OCRACOKE, North Carolina — A man is in hospital after he suffered injuries while scuba diving with DiveHatteras in North Carolina. Authoritiies have not yet identified the scuba diving accident victim, but told CDNN a 50-year-old male diver ascended too rapidly from a depth of about 30 meters (100 feet) and lost consciousness. After the accident, the crew of the Lion's Paw dive boat called for help and the Coast Guard launched a 47-ft rescue boat from Hatteras Inlet and a 25-ft rescue boat from Ocracoke. The Coast Guard boats escorted the Lion's Paw back to shore where the scuba diving accident victim was transferred to a Coast Guard helicopter and airlifted to Sentara Leigh Hospital in Norfolk where he is being treated for potentially fatal decompression sickness. According to witnesses, it was the man's first deep dive but not his first ever dive as erroneously reported by local media. Decompression sickness (the bends) Well over half of scuba divers afflicted with decompression illness report symptoms within 1 hour of surfacing from the dive, some 95% of victims show symptoms within six hours and almost all show symptoms within 24-48 hours. Nitrogen bubbles released while resurfacing cause damage by mechanically obstructing blood flow and can also cause a local chemical disruption of the vascular beds. Any scuba diving accident victim with signs or symptoms of decompression illness, which can cause death or permanent paralysis, should IMMEDIATELY SEEK EMERGENCY MEDICAL TREATMENT. Specific symptoms include: Mild to severe joint pains involving the arms or legs.Itching of the skin, which can progress to other symptoms of decompression illness.Rashes that can be accompanied by itching.Swollen and painful lymph nodes.Pain in the head, neck, or torso, which is often indicative of a severe DSC hit.Nervous system complaints, such as weakness on one side of the body, numbness, pains shooting down an arm or leg, inability to urinate or defecate, or other strokelike symptoms. "Chokes" including burning chest pain, cough, and shortness of breath."Staggers" (indicating an inner ear problem) including a spinning sensation, deafness, ringing in the ears, or vomiting. | 
