If a diver is not symptom-free upon surfacing, what is the recommended action?

• A. Transport the diver to the nearest chamber and treat on Treatment Table 6.
• B. Return to the water for additional decompression.
• C. Do nothing and monitor from the surface.
• D. Send the diver ashore and wait.

Answer: (A)

Not symptom-free after surfacing indicates decompression illness, which requires urgent recompression therapy rather than further underwater decompression or waiting it out. The goal of recompression is to increase ambient pressure, shrink gas bubbles, and improve oxygen delivery to affected tissues, which helps stop progression of symptoms and speeds recovery. Because of that urgency, the diver should be transported to the nearest hyperbaric chamber to begin Treatment Table 6 as soon as possible. Providing 100% oxygen at the surface is helpful while arranging transport, but delaying definitive treatment by returning to the water, doing nothing, or waiting ashore can allow symptoms to worsen or become life-threatening.