Rant: That 'decompression sickness is fake' guy on the job site

Worked with a diver named Mike on a bridge repair near Seattle last fall. He swore up and down that decompression sickness was overblown and skipped his stops all the time. Three weeks in, he came up too fast from a 100 foot dive and spent two days in a chamber with bent joints. I was skeptical it could hit that fast, but seeing him unable to grip a wrench convinced me. Has anyone else run into someone who thinks the rules don't apply?

2 comments

2 Comments

milap351mo ago

God that's rough. I knew a welder on a rig in the Gulf who called safety meetings "waste of time" and ended up with a nasty case of the bends after a 80 foot bounce dive. He was out for two weeks, couldn't even hold a coffee cup without shaking. It's crazy how fast that stuff humbles you, one bad trip and you're done. Glad Mike got to a chamber in time, some guys learn the hard way.

alicecooper1mo ago

People act like one bad dive turns you into a vegetable but a lot of times it's just a bad day and guys bounce back fine. I've seen guys get bent on a shallow 60 foot job and walk it off with some oxygen and a beer later that night. Not saying the bends ain't no joke because it can mess you up if you really push it, but the whole "one mistake and you're ruined forever" narrative gets old. Mike probably got shook up more than anything, chambers are standard for a reason and they work most of the time. That welder story sounds like an outlier or maybe he already had something wrong with him, you know how guys exaggerate. Respect the safety stuff but don't buy into the fear mongering, the human body is tougher than people give it credit for.