Decompressing recompression chamber attendants during Australian submarine rescue operations.
Diving Hyperb Med
; 47(3): 168-172, 2017 Sep.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28868597
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Inside chamber attendants rescuing survivors from a pressurised, distressed submarine may themselves accumulate a decompression obligation which may exceed the limits of Defense and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine tables presently used by the Royal Australian Navy. This study assessed the probability of decompression sickness (PDCS) for medical attendants supervising survivors undergoing oxygen-accelerated saturation decompression according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 17.11 table.METHODS:
Estimated probability of decompression sickness (PDCS), the units pulmonary oxygen toxicity dose (UPTD) and the volume of oxygen required were calculated for attendants breathing air during the NOAA table compared with the introduction of various periods of oxygen breathing.RESULTS:
The PDCS in medical attendants breathing air whilst supervising survivors receiving NOAA decompression is up to 4.5%. For the longest predicted profile (830 minutes at 253 kPa) oxygen breathing at 30, 60 and 90 minutes at 132 kPa partial pressure of oxygen reduced the air-breathing-associated PDCS to less than 3.1 %, 2.1% and 1.4% respectively.CONCLUSIONS:
The probability of at least one incident of DCS among attendants, with consequent strain on resources, is high if attendants breathe air throughout their exposure. The introduction of 90 minutes of oxygen breathing greatly reduces the probability of this interruption to rescue operations.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Bases de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Oxigenoterapia
/
Navios
/
Medicina Submarina
/
Pessoal de Saúde
/
Trabalho de Resgate
/
Descompressão
/
Doença da Descompressão
/
Doenças Profissionais
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Oceania
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Diving Hyperb Med
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Austrália