DivePro - Info

By Daniel Carson
NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY, PANAMA CITY

In simulated ocean depths of up to 1,000 feet, the 10 divers taking part in a Navy Experimental Diving Unit saturation dive start their decompression today.

The dive is taking place in NEDU’s three-story Ocean Simulation Facility, within an environment that, at 1,000 feet, the divers feel 445 pounds of pressure per square inch against their bodies and breathe in an atmosphere that’s only 1.4-percent oxygen; the remainder is helium.


Part of the dive’s mission is to test a system that reclaims used helium, as well as look at how the divers perform in the simulated conditions.

But NEDU Commanding Officer Jeff Spence said the dive also is important because there are only 12 to 20 experienced saturation divers currently working in the Navy.

Of the 10 divers, all volunteers, three have experience with open ocean saturation diving and the others are being groomed for the future.

“These guys have volunteered to be the next generation of Navy saturation divers,” Spence said Thursday.

NEDU hosts, on average, about one saturation dive a year.

The divers left the surface April 2 and reached 900 feet on Tuesday, Spence said, with prior stops at 100, 300 and 600 feet.

They will undergo 10 days of decompression before emerging April 23, he said.

The divers have an extensive support team overseeing their dive at all times, with the help of eight television monitors.

Diving Medical Officer Lt. John Peacock is one of the onsite doctors who have been in charge of monitoring the divers’ health. Trained in diving and hyperbaric medicine, Peacock said there are a lot of health issues in the saturation dive that need to be monitored closely and treated aggressively.

Pressure on the divers’ chest muscles affects their breathing, and the heat and humidity in the chambers can exacerbate even minor medical conditions.

“A simple foot fungus, like athlete’s foot, could in a matter of days be incapacitating,” Peacock said.

While two culinary specialists, on special temporary duty for the dive, prepare three meals a day and snacks for the divers, Peacock said they all tend to lose weight on saturation dives because of the helium.

“They have increased calorie needs because they’re always cold,” Peacock said.

Helium’s thermal conductivity saps body heat from the divers, even though all five of the facility’s chambers were kept at 84 degrees, Peacock said. He motioned to the monitors, which showed most of the divers who weren’t in the water were wearing sweatshirts and other warm clothing.

Master diver Al Ramsey said the divers went through a couple of months of training and preparation prior to the dive.

The divers got to know each other during those months and rehearsed procedures during shallow dives. The orientation and familiarity with one another were very necessary for this sort of dive, he said.

“A very minimum problem at 1,000 feet quickly becomes a major problem,” Ramsey said.

Movies and entertainment, as well as the divers’ meals, are sent down through metal locks.

Ramsey said the divers can call out in the evenings, depending on the work schedule, and be patched through to family members.

Source - NewsHerald