A two-member crew had been harvesting geoduck from a small vessel. The diver made four short survey dives and one long harvest dive. His hands felt numb almost immediately after resurfacing from the last dive, and within one minute the numbness spread to his extremities. By the next morning he was receiving treatment in a hyperbaric chamber and was totally paralyzed from his chest down. Months of rehabilitation have restored some function to his lower body, but it is unlikely he will be able to return to commercial diving.

Several factors had raised the anxiety level of the crew, including many recent days of bad weather, fishing for seven weeks without a break, and the inability to attain the day's quota. The diver usually did a decompression stop after every dive. On this day, he made no decompression stops and his surface ascent was too quick.

Safe work practices:

• Plan and log all dives, including bottom times and surface intervals, to ensure that the dive profile remains within the no-decompression limits (this will also allow medical personnel to recreate dive activities when medical aid is required)
• Be aware of and control factors that contribute to decompression sickness:
  - Remain well hydrated and well nourished
  - Do not dive when under stress or anxiety
  - Do a safety (decompression) stop at the end of every dive
  - Control your ascent rate to 30 feet per minute or less
• Ensure crew size for all dive operations meets regulatory requirements