Eli5 how does decompression illness kill you?
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A lot of the answers here talk about “the bends” but another thing that falls into the category of decompression injuries is lung damage. If you ascend too quickly whilst holding your breath the expanding air has nowhere to go and will tear your lungs, which is probably as bad as it sounds.
This is why in scuba diving when you do an emergency ascent from depth you are supposed to make a humming noise to keep your airway open. It feels strange because the air is expanding you can keep humming all the way up and not run out of breath.
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