Clarifiez les signaux manuels avant de plonger

Divers spend much of their time underwater with a select group of buddies — the ones we trust to get us through the dive and surface with fresh experiences and stories to tell. Newly certified divers have had limited interactions underwater, having dived only with classmates, instructors, and assistant instructors during their classes.

Reviewing hand signals predive increases group safety and decreases mental loading.

When the Unexpected Happens

The onset of pain in my left ear was sudden and excruciating. I knew something was wrong, so I gripped the anchor line and stopped ascending. My buddy saw me stop, and I communicated via hand signals that something was not right with my ear and that I needed to pause our ascent.

Two divers during a safety stop

Appât involontaire en profondeur

Getting to the wreck of the Caribsea off the coast of North Carolina can take up to an hour and a half. While traveling to the dive site, I regrettably ate a prepackaged lunch with an indecipherable expiration date I had purchased the night before.

diver clearing regulator

Un garrot sauve la vie d'un plongeur

A recent dive trip changed the lives of everyone involved, and I hope this story might help save another life.  About 30 days before the trip, I was talking to […]

applying a tourniquet

Adaptabilité aquatique

La plongée récréative est un sport agréable et relaxant, fait pour être savouré. Mais que se passe-t-il lorsque les choses ne se déroulent pas comme prévu : votre masque s’enlève, votre détendeur est arraché ou quelqu’un dans votre palanquée tombe en panne d’air ?

All courses at the NDSTC are rigorous

Survivre à un triple danger aux Maldives

A diver didn’t heed the divemaster’s warning and was lost at sea. Deploying his large surface marker buoy helped with his rescue. DAN recommends that divers always listen to the dive briefing and follow all directions and always carry an SMB and reel. If your breathing-gas supply is critically low, get to the surface at a safe ascent rate, and then monitor for signs of decompression illness. It is better to deal with DCI on the surface than to run out of breathing gas at depth.

Déploiement d'une bouée de surface pour aider au sauvetage

Une bonne formation fait d'un incident un simple désagrément

Je me suis réveillé enthousiaste à l'idée d'une journée de plongée ordinaire dans ma carrière locale. Même si les conditions n'étaient pas idylliques, avec une eau tropicale cristalline, j'avais l'occasion d'être sous l'eau et de faire des bulles, ce qui me suffisait amplement.

This dive solidified the importance of the training the author received for calmly dealing with gear failures.

Sauver un plongeur, se sauver soi-même

Divers can’t save themselves unless they understand what’s happening and how to evaluate the problem, keep breathing and act. It sounds simple, but the rescue diver course helped me solidify my safety and survival skills. I may not remember every detail, but one item still stands out for me as invaluable for a new diver: Any dive can be stopped at any time, for any reason, without question. To that I would add “and without embarrassment.” That advice would eventually save me.

plongeurs sauveteurs

La préparation a fait toute la différence

In a behind-the-scenes emergency at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland, two trained responders faced a critical moment that tested their skills and composure.

National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland.

Pas seulement pour la plongée

WHILE DAN’S SUITE OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS focus primarily on diving, graduates of the courses can apply the skills and knowledge they learned to many circumstances outside the aquatic realm. My wife and I were driving home from a weekend getaway to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, heading northbound on Interstate 95. As expected, I-95 was moderately […]