and become chilled, end the dive. Do not wait until you start to shiver. Even in the warm Carribbean waters, you will become chilled in any water less then 90F. Plan your dive as though it were 10 feet deeper when diving in cold water. |
| 9) FLYING | Remember not to fly after diving. DAN's guidelines: For a single no-decompression dive, a minimum preflight surface interval of 12 hours is suggested. For multiple dives per day or multiple days of diving, a minimum preflight surface interval of 18 hours is suggested. For dives requiring decompression stops, there is little evidence on which to base a recommendation and a preflight surface interval substantially longer than 18 hours appears prudent. |
| 10) BE RESPONSIBLE | Accept the fact that Diving, like may other sports involves risk. You can get DCS even if you do everything right. So reduce your risk, follow the above ways to avoid DCS. Also read the links below for more DCS information. |
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Beating The Bends by Alex Brylske ISBN 0-9639960-4-5 (1995) 
Beating The Bends by Alex Brylske ISBN 0-9413328-0-2 (1999)