Final answer:
The symptoms of Decompression Sickness (DCS) range from mild joint pain and headaches to more severe symptoms such as double vision, slurred speech, muscle weakness, paralysis, and breathing difficulties. Immediate treatment includes pure oxygen therapy and transferring the affected person to a hyperbaric chamber.
Step-by-step explanation:
The symptoms of Decompression Sickness (DCS) can vary depending on the severity. Mild signs and symptoms include pain in the joints, headache, and disturbances of vision, which occur in about 10 to 15 percent of cases. As DCS progresses to more severe forms, symptoms can include double or blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing and breathing, dry mouth, muscle weakness, paralysis, and even affect motor coordination, heart function, and breathing.
Immediate treatment for DCS is with pure oxygen, which helps to increase the concentration of oxygen in the blood in order to replace some of the nitrogen. This treatment is usually followed by transferring the affected person to a hyperbaric chamber, which is pressurized to greater than atmospheric pressure. The hyperbaric chamber repressurizes the body, allowing pressure to be removed gradually. This helps to eliminate the trapped nitrogen bubbles that cause DCS symptoms.