Episode 46
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In this episode, Ed takes you into the world of saturation diving where you'll learn how the human body can adapt to absorb extreme conditions only found at the bottom of the ocean.
When we go swimming at the pool, we take it for granted that the depths that some members of society live and breathe in especially when it comes to a lovely concoction called Heliox.
When you spend weeks under water your body absorbs inert gases like nitrogen and even helium, but when you come to the surface, that gas has to go somewhere. In most cases it's out through your lungs but if you come up too fast, those gases escape through any means possible like through boiling blood and even explosion.
This is call explosive decompression.
Join us, as we explore what explosive decompression looks like and what can happen if you're standing too close to the hatch when when you're environment changes from 10 atmospheres of pressure down to one in a fraction of a second.
Catastrophic decompression killed Four divers and one tender
Failure of safety mechanisms and human error contributed to the accident
The incident prompted revisions in diving safety regulations
It wasn't until 2009, 26 years after the incident, that the families of the deceased divers received compensation from the Norwegian government.
Autopsies of the deceased divers revealed severe internal injuries consistent with explosive decompression.
Browse through Ed's show notes for the episode below ⬇