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Altitude Diving on a Closed Circuit Oxygen Rebreather

ABSTRACT

Conard, J. Altitude Diving on a Closed Circuit Oxygen Rebreather. Undersea Hyperb Med. 2023 Fourth Quarter; 50(4):391-393.

Closed-circuit rebreather diving is becoming more common. Rebreathers are complicated, adding
to the stress of diving. Also adding to this complexity in the presented case is diving at a high-altitude, cold-water reservoir in Colorado. One diver experienced an oxygen-induced seizure at depth. The other diver had a rapid ascent with loss of consciousness. In this case, two experienced divers recovered from a possible devastating dive. Fortunately, they both returned to their pre-dive baseline health. Dive plan- ning is important, but as in this case, dive execution is paramount. This is a clinical case for an uncommon event presenting to an emergency department.

Keywords: altitude; atmosphere absolute (ATA); hyperbarics; carbon dioxide (CO2); open circuit (OC); oxygen closed-circuit rebreather (O2 CCR); partial pressure of oxygen (PO2); self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (scuba)