Category: archive

What is it: decompression sickness, also called the
bends, is related to great changes in environmental
pressure. It is caused by nitrogen bubbles forming
in the bloodstream and tissues of the body. The bubbles
occur if you move from deep water towards the surface
(where the surrounding pressure is lower) too quickly
. It is most usually associated with divers, but can
also occur in fliers in a non pressurised cabin when
there is a major change in altitude. In the most serious
cases decompression sickness can lead to unconsciousness
or death.

What are the symptoms: the symptoms generally
appear in a relatively short period after completing the
dive. Almost 50 per cent of divers develop symptoms
within the first hour after the dive, 90 per cent within
six hours and 98 per cent within the first 24 hours.
In practice this means symptoms that appear more than 24
hours after the dive are probably not decompression
sickness. An exception is if the diver has travelled
in an aircraft or has been travelling in the mountains.
Under these circumstances, low pressure can still trigger
decompression sickness more than 24 hours after the last
dive. As a result, it is wise not to fly within 24 hours
of a deep dive. Mild forms of decompression sickness
can resolve themselves without treatment or by breathing
100 per cent oxygen at the site of the accident. The
symptoms of decompression sickness vary because the
nitrogen bubbles can form in different parts of the
body. These can include pain in the joints
“bends”. a headache or vertigo, unusual
tiredness or fatigue, confusion, a rash, shortness of
breath, tingling in the arms or legs, muscular weakness or
paralysis, a burning chest pain with a deep breath, a
cough or ear or sinus pain.

What happens if I get it: if you suspect
decompression sickness, stop the dive, initiate first aid,
and summon assistance from a specialist in divers'
medicine. Treatment is oxygen on site and during
transportation, followed by treatment in a decompression
chamber.

How can I avoid decompression sickness?

· Dive within the limits set out in the diving
tables.

· Keep your rate of ascent to a maximum 10m/min.

· Don't plan any dives that need a
decompression stop in the water.

· Make a three-minute safety stop at a depth of 5m.

· Don't dive more than three times in one day.

· If you plan more than one dive in one day, start
by making the deepest dive first.

· If you are diving for several days in a row, have
a dive-free day after two to three days.

· Don't do any hard work before or after
diving.

· Drink lots of liquid before diving. Lack of fluid
due to heat or excess alcohol is dangerous.

· Make sure you are in good physical condition and
well rested. Have regular medical checkups.

· Make sure there is an interval of at least 24
hours between diving and travel by air or climbing up
mountains. If you have had decompression treatment, the
recommended interval before the next dive is at least 48
hours.

Avalon Travel Publishing announces the release of the 7th
edition of Moon Handbooks Fiji, the original travel guide
to the 322-island Fiji archipelago.

Since 1985, Moon Handbooks Fiji has been the leading
travel guidebook to Fiji. Author David Stanley began
writing about the South Pacific in 1979, and over the
years tens of thousands of Pacific travellers have used
his guides to Fiji, Tahiti, Tonga, Samoa, and the South
Pacific.

Unlike the maps in other guidebooks which contain
confusing numbered keys, the 53 maps in Moon Handbooks
Fiji are clearly labelled. To allow for detail, three maps
of Fiji's capital Suva are included, and two of the
gateway city Nadi.

In this 7th edition, all local telephone numbers are
increased from six digits to seven, reflecting a recent
change by Telecom Fiji. Internet and email addresses are
now embedded in the listings for ease of reference.

Rob Kay of FijiGuide.com has this to say about Moon
Handbooks Fiji: “Packed with great maps it also has
resources such as a comprehensive bibliography, and tips
on local etiquette. More importantly, Stanley excels at
getting accurate information on hotels, inexpensive
restaurants and tourist sites. However there is another
reason why his guide is valuable. Stanley does not simply
list the properties in alphabetical order and expect the
reader to determine what's best. Based on personal
visits and feedback from visitors, he will actually offer
you an opinion and the straight facts.”

Priced at US$17.95, this book is distributed in the United
States by Publishers Group West, in Canada by Publishers
Group Canada, in Europe by HI Marketing, and in Australia
and New Zealand by Bookwise International. For more
information, visit http://www.southpacific.org/fiji.html

1. The Czech
Republic has more Internet
Service Providers than any other non-English speaking
country.

2. Andorra has
no
unemployment, which is just as well because they have
no broadcast
TV channels either.

3. Andorrans
live the longest, four years longer than in
neighbouring France and Spain.

4. China's
labour
force stands at 706 million people, almost three times
that of Europe and
twice that of North and South
America combined

5. China has the
most workers,
so it's a good thing they've also got the most TV's.

6. Clipperton
Island wins our prize for the most unusual looking
country.

7. Israel enjoys
a
GDP per capita 21 times that of the Palestinian West
Bank and 33 times that of the Gaza Strip.
Its military
spending per capita tops the world.

8. North
Korea spends the most
of its GDP on its military.

9. Luxembourgers
are the world's richest
people – and also the most
generous.

10. Indians go
out to the
movies 3 billion times a year.

Source:

We are sorry to say that Mac is not very well, but he is
still e-mailing strong and recently sent the Beetle a
collection of Mac reminiscences including those about a
hotel room with a vibrating bed and an Indian astrologer.

I am reminded in my correspondence about travel of a
vibrating bed I found one time on checking into a budget
hotel in Hong Kong. I discovered after I had checked
in that it was a rendezvous hotel for Chinese older
citizens. No young people checked in but older
Chinese that wanted a romantic interlude. I was slow
to catch on. There were mirrors on the ceiling and
on the wall and I thought gee this is unusual for a budget
hotel. I laid down and thought I was switching off
the light switch and I switched on the switch that started
the bed to rumbling. I at first thought it was an
earthquake. I am always slow to catch on.

I one time was on a bus in Mexico City when there was an
earthquake and I thought it was just a rough road and bus
with bad springs. When I got to my destination
everyone was out on the street from that budget
hotel. I knew a lady there that had been in same
hotel in San Miguel De Allende. The hotel in Mexico
City was run by a religious order something like the
Quakers. She volunteered there and laughed when I
asked her why everyone was out in the street to greet me!
Incidentally the hotel in Hong Kong was called The
Hilton. They swiped the name from the more expensive
Hilton Hotel. It is like calling a hotel The Ritz
when it is anything but the Ritz. I really liked
that hotel though. It had windows you could open and
look out on very busy street. I had been on a
package tour where the four or five star deluxe hotel in
Hong Kong that was included had been so cold and I could
never get the air conditioning off. My cheap hotel
had overhead fan which I liked better. The deluxe hotel
had a mat in elevator that gave you the day of the week
each day woven into the mat. They had a grand piano
on a float in pond but for some reason I was never
comfortable there so at the end of the tour I moved into
the unusual budget hotel and was happy there. It was
in a less touristy part of Nathan Road at maybe in the
direction of Nathan Road. Just ask for the other Hilton.

I just read that a writer wrote that Charles De Gaulle
Airport in Paris is a “Third World Airport” It
brought out some travel memories. After getting
radiation for prostrate cancer I started travelling before
I was completely well. At a stop on a tour bus in southern
India I started to get up from my seat when I realized I
had bled from my rear end onto the seat. I didn’t
want to panic the Indian tourists so decided I would sit
in my seat until they were all off and then run like
hell. All were off but one Indian gentleman who
stopped by my seat on way out and asked if I was alright.
For some strange reason I blurted out my problem. It
turned out he was an Indian doctor who was a cancer
specialist at Sloane Kettering Cancer Hospital in
New York City and just on vacation in India. He gave me
some medicine to stop the bleeding and gave me address of
where he was staying in New Delhi if I needed more help.

I continued on to Paris and at Charles De Gaulle airport I
started bleeding again. Although I had a ticket on
Air France for security reasons they would not let me use
their toilet. I went down the street to a police station
and by hand motions (not an easy thing to do) asked if
could use their toilet. They did not arrest me for
obscenity but directed me to their toilet that they
evidently had criminals use. It had no door so they
at desk could watch the prisoners when in toilet I guess.

I did not want them to know I was bleeding so had to wipe
myself as far as possible out of their sight. I then
went to a Protestant church (closer than Catholic) and by
chance there was an American Protestant minister there and
I asked him if there was a military hospital or American
hospital. He tried to get thorough to American Embassy but
couldn’t to ask them. By this time I had stopped
bleeding and went back to airport and still made flight
out. On that experience I too call Charles De Gaulle
airport a turd world airport.

In New Delhi at the YWCA (they took men as well as women)
I had to share my room with another Indian doctor. This
time a dentist. He said he could tell my fortune but had
to wait until the sun came up in the morning. He
told me I had cancer and that I had been in the military
and some other things that I had not told him (unless I
talked in my sleep) That too was a little strange.

Another experience I had with Air France was that in South
America they have a cheap flight from French Guinea to
France. People from all over South American go to French
Guinea to catch this flight. The flight started in Peru I
believe but I picked it up in Northern Brazil (the town on
the Amazon I cant think of its name) There was only three
of us passengers on this huge 747 and all they gave us was
a stale roll. When I asked if I could have a second one I
was told they did not have enough. So much for French
cuisine. Maybe they picked up their food in French Guinea
along with most of the passengers.

I was only going as far at French Guinea. They had French
Foreign Legion at their airport as guards. They wanted
each of us three to go in separate taxis into town. I
showed them my retired military ID and they let us all go
then in same taxi. Maybe they thought I was an official.
The hotels were full so we had to stay in a French whore
house. People from British guinea would come over to use
it. It was a hotel but the girls were upstairs. We could
not get a room until three AM when night’s
activities were over. I got to my room and I got a phone
call and I was told I had to go to a doctor. I was told
that the girl from that room was sick. I said there has
been no girl in this room. They apologized. I went
down stairs as it was now about six Am and there was the
other two from airplane and we decided to walk into town
to see if we could find open cafe. The other passengers
were a European that ran a taxi in New York City. He would
work long enough until he had enough money to travel
and then he and his wife would travel. The other passenger
was a European writer for Mad Magazine. He was
delighted with our unusual hotel and said: “this is
just like in the movies!” Travel can be fun, well,
at least interesting!

If you would like to contact Mac, he is happy to answer
e-mails: macsan400@yahoo.com