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The diving medical detectives: when diving medicine books are completely wrong; Part IV: Synopsis

Authors:

Abstract

Abstract: We compiled lists/descriptions of errors found in the standard diving medicine literature. Methods: We scanned our diving medicine archives and looked there for already existing error-reports; typos etc. were ignored.
1
The diving medical detectives:
when diving medicine books
are completely wrong
08.06.2022, Part IV:
Synopsis
Miri Rosenblat, TAU
Nurit Vered, Technion Haifa
DOI: t.b.d.
2
The diving medical detectives:
when diving medicine books
are completely wrong, Part IV:
Synopsis
Abstract / Methods / Results:
the same, as per Part I, Part II & Part III of this series:
Part I, Ref. [1], DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.15199.79528
Part II, Ref. [2], DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.35722.39366
Part III, Ref. [3], DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.28043.62245
Part IV, DOI: t.b.d.
If you want to contribute s.th. to our list, we would be very happy if you send
an e-mail to our head of lab: director@smc-de.com
(That is: to be continued with Part V )
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The diving medical detectives:
when diving medicine books
are completely wrong, Part IV:
Synopsis
Here, in Part IV, we give only a short synopsis on the previous 3 parts
(pls. cf. slide # 4 with a list of covered books and the published
documentations / presentations on RESEARCHGATE along with the
according DOI) and one comment on the precision & reliability of various
sources about one simple historical fact, i.e.: on the pure number of HELIOX
dives for the rescue & salvage efforts for the U.S.S. SS-192, the submarine
„SQUALUS“.
The deviation in reported numbers is not a serious error as such, especially
not in our domain of hyperbaric medicine, but should remind us on the word
from Henry L. Stimson in 1948, c.e.:
„History is often not what actually happend but what is recorded as such.“
Only the numbers in relation to cases of DCS could then be misleading; i.e.
the un-safety of a certain decompression procedure would be veiled!
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Synopsis Part I Part IV of
The diving medical detectives:
when diving medicine books are completely wrong” :
Part
#: covered books: Ref.
I Strauss (2004) Diving Science: Essential physiology and
medicine for divers;
Bookspan (1995) Diving Physiology in Plain English;
Holzapfel (1993) Praxis der Tauchmedizin;
Edmonds (2003 + 2016) Diving and Subaquatic Medicine;
[1]
II Bove (2004) DIVING MEDICINE;
Bühlmann (1984) Decompression - Decompression
Sickness;
[2]
III Göbel, Scheyer, Hahn (1996) Dekompression;
Cole (2008) The SAA Bühlmann DeeP-Stop System
Handbook;
Cole (2014) Out of the Decompression Matrix;
[3]
IV Strauss (1976) Diving Medicine; [248]
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The diving medical detectives:
when diving medicine books
are completely wrong, Part IV:
Synopsis
On the epic rescue & salvage efforts in 1939 with the then new HELIOX gas-
mixes in: [248] Strauss, R.H. (ed.)(1976) Diving Medicine,
we find on p.8, citation:
„Over 900 helium dives were made on the Squalus. It is amazing that during
this first venture in deep water with a new gas not a single diver was killed.“
This article in [248] A short history of diving and diving medicinewas written
by Eric P. Kindwall, a higly esteemed & competent source.
But in [113] Naval Forces Under the Sea: The Rest of the Story, on p. 34 &
on p. 35 there are only 640 dives overall (air + heliox) mentioned:
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The diving medical detectives:
when diving medicine books
are completely wrong,
Part IV: Synopsis
[113] Naval Forces Under the Sea: The Rest of the Story,
p. 34 & p. 35:
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The diving medical detectives:
when diving medicine books
are completely wrong, Part IV:
Synopsis
As well in [246] Penzias & Goodman: Man Beneath the Sea, on p. 35 from
the log-book of the U.S.S. Falcon with 643 dives overall, and only 233
with Heliox:
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The diving medical detectives:
when diving medicine books
are completely wrong, Part IV:
Synopsis
Another source lists 1,372 dives (Behnke, A. Willmon, T. (1939)
U.S.S. Squalus. Medical aspects of the rescue and
salvage operations and the use of oxygen in
deep-sea diving
(U.S. Nav. Med. Bull. 37, 629-640).
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The diving medical detectives:
when diving medicine books
are completely wrong, Part IV: Synopsis
Peter Maas, the biographer of Charles Bowers „SwedeMomsen
(Momsen was instrumental in developing the
Momsen Escape-Lung and the Momsen Rescue
Chamber and was leading the Squalus rescue &
salvage) writes in: „The Terrible Hours“ (1999)
on p. 236/237 as well of only 640 dives
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References (1):
We from the lab (Miri, Nurit & Yael) rely heavily on the
knowledge & experience of our boss:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Albi-Salm-2
As well we have our big library at hand:
http://www.divetable.eu/BOOKS/index.htm
יבלא: הדותךל הבר!
ירימ , תירונלעיו
[113] Naval Forces Under the Sea: The Rest of the Story (2007)
Best Publishing Company, ISBN-13: 978-1-930536-30-2,
ISBN-10: 1-930536-30-5
[246] Penzias, Walter; Goodman, M. W. (1973)
Man Beneath the Sea: A Review of Underwater Ocean Engineering
ISBN-10: 0-471-68018-4, ISBN-13: 978-0471680185
[248] Strauss, R.H. (ed.)(1976) Diving Medicine,
Grune & Stratton, Inc., N.Y., ISBN 0-8089-0699-2
11
References, (2):
„The diving medical detectives-series on RG:
when diving medicine books are completely wrong!”
Parts # 1 to 3:
[1] Salm, A. (09.09.2021), DOI: : 10.13140/RG.2.2.15199.79528
[2] Salm, A. (17.09.2021), DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.35722.39366
[3] Salm, A. (01.12.2021), DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.28043.62245
Technical Report
Full-text available
In the book from Penzias & Goodman: „Man Beneath the Sea: A Review of Underwater Ocean Engineering“; we found an epic failure on p. 34; citing the wrong numbers of actually dived Heliox dives in conjunction with the U.S.S. SS-192 SQUALUS rescue and salvage efforts.
Presentation
Full-text available
The DCIEM Heliox diving tables are wide-spread in professional use and considered conservative due to a low rate of DCS. Their counterpart tables from the United States Navy (USN), the so-called surface-supplied Heliox (He-O2) tables have had a long history: the first version from Momsen et al. appeared in 1939 with heavy field-tests along the epic rescue & salvage efforts for the U.S.S. SS-192, the submarine „SQUALUS“. The latest empirical changes resulted in Revision 4, Change A (1-March-2001) and have been tested successfully with ca. 140 dives on the USS MONITOR. However, in the topical, more than 5 years-effort and 232 skilfully designed and successfully completed man-dives, NEDU revised these USN surface-supplied Heliox tables again and proposed a candidate replacement table, the: „Twenty-First Century Surface-Supplied Heliox Decompression Table”. This table was designed with a statistical probability of contracting a decompression sickness [P(DCS)] of less than ca. 2.3 %. We selected three Heliox diving schedules as primary, first dives on the day, and compared the new „Twenty-first century surface-supplied Heliox decompresson tables“ from USN / NEDU (ss He-O2), which have been designated as the “final candidate replacement”, where operationally possible, with the DCIEM tables. Thereafter we tried to map these schedules on a seasoned perfusion model (ZH-L16) and recompute them with and without a pair of simple gradient factors. The benchmarked parameters have been the TTS with and without air breaks and the K-values.
Presentation
Full-text available
Here, in Part V, we give only a short comment about pressure units and the various conversion factors used in diving medicine books, as the majority of these books are using imperial units like pounds per square inch (psi) or feet of seawater (fsw), but for serious scientific publications or technical documentation the SI system, the „International System of Units“ is the preferred and used system. These conversion factors are regularly not consistent over all these books as they normally do not specify (water-)temperature nor the density. So they are at times even contradicting and one thing for sure for a physician, i.e. a physical layman: confusing! For an easy and quick assessment with mental arithmetic, say for a ballpark to check absolute pressures, partial pressures of oxygen and the like, especially when required underwater, during real diving, SI is the system of choice.
Presentation
Full-text available
Abstract: We compiled lists/descriptions of errors found in the standard diving medicine literature. Methods: We scanned our diving medicine archives and looked there for already existing error-reports; typos etc. were ignored. Results: Severe errors are appearing more frequently in monographs. Omnibus Volumes, written by teams of experts, are obviously more resilient to errors. Discussion / Recommendations: Single authors / editors should consult with expert teams prior to publication. If you want to contribute s.th. to our list, we would be very happy if you send an e-mail to our head of lab: director@smc-de.com
Presentation
Full-text available
Abstract / Methods / Results: as per Part I. i.e.: DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.15199.79528 We compiled lists/descriptions of errors found in the standard diving medicine literature. We scanned our diving medicine archives and looked there for already existing error-reports; typos etc. were ignored. Severe errors are appearing more frequently in monographs. Omnibus Volumes, written by teams of experts, are obviously more resilient to errors. Discussion / Recommendations: Single authors / editors should consult with expert teams prior to publication. If you want to contribute s.th. to our list, we would be very happy if you send an e-mail to our head of lab: director@smc-de.com
Presentation
Full-text available
Abstract: We compiled lists/descriptions of errors found in the standard diving medicine literature. Methods: We scanned our diving medicine archives and looked there for already existing error-reports; typos etc. were ignored. Results: Severe errors are appearing more frequently in monographs. Omnibus Volumes, written by teams of experts, are obviously more resilient to errors. Discussion / Recommendations: Single authors / editors should consult with expert teams prior to publication. If you want to contribute s.th. to our list, we would be very happy if you send an e-mail to our head of lab: director@smc-de.com
The diving medical detectives-series on RG: when diving medicine books are completely wrong
  • References
References, (2): "The diving medical detectives-series on RG: when diving medicine books are completely wrong!" Parts # 1 to 3: