Seems it's doing a roaring trade at present. 4 customers in the past 24 hours alone. What's going on?

Early in the dive week, divers too agressive? That's my experience from the dive industry in the past. Otherwise, could be the averages are catching up. I haven't heard alot about high numbers of DCS on AC in recent years. So maybe it's just the numbers evening out.... In any case a serious situation for those involved.

Pedro 2 - how about some details?

I don't really know much specific - just the bald numbers. There have been far more than those 4 recently.

The chamber handles approx 50 cases per year -about 1 diver per week on average. One would expect that the higher concentration of visitors/divers, the more cases.

BUT ON A GOOD NOTE,IF ONE CAN BE POSITIVE ... THERE IS A CHAMBER HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THANK GOD..

People are no more likely to have a DCS problem here than anywhere else, but as the good Captain says there is a recompression chamber right here in San Pedro, the only one in the country. Visiting divers should try to fit in a (voluntary!) visit there, as it's a fascinating place and they're only too happy to show people around.

I do know a bit about some of the people the Chamber has treated recently and generally it's a case of people doing things right but maybe a little too aggressively, too early in their trip. There seems to be a pattern of people relying too much on others for their dive profile and not being sufficiently "bullish" themselves - it always worries me when I see divers without a computer, and especially so when they don't have a depth gauge or a watch either. Astonishingly this isn't uncommon in the Blue Hole, a dive that more than any other here does need to be taken seriously. Not least because the Chamber is back here, 60 miles away.

Perversely dive insurance seems to be a minority choice. When you can get a year's cover INCLUDING non-dive related accidents for about US$100, can this be down to anything other than ignorance? If dive operators agreed to make it mandatory before anyone dived this problem would disappear immediately - I do for technical divers, but for others it would be commercial suicide unless other operators followed suit.

San Pedro is a diving destination, and most people living here owe their livelihoods directly or indirectly to it. I'd like to see diving issues given a higher profile by everyone here - whenever the Chamber puts on a seminar or demonstration to do with diving practices and safety it's very poorly attended.

Scubawalk had to be medivaced back to the states - he fell getting on the boat, hitting his head. The Tropic flight to International was $2000US then the private jet was $28,000US. This is not including any of the hospital bills. (He had a CT scan - which was fine and then released). Because we had the upgraded DAN insurance, they paid for it. Thank goodness we had that. It also covers you when you are traveling over 100 miles from home even non-diving trips!!

Plan the dive, dive the plan - and buy the DAN insurance!

Totally. Too many people stop before even the first of these. Although diving these days isn't really dangerous given a modicum of care, I'd like to see a much greater awareness of the potential hazards. I've done lots of "dangerous sports" but I always go into them with my eyes open, which is perhaps why I'm still here (while two instructors who used to work for me sadly are not). That's why I didn't become even a basic level scuba instructor until I was already an advanced mixed gas technical diver, with hundreds more dives than the minimum.

I checked with the Chamber and their normal patient rate is a bit less than you said, at around 35-40 annually. But if the current incidence becomes a trend we'll go way above that. To "aggressive profiles" I can now add "rapid ascents".