The Prevention of Compressed-Air Illness
Copyright © 1908 Cambridge University Press
DOI 10.1017/S0950268808000228
THE PREVENTION OF COMPRESSED-AIR ILLNESS
A. E. Boycott , G. C. C. Damant and J. S. Haldane Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine
Men who have been working in compressed air, as in diving, preparing foundations of bridges, etc. under water, or making tunnels or shafts through water-bearing strata, are liable on their return to atmospheric pressure to a variety of symptoms generally known as “diver's palsy” or “caisson disease,” but which may more conveniently be designated “compressed-air illness.” It was shown experimentally by Paul Bert that these symptoms are due to the fact that gas (chiefly nitrogen) which goes into solution in the blood and tissues during exposure to compressed air is liberated in the form of bubbles on too rapid decompression, and produces local or general blockage of the circulation or other injury.
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