When diving, identify and prevent the risk of pulmonary barotrauma

Scuba diving in the open seas is fun. However, this activity certainly cannot be carried out by just anyone. If you intend to scuba dive, then you have to follow the preparation until you get a certificate or diving permit. The reason is, the risk when diving is very high and varied.

It is not impossible, diving that is not well prepared will be life threatening. One of the problems that often arise and can be fatal is pulmonary barotrauma.

In fact, why does pulmonary barotrauma occur? How can you prevent pulmonary barotrauma while diving?

The risk of barotrauma while diving is life threatening

Barotrauma is an injury that occurs in body tissues due to the pressure of gases entering the body. The difference in body air pressure with conditions under the sea when diving causes respiratory problems. This can cause damage to body tissue, even death. These health problems may occur in all parts of the body, but the ones most commonly affected are the eyes, ears, nose, and lungs.

When diving, barotrauma can be fatal if it occurs in the lungs. In fact, when you dive, your body is trying to adapt to the pressure around it. Well, the deeper you dive, the gas volume (content) will be thinner.

When you dive into a deeper area, the air pressure is so high that it makes the volume of air in the lungs less and less. If this happens continuously, the lungs experience a lack of air and can cause lung tissue to die. If divers use a breathing apparatus, then for inexperienced divers, they will breathe air quickly and a lot, as a result of feeling short of air when diving.

Well, but a bigger problem will occur when the diver returns to the surface. When it rises to the surface, the air pressure will decrease and the volume of air in the lungs increases. If the diver rushes to the surface or holds his breath while still in the water, the air in the lungs will increase and expand. This condition then makes the air sacs of the lungs burst due to too much gas. At that time, divers will feel chest pain and even cough up blood.

How to prevent pulmonary barotrauma from occurring while diving?

All divers are at risk for this and barotrauma is the leading cause of death while scuba diving. For that, there are a number of things you can do so that this doesn't happen to you, namely:

• Never hold your breath underwater. Even though all divers know that they cannot hold their breath in the water, due to certain conditions many novice divers end up doing it. This can happen when the diver panics.
• Surface slowly, don't rush. Preferably, the swimming speed when rising to the surface is not more than 9 meters per minute.
• Make sure that you are physically and mentally prepared. Not only memorize the technique, but you must be mentally prepared. This affects your condition when you are diving. Scuba diving preparation must be considered.
• Don't dive in if you have had previous breathing problems. To find out whether you can dive or not, it's best to do a physical examination and ask your doctor about this.

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