ThiruvananThapuram: When Ratheesh Kumar, fire officers and rescuers at Vizhinjam Station made a slow and stable recovery after decompression disease almost paralyzed it, his colleagues thanked the doctor who saved him.
“Dr.
Ajit Kumar is the best person to save our man and fortunately he is available.
Dr.
Ajith will be related to a specialist from the Navy throughout the therapy.
He made us updated about his progress.
We are now sure of the full recovery,” said Rajesh Mg, firefighters Regional, Institute of Advanced Training in Water Rescue, Fort Kochi.
The incident involving Ratheesh occurred on the 6th day of the scuba diving camp held in a 15-meter mine pool in Pothencode.
Ratheesh was taken to the Fort Fortress hospital in a semi-comma with weakness in the upper and lower legs and the inability to speak after a small calculation error proved almost fatal.
He has missed a safety stop (a short stop mandated before climbing the end of the diving to release the nitrogen absorbed from the body) during the climb after dive.
During the climb, he had seen flashing light and thought he was near the surface and he shot quickly.
When he appeared, his colleagues knew something was wrong.
His head slid and he could not lift his left eyelid.
At the hospital, Dr.
Ajith quickly arrived at the diagnosis: decompression disease, the hazard known in scuba dives when inert gas in the body formed a bubble in the network because of a sudden variation.
Treatment starts in 10 minutes because time is very valuable.
The bubbles formed can be dangerous and no one knows better than Dr.
Ajith who are trained at the Aerospace IAF Medical Institute in Bengaluru.
Dr.
Ajith and his team began to make Ratheesh hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions in the room where oxygen was used to reduce the size of the bubble and to eliminate it and the excess of dissolved gas.
“On the first day of therapy, he moved his feet, the next day he stood on his feet and after 48 hours he began to speak slowly.
The diagnosis is very important.
MRI is normal and there is no evidence of a stroke.
Remembering the background of his diving, it must be DC,” said Ajith.
Dr.
Ajith said Ratheesh would be ready to dive Scuba in three more months.