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NITROX WORKSHOP DINGS Photo Credits: Front and Back Covers: Backgrounds and Individual Images — William M NITROX WORKSHOP DINGS Photo Credits: Front and back covers: Backgrounds and individual images — William M. Mercadante Front Cover: Central image— Denis Tapparel DAN NITROX WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS November 3 and 4, 2000 Michael A. Lang, Editor Nitrox Workshop Chair Divers Alert Network Durham, NC Lang, M.A. (ed.). 2001. Proceedings of the DANNitrox Workshop, November 3-4, 2000. Divers Alert Network, Durham, NC. 197 p. Copyright ©2001 by Divers Alert Network 6 West Colony Place Durham, NC 27710 All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by photostat, microfilm, or any other means without written permission from the publisher. This diving safety workshop and the publication of this document was sponsored by the Divers Alert Network. Opinions and data presented at the Workshop and in these Proceedings are those of the contributors, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Divers Alert Network. Cover design by Steve Mehan, Divers Alert Network. Contents About DAN iii Acknowledgments iv DAN NITROX WORKSHOP INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. Michael A. Lang 1 A BRIEF HISTORY OF DIVING WITH OXYGEN-ENRICHED AIR USING OPEN-CIRCUIT SCUBA APPARATUS. R.W. Bill Hamilton 5 I. Nitrox Operational Data. NITROX DIVING DATA REVIEW. Richard D. Vann 19 AMERICAN NITROX DIVERS INTERNATIONAL SAFEAIR TRAINING. Edward A. Betts 31 TECHNICAL DIVING INTERNATIONAL: AN AGENCY PERSPECTIVE. Bret C Gilliam 33 NITROX AND ITS IMPACT ON THE DIVING INDUSTRY. Tom Mount 41 AN OVERVIEW OF THE PADI ENRICHED AIR DIVER PROGRAM AND ASSOCIATED DSAT OXYGEN EXPOSURE LIMITS. Drew Richardson and Karl Shreeves 45 NAUI NITROX DIVING STATISTICS. Bruce R. Wienke, Timothy R. O 'Leary and Jed D. Livingston 5 7 RECREATIONAL NITROX BASED ON COMMERCIAL DIVING. BartBjorkman 59 AMERICAN ACADEMY OF UNDERWATER SCIENCES' NITROX USE. Walter C. Jaap, William Dent, Steven Sellers, and Edward J. Money 61 Nitrox Operational Data Discussion A. NITROX CERTIFICATION DATA 65 B. NITROX DIVE DATA 69 C. NITROX TRAINING REQUIREMENTS 77 II. Nitrox Physiology. NITROX AND CO2 RETENTION. Dan H. Kerem, R. Arieli, Y. Daskalovic, A. Shupak, and M. Eynan 81 Nitrox Physiology Discussion A. DISCUSSION OF KEREM PAPER 87 B. MAXIMUM PO2 LIMIT DISCUSSION 88 C. TESTING NITROX AS A PRODUCT 98 D. NITROX MIX ANALYSIS DISCUSSION 99 III.Nitrox Risk Management. A. OSHA RECREATIONAL NITROX VARIANCE 105 B. NITROX COMMUNITY STANDARD OF CARE 108 C. NITROX LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS 111 NO SUCH THING AS "SAFE" AIR? Jon Hardy 119 IV. Nitrox Training Curriculum. 125 SSI - ENRICHED AIR NITROX SPECIALTY DIVER 129 PADI - ENRICHED AIR DIVER MANUAL 131 NA UI - NITROX: GUIDE TO DIVING WITH O2 ENRICHED AIR 132 IANTD- ENRICHED AIR NITROXDIVER 135 TDI - NITROX: A USER FRIENDLY GUIDE TO ENRICHED AIR MIXTURES 136 ANDI- THE APPLICATION OF ENRICHED AIR MIXTURES 137 V. Nitrox Equipment. NITROX AND RECREATIONAL DIVING EQUIPMENT COMPATIBILITY: PRELIMINARY FINDINGS BY DEMA MANUFACTURERS COMMITTEE. BillN. Oliver 139 CLEANING TO AVOID FIRES IN NITROX SCUBA AND FILL STATIONS. Elliot T. Forsyth 145 EVALUATION OF CONTAMINANT-PROMOTED IGNITION IN SCUBA EQUIPMENT AND BREATHING GAS DELIVERY SYSTEMS. Elliot T. Forsyth, Robert J. Durkin, and Harold D. Beeson 147 HIGH PRESSURE COMBUSTIVE OXYGEN FLOW SIMULATIONS. Bruce R. Wienke 171 Nitrox Equipment Discussion. 175 VI. Final Discussion and Recommendations. 183 Appendices A. DAN Nitrox Workshop Participants 196 B. DAN Nitrox Workshop Agenda 197 u ABOUT DIVERS ALERT NETWORK www.DiversAIertNetwork.org Divers Alert Network (DAN®) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization associated with Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Since 1980, DAN has served as a lifeline for the scuba industry by operating the industry's only Diving Emergency Hotline, a lifesaving service for injured scuba divers, available 24 hours a day. Additionally, DAN operates a diving Medical Information Line, conducts vital diving medical research, and develops and provides a number of educational programs for everyone, from beginning divers to medical professionals. Divers Alert Network is supported through membership dues and donations. In return, members receive a number of important benefits, including access to emergency medical evacuation, travel and personal assistance for both diving and non-diving needs, DAN educational publications, a subscription to Alert Diver magazine and access to diving's premier dive accident insurance coverage. Your Dive Safety Association, DAN currently has more than 200,000 members worldwide. The DAN Vision The DAN vision is to be the most recognized and trusted organization worldwide in the fields of diver safety and emergency services, health, research and education by its members, instructors, supporters and recreational diving community at large. The DAN Mission Statement Divers Alert Network (DAN), a non-profit organization, exists to provide expert medical information and advice for the benefit of the diving public. DAN's historical and primary function is to provide emergency medical advice and assistance for underwater diving injuries and to promote diving safety. Second, DAN promotes and supports underwater diving research and education, particularly as it relates to the improvement of diving safety, medical treatment and first aid. Third, DAN strives to provide the most accurate, up-to-date and unbiased information on issues of common concern to the diving public, primarily, but not exclusively, for diving safety. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to extend sincere appreciation and acknowledgment to my colleagues on the 2000 DAN Board of Directors: Dr. Peter B. Bennett, Dr. Paul S. Auerbach, Mr. William M. Ziefle, Mr. Michael N. Emmerman, Dr. Alessandro Marroni and Dr. Karen Van Hoesen. This diving safety research effort would not have been possible without DAN financial support and the foresight of the Board in approving it. The Workshop's timely nature and the full cooperation of the participating diving experts have proven to be a significant contribution to the recreational diving industry. Many thanks to the workshop papers' authors, especially Dr. Bill Hamilton, Dr. Richard Vann, Dr. Dan Kerem, Mr. Bill Oliver, Mr. Elliot Forsyth and Dr. Bruce Wienke, who helped tremendously by submitting their manuscripts on time. The short turn-around time for the production of proceedings for a workshop of this scope is unprecedented and could not have taken place without their full cooperation. Of major significance is the collaboration of the principals of the recreational nitrox diving training organizations: Ed Betts, Bret Gilliam, Jon Hardy, Drew Richardson, Tom Mount and Bruce Wienke. ANDI, TDI, SSI, PADI, IANTD and NAUI assisted immeasurably in attaining workshop objectives by agreeing to contribute their agencies' nitrox diving and certification numbers, an exemplary cooperative industry effort. Ms. Cathy Jones provided transcription services of the extended workshop discussions. DAN Staff who were helpful during various phases of this workshop's organization and conduct deserve special recognition: Sherry Strickland and Cindy Duryea for logistical support, and Peter Winkler for his technical computer assistance during the workshop. Finally, I thank Jennifer Dorton, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History Diving Officer, for her assistance with this project. The Smithsonian's Office of the Under Secretary for Science - Scientific Diving Program provided support for the editing, compilation and camera-ready production of these proceedings. Divers Alert Network funded this document's publication. Michael A. Lang Smithsonian Institution DAN Board of Directors DAN Nitrox Workshop Chair iv DAN NITROX WORKSHOP INTRODUCTORY REMARKS Michael A. Lang Smithsonian Institution Office of the Under Secretary for Science 900 Jefferson Drive SW Washington, DC 20560-0415 USA As Workshop Chairman, and on behalf of the Divers Alert Network (DAN) Board of Directors, I take this opportunity to welcome you to the DAN Nitrox Workshop. I am pleased to acknowledge the Divers Alert Network for providing the financial support and sponsorship of this event. I also formally thank each of you for your participation and contribution to this diving safety effort. The use of nitrox has vested itself as a mainstream recreational diving activity since it was first introduced to sport divers in 1985. How much so? PADI, SSI and NAUI now support recreational nitrox training programs in addition to their traditional open-circuit compressed air programs. The focused technical diving training agencies, IANTD, ANDI and TDI, have amassed several additional years of experience in providing nitrox training to the recreational diver. Why was this diving safety project of interest to the industry and prioritized by means of DAN's support? As with any emerging technology that has found a broader market appeal, controversies invariably arise. Ignorance, myths and misconceptions often fuel opposite views. A critical examination of the current issues surrounding nitrox diving was in order to disseminate credible diving safety information. This forum was provided to objectively debate the issues and to discuss the available nitrox operational and physiological data, risk management, equipment and training parameters. An approximation of the magnitude of nitrox consumption was essential. This seemed achievable by our ability to provide a denominator of nitrox divers and nitrox dives, as a sub-set of the overall level of recreational diving activity. Many other discussions of nitrox topics flow from these numbers, e.g., nitrox
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