Hazards of Diving
The many wonders of the underwater world have been exposed to the public due to diving. The biggest danger of diving is often hidden by the various kinds of beauty that the deep blue contains. Many people may think that the real danger to the divers would be sharks or boats or anything else that may exist in the water, but it is in fact Caisson disease or decompression sickness.
Also known as the bends, the disease can afflict anyone who goes from a high pressure to low pressure environment. The illness results from Henry's law, which says in short that when the pressure goes down, gas will form bubbles in a fluid. In the case of the bends, the fluid is the blood and the gas is typically nitrogen.
When the process occurs slowly, such as in an airplane cabin, the lungs can remove the gas before bubbles form. When it occurs quickly, such as a diver coming up too fast, it can result in itching skin and rashes, pain in the joints, paralysis and potentially death.
How to avoid the bends
Preventing the bends requires the diver to ascend slowly, allowing the gas to naturally de-gas. The number of variables to consider when calculating the time needed for slow surfacing makes it very difficult to determine. That is why the dive computer was invented. With its specialized timers and sensors, it can determine how deep the diver is and how long the diver was at that depth. Diving computers conduct its calculations in real time and determine how much time the diver needs to spend at a particular level to surface safely and prevent the bends.
Just about every brand and model of dive computer possesses the capability to sense the time that a diver has been at the varied depths. From this, the diving computer can estimate the divers blood-gas level and figure out: the time interval within which the diver can surface without worry about the bends; when and how long a diver should stay at each depth in order to safely surface; how deep the diver can go; and so on.
The Diver Interface
The display interface for various forms of divers computer have varying designs, however for the display to be practical it must be clearly read and visible while diving. It should not be cluttered, so the diver does not experience information overload. Further to this, better models of diving computers will be able to give useful information like water temperature, the required decompression time at each depth and dive resurface rate. The top ranging models are able to transmit the entire dive data to a computer for later analysis.
There are also other features that can really set the dive computer ahead of the pack. Once a diver has surfaced, these upper end diving computers will display the time before a diver can board an airplane. That is one of the quickest ways to achieve the bends, is to board an airplane too soon. Other upper end models will also keep track of the air supply available from the diver's tank.
When it comes to shopping for a dive computer, the consumer should identify how much information is provided on the display and if the display is clear and readable. They should also see what other features there are and what is being kept track of in terms of diving quantities. An excellent example of a quality divig computer would be the Suunto D9. - 16928
The many wonders of the underwater world have been exposed to the public due to diving. The biggest danger of diving is often hidden by the various kinds of beauty that the deep blue contains. Many people may think that the real danger to the divers would be sharks or boats or anything else that may exist in the water, but it is in fact Caisson disease or decompression sickness.
Also known as the bends, the disease can afflict anyone who goes from a high pressure to low pressure environment. The illness results from Henry's law, which says in short that when the pressure goes down, gas will form bubbles in a fluid. In the case of the bends, the fluid is the blood and the gas is typically nitrogen.
When the process occurs slowly, such as in an airplane cabin, the lungs can remove the gas before bubbles form. When it occurs quickly, such as a diver coming up too fast, it can result in itching skin and rashes, pain in the joints, paralysis and potentially death.
How to avoid the bends
Preventing the bends requires the diver to ascend slowly, allowing the gas to naturally de-gas. The number of variables to consider when calculating the time needed for slow surfacing makes it very difficult to determine. That is why the dive computer was invented. With its specialized timers and sensors, it can determine how deep the diver is and how long the diver was at that depth. Diving computers conduct its calculations in real time and determine how much time the diver needs to spend at a particular level to surface safely and prevent the bends.
Just about every brand and model of dive computer possesses the capability to sense the time that a diver has been at the varied depths. From this, the diving computer can estimate the divers blood-gas level and figure out: the time interval within which the diver can surface without worry about the bends; when and how long a diver should stay at each depth in order to safely surface; how deep the diver can go; and so on.
The Diver Interface
The display interface for various forms of divers computer have varying designs, however for the display to be practical it must be clearly read and visible while diving. It should not be cluttered, so the diver does not experience information overload. Further to this, better models of diving computers will be able to give useful information like water temperature, the required decompression time at each depth and dive resurface rate. The top ranging models are able to transmit the entire dive data to a computer for later analysis.
There are also other features that can really set the dive computer ahead of the pack. Once a diver has surfaced, these upper end diving computers will display the time before a diver can board an airplane. That is one of the quickest ways to achieve the bends, is to board an airplane too soon. Other upper end models will also keep track of the air supply available from the diver's tank.
When it comes to shopping for a dive computer, the consumer should identify how much information is provided on the display and if the display is clear and readable. They should also see what other features there are and what is being kept track of in terms of diving quantities. An excellent example of a quality divig computer would be the Suunto D9. - 16928
About the Author:
Ed J Price has had a marked interest in scuba diving for many years. For additional information on a recommended diving computer such as the Suunto D9 dive computer, visit his online resource site now.
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