Northwest Dive Club

I once heard that somewhere in Vancouver, group rides were being offered (or maybe it was just a one-off) that allowed healthy, unbent divers to experience the real thing for educational purposes. I always meant to find out more, mostly because I thought it might be a good opportunity to experience significant narcosis in a controlled environment (I've never consciously experienced narcosis, and that has always bothered me). Has anyone participated in a group chamber ride of this sort? Is that sort of thing known to still be offered anywhere? Are those sorts of recreational rides deep enough to actually experience something at all? Assuming yes to all the above questions, would anyone else be interested in exploring this any further? Thanks!

Vancouver BC or WA?
The chances of a US medical provider blowing you down to 60ft for fun are basically zero. The machine and staff cost about 5K an hour and even if its a short ride you and the attendant (who actually risks getting bent as they breath air except during ascents) can only come up so fast. It is in no way a fun experience or even educational. Chamber rides are bloody boring if you are in decent condition going in. Scary as hell if you aren't (but its not the chamber which is scary)

Ah, then maybe not worth it, thanks. I don't remember when/where I originally heard about it, that was before I moved to Seattle, so I didn't register. But, this article below seems to ring a bell, and a quick web search seems to suggest some chamber rides were being done in Vancouver, BC even this year. Not sure if those were 160-foot dives, though, or just visiting the inside of the chamber.

https://www.tdisdi.com/nobody-goes-to-a ... by-choice/

Some time ago I want to say about 10 years or so DIT (Divers Institute of Technology) had an intro to commercial diving class and one part of it was going on a chamber ride in their chamber. I think we rode down to 60 feet and then did a slow ascent. If I recall it was cramped, hot then cold. It was a good reminder to not get bent.

Mike

Said it was strictly a research chamber. The one in Seattle runs almost at capacity with patients during normal dayshift hours, mostly post-radiation wound healing. DCS treatment is a very small percentage of it's function. The Marker Buoy Dive Club did a tour of the facility 11/4/15. It's well worth doing.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marker-B ... 3821073145

It's a shame serious divers can't find a way to experience a chamber ride. As chamber operator, I found it fun (at least the first time) and very educational. If nothing else, it removes a lot of the stigma of DCI and thinking you might need treatment -- being willing to admit you're bent could save your life!

kr2y5, if you could arrange it, chances are they'd only take you down to 60ft. Not enough for any real narcosis. The 165ft runs are a lot more... interesting? They take a lot longer and can be uncomfortable. (On air at 165 I get absolutely giddy with narcosis. It's an eye opener!)

If you can't arrange it locally, I suggest signing up for USC's Emergency Dive Accident Management Course. There's an option to operate and ride in their chamber. Highly recommended! And you could follow up with some diving in SoCal.

kr2y5 wrote:Ah, then maybe not worth it, thanks. I don't remember when/where I originally heard about it, that was before I moved to Seattle, so I didn't register. But, this article below seems to ring a bell, and a quick web search seems to suggest some chamber rides were being done in Vancouver, BC even this year. Not sure if those were 160-foot dives, though, or just visiting the inside of the chamber.

https://www.tdisdi.com/nobody-goes-to-a ... by-choice/

A normal "DCS" treatment ride is only to 60ft. Virginia Mason will only put you to 160ft in case of an embolism (assuming you arrive at the facility alive with an embolism which is not very likely). Too much risk for attendants and patients with no disenable value.

A wound healing treatment (non-DCS) is typically only to 30ft.

I did a chamber dive to 120 feet (I think) as part of my NOAA diving class at Sand Point some 20 years ago. Like some one else mentioned it got hot and steamy then cooled off. The one thing that sticks out in my mind is our voices changed once we were at depth, then since we all started to sound like chipmunks or elves, one of our group started singing "Whistle while you work" like we were Snow Whites dwarves, but due to the pressure non of us could actually whistle which caused us to all start giggling and laughing (we were probably narced at that point).