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womble · 1st November 2007, 20:15

Having had a very mild CO2 hit caused by overexertion (wrestling with a loose weightbelt whilst descending a shot line in the ripping current) I would agree that it takes a couple of minutes to sort yourself out.

In my case, I sat on the wreck, dil flushed a couple of times and did nothing else. Once my breathing had settled, I then sorted out the weightbelt.

I think the most important thing to do is stop what you are doing first.

The problem is, CO2 has a higher affinity to haemaglobin than O2, so you have to wait for all the CO2 to be flushed out of your system. This depends on so many factors, e.g severity of the hit, depth, ambient temperature etc.

Theoretically this would be better achieved by a higher PPo2, but there is also the increased risk of oxtox if breathing high PPO2 gas with significant CO2 retention . . . So is this an argument for carrying a not-very-hot deep bailout?? Say PPO2 1.5-1.6??

1st November 2007, 20:15	#10 (permalink)
womble Custom Title Allowed! Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: UK Posts: 188	Re: C02 Retention / Decay times Having had a very mild CO2 hit caused by overexertion (wrestling with a loose weightbelt whilst descending a shot line in the ripping current) I would agree that it takes a couple of minutes to sort yourself out. In my case, I sat on the wreck, dil flushed a couple of times and did nothing else. Once my breathing had settled, I then sorted out the weightbelt. I think the most important thing to do is stop what you are doing first. The problem is, CO2 has a higher affinity to haemaglobin than O2, so you have to wait for all the CO2 to be flushed out of your system. This depends on so many factors, e.g severity of the hit, depth, ambient temperature etc. Theoretically this would be better achieved by a higher PPo2, but there is also the increased risk of oxtox if breathing high PPO2 gas with significant CO2 retention . . . So is this an argument for carrying a not-very-hot deep bailout?? Say PPO2 1.5-1.6?? __________________ "What could possibly go wrong?? . . "
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