Editing Timeline of diving technology (section)

===Decompression sickness recognised as a problem===
* 1841: [[Jacques Triger]] constructs the first [[Caisson (engineering)|caisson]] for mining work in France. First two cases of decompression sickness in caisson workers are reported by Triger in 1845, consisting of joint and extremity pains.<ref name="Acott 1999" />
* 1846-1855: Several cases of decompression sickness, some with fatal outcome, reported in caisson workers during bridge construction first in France, then in England. Recompression is reported to help alleviate symptoms by Pol and Wattelle in 1847, and a gradual compression and decompression is advocated by Thomas Littleton in 1855.<ref name="Acott 1999" /><ref name="Littleton 1855" />
* From 1870 to 1910 all prominent features of decompression sickness were established, but theories over the pathology ranged from cold or exhaustion causing reflex spinal cord damage; electricity caused by [[friction]] on compression; or organ [[wiktionary:Congestion|congestion]] and vascular stasis caused by decompression.<ref name="Acott 1999" />
* 1870: Louis Bauer, a professor of surgery from St. Lous, publishes an initial report on the outcomes of 25 paralyzed caisson workers involved in the construction of the [[St Louis]] [[Eads Bridge]].<ref name="Bauer 1870" /> The construction project eventually employed 352 compressed air workers including Dr. Alphonse Jaminet as the physician in charge. There were 30 seriously injured and 12 fatalities. Dr. Jaminet himself suffered a case of decompression sickness when he ascended to the surface in four minutes after spending almost three hours at a depth of 95 feet in a caisson, and his description of his own experience was the first such recorded.<ref name="Butler 2004" /> While obviously caused by the increased pressure, both Bauer and Jaminet theorized that the symptoms were caused by a hypermetabolic state caused by the increase in oxygen, with inability to remove waste products in normal pressure. Gradual compression and decompression, shorter shifts with longer intervals, and complete rest after decompression were advocated. Actual cases were treated with rest, beef tea, ice, and alcohol.<ref name="Diaz 1996" />
* 1872: The similarity between decompression sickness and [[iatrogenic]] air embolism as well as the relationship between inadequate decompression and decompression sickness were noted by [[Hermann Friedberg]].<ref name="Hoff 1948" /><ref name="Friedberg 1872" /> He suggested that intravascular gas was released by rapid decompression and recommended: slow compression and decompression; four-hour working shifts; limit to maximum depth 44.1 [[Pounds per square inch|psig]] (4 [[Atmosphere (unit)|ATA]]); using only healthy workers; and recompression treatment for severe cases.<ref name="Acott 1999" />
* 1873: Dr. Andrew Smith first used the term "caisson disease" to describe 110 cases of decompression sickness as the physician in charge during construction of the [[Brooklyn Bridge]].<ref name="Butler 2004" /> The project employed 600 compressed air workers. Recompression treatment was not used. The project chief engineer [[Washington Roebling]] suffered from caisson disease. (He took charge after his father [[John Augustus Roebling]] died of [[tetanus]].) Washington's wife, Emily, helped manage the construction of the bridge after his sickness confined him to his home in [[Brooklyn]]. He battled the after-effects of the disease for the rest of his life.
According to different sources, the term "The Bends" for decompression sickness was coined by workers of either the Brooklyn or the Eads bridge, and was given because afflicted individuals characteristically arched their backs in a manner similar to a then-fashionable posture known as the [[Grecian bend|Grecian Bend]].<ref name="Butler 2004" />
* 1878: [[Paul Bert]] published ''La Pression barométrique'', providing the first systematic understanding of the causes of DCS.<ref name="Bert 1878" />