SAFETY continued
ologist, neurologist, and a handful of other “ologists.” I un- derwent blood work, MRIs, and CT scans. My body was poked and prodded, as it should have been. Doctors questioned whether I had experienced a seizure and tried to induce one. Had they been successful, my diving days would have been over. My driving days could have been over as well. It was a very trying time. Ultimately, it was determined that I have an unusual form of migraine that is caused by light my brain doesn’t process the same way most brains do. The doctors at DAN could not unequivocally state that CO poisoning is the cause, but they did tell me they knew of enough similar cases to say there is a statistical correlation. The takeaway message is that CO poisoning can cause permanent cognitive, motor and other deficits days, weeks, or even years after exposure. It is likely that CO caused me to experience the issues I ex- perienced at DEMA years after my initial exposure. I’ll never know with absolute certainty. Luckily for me, my symptoms seem to be manageable. Some people have far more serious issues for the remainder of their lives.
For me, the remedy to date, as suggested by the medical experts at DAN, has been to wear polarized sunglasses whenever I feel the onset of an event like the one I experienced at DEMA. It has happened a handful of times over the years. Thankfully, the polarized sunglasses have done the trick, and in my case the symptoms have quickly disappeared. Closing Thoughts: For one day in my life, I was the luckiest unlucky person on the face of the Earth. CO con- taminated my scuba tank. I could easily have died, but I was able to get back to my dive boat and get help before I passed out. Thank my lucky stars! As Dalton's Law dictates, the partial pressure of a gas increases with depth. This means even tiny, trace amounts of CO inside a diving cylinder that might be harmless at the surface can quickly become toxic or fatal as a diver descends and the partial pressure of the contaminant increases. As that diver ascends, the partial pressure of oxygen (PO2) drops rapidly. Because CO binds to hemoglobin so efficiently and forms carboxyhemoglobin (COHb), the body's remaining oxygen transport capacity can be severely deficient. The sudden drop in available oxygen during ascent can cause an immediate blackout before the diver ever reaches the surface. That did not happen to me. Thank my lucky stars! I should have been given 100% O2. In the short run, I probably would have recovered much faster with fewer long-term issues. My CO event might well have resurfaced later in my life with conditions that are still ongoing. They could be worse, and someday they might be. If that is the case, I might never know the issues are related to a CO incident from years ear- lier. Had I known I could analyze the gas in my tank for CO, I like to think I would have. But I did not. Going forward I will use a CO analyzer to check for CO in every tank I ever use, no matter what the gas is supposed to be. That is something I need to do to be responsible for myself, my friends and family, those I dive with, and the diving community at large. I will also do what I can to encourage others to analyze their breathing gas before every dive. I hope you will join this effort. Author’s Note: I would like to thank Dan Orr, Stephen Frink,
and Dr. Jim Holm for sharing relevant information enabling me to be more precise regarding the infor- mation in this piece. And I’d like to thank DAN Drs. Jim Chimiak, Karen Van Hoesen, and Ian Grover for helping save my diving career. I am grateful to all.
email Marty
16 | SCUBA DIVING INDUSTRY
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