DIVERS' EXPERIENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 255, 27 October 1937, Page 18

DIVERS' EXPERIENCE.

MISHAP DC THE DEPTHS. I STOCKHOLM. Two divers at the naval dockyard near Karlskrona, in south Sweden, had A terrifying experience recently when they were attempting to raise a torpedo. When at a depth of about 100 ft they were unhooked too quickly and were taken ill. They were taken to the naval hospital where the physician in charge, Dr. Schernten, found them both unconscious. He decided to try the treatment of placing them under the same pressure under which they h«d been accustomed to work at 100 ft under the eea.

On the submarine Svea there i* a decompression chamber used for the treatment of sailors rescued from sunken submarines. But the Svea was taking part in manoeuvres and could not be reached, and the lives of the two divers was a question of minutes. In the dockyard was another apparatus, for Hirn.ilar purposes, namely, a diver's sack of strong cloth, wound round with wires and cables to withstand high pressure. Into this one of the sick men was placed end the sack filled with compressed air at the required pressure. The pressure was then gradually reduced until at the end'of three hours a normal atmospheric pressure was reached.

An for the other man. as the sack could only take one person, he wee taken to the torpedo chamber on the submarine Bavern, which happened to be in the harbour at the time. This chamber also wae filled with compressed air and the name treatment was. given to him as to the men in the diver's sack.

In both cases the treatment proved success ful.