Alert Diver Category: Safety 101

To clear up any confusion divers may have about patent foramen ovale (PFO), I will share how I explain the condition to patients. 

The day-to-day tasks of injury monitoring at Divers Alert Network include tracking dive fatalities by sifting through emails, news alerts, and social media to collect information about recent events. Our goal is to report to the dive community our findings on what people report to us or what we encounter in our research. 

Lionfish are fascinating and beautiful creatures, but they can cause serious injuries as well as environmental problems outside their normal range.

As a hyperbaric physician and dive instructor, I’ve been around a lot of dive accidents, and I’ve spent decades educating divers and treating decompression sickness (DCS).

You check in at the dive shop, sign your waivers, get your gear on the boat, and set up your BCD on your first tank for the day. The divemaster introduces you to your dive buddy for this trip — a total stranger from another part of the world who is here for the same things you are: great diving and returning home safely. 

Being physically fit can be important, and sometimes crucial, for dive safety. Physical fitness plays a role in both regular dive activities and emergent events. A quick and effective response to sudden demands can often quickly and easily resolve a situation, while an insufficient response can prolong or exacerbate it.

In Fall 2013, my wife, Liv, and I were supervising 16 new divers who were experiencing low visibility for the first time. Our training site had a maximum depth of […]

I was recently scrolling through social media and found a popular video of a salvage diver saying that ear beer was enough after diving in contaminated water. Hearing this advice gave me pause — someone could have serious adverse health effects if they follow it without more knowledge.