Midlands Dive Chamber Decompression Dry Dive

Nitrogen forms some 79% of the air that we breath and under pressure, it becomes narcotic. In simple terms, you enter a state of euphoria, feelings of intense excitement and happiness. It’s like being drunk while under the influence of alcohol.

While scuba diving at depth, divers can experience nitrogen narcosis and is completely different to decompression sickness, an illness where nitrogen bubbles come out of solution too fast as part of the ascent and off-gassing process. Both nitrogen narcosis and decompression sickness are dangerous but in different ways. The big issue for divers under the influence of nitrogen narcosis is how effectively they can react in an emergency situation.

Imagine you’ve arrived home after an evening on the town. You bring out your key and try to unlock your front door. You’re in fits of giggles as you try once, twice and thrice to no avail. Now imagine that at 40 or 50 metres below the water surface and there’s a catastrophic failure on your breathing apparatus. Thrice is not quick enough!

A ‘dry dive’ session in a hyperbaric chamber will allow divers to experience the effects of nitrogen narcosis in a safe and controlled manner. The doctors will take the pressure within the chamber down to the equivalent of 50 metres and bring you back to the ‘surface’ in a controlled environment while you breath normal air and 100% oxygen to simulate a decompression dive. This simulation dive will last about 45 minutes to demonstrate the effects of nitrogen narcosis on a diver and how it can negatively effect judgement. You will hear your vocal range change as your vocal cords react different under pressure and also cognitive tests where I will guarantee 3+3 will equal 2!