A diver was taken to hospital yesterday suffering from the bends.
The 49-year-old man had been diving in Loch Aline, near Mull, from the boat Gaelic Rose.
After surfacing, he began complaining of a skin rash associated with the bends and the alarm was raised at about 11am.
Oban Lifeboat was launched and took the man onboard, transferring him to a waiting ambulance which took him to hospital.
The bends is caused by a build up of nitrogen in the blood.
Iain Fulton, press officer for the lifeboat, said: “This can be a serious condition but can be effectively treated if diagnosed quickly.
“The lifeboat therefore proceeded to the location as quickly as possible and took the diver onboard at 11.27am. Upon returning to Oban the lifeboat was met by a waiting ambulance which transferred the diver to Oban, Lorn and the Isles Hospital.”
He was later transferred to the hyperbaric chamber at Dunstaffnage for decompression treatment.
The diver was the second call out of the morning for Oban’s lifeboat crew.
Just an hour earlier, at 10am, the coastguard asked it to head to Easdale Sound where a 30ft yacht had gone aground with two people aboard.
However, as the team was making its way to the scene, another vessel was able to assist the yacht and tow it to Easdale Harbour. The lifeboat was stood down.
Tobermory Lifeboat was also in action today. At 1.45pm the lifeboat went to help a de-masted catamaran, which was having problems off the north end of Mull. The catamaran was towed to Tobermory.