By Luke Voogt
A 44-year-old woman has suffered decompression sickness following a rapid ascent during a dive off Barwon Heads on Monday.
Bellarine Sergeant Mark Gray said the Barwon Heads woman had extensive diving experience.
She was on a recreational dive with family and friends on a private boat off Barwon Heads Pier, about 11.30am.
The woman reached a depth of 20m before returning to the surface. At the 10m she began to rapidly ascend which gave her the bends, Sgt Gray said.
“She’s failed to properly deploy the BC (buoyancy compensator) which resulted in a rapid ascent to the surface.”
Sgt Gray said police investigations indicated there was no fault with her equipment.
“If you put too much air in it will send you up too quickly,” he said. “That’s what appears to have happened here.”
“The woman’s husband was diving with her and he assisted her back to the boat.”
The woman’s family and friends took her by boat to the foreshore where paramedics treated her.
Ambulance Victoria dispatched a helicopter to take her to The Alfred hostpital but cancelled it based on the woman’s condition, a spokesperson said.
An ambulance took her to Geelong Hospital, where she remained in a stable condition in intesive care on Tuesday morning, a Barwon Health spokesperson said.
