“Personally, I have NEVER heard of a case of the bends absent activity with diving”
bends originally were discovered due to working inside pressurized coffer dams, like those used to build the main piers for the Brooklyn bridge ... that doesn’t happen anymore however, as working time under compression is limited,m and decompression steps are also used in such circumstances ...
And originally it was called "Caisson's Disease," because that was the term they used for the coffer dams.