Alert Diver Category: Safety 101

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.

Pulmonary barotrauma can occur in a shallow swimming pool if a diver holds their breath during ascent or inadvertently floats to the surface while holding their breath. Most dive-related pulmonary barotraumas occur in compressed-gas diving due to pulmonary overinflation during a breath-hold ascent. Pulmonary barotrauma can occur even with normal breathing if there is an obstruction in the bronchial tree that prevents one lung segment’s normal ventilation.

Imagine descending to a beautiful reef. The water is clear, fish glide past, and then you feel a strange pull on your face, like the mask is trying to suction itself onto your eyes. When you surface your eyes are red, swollen, and possibly bruised. The cause was mask squeeze, a common but preventable dive injury.

DIVING INHERENTLY CARRIES AN ELEVATED LEVEL OF RISK because humans cannot survive underwater without specialized equipment. When things go wrong, an effective rescue is vital for a favorable outcome. Most rescue diver courses teach students basic techniques to apply after something goes wrong, but better courses also provide techniques to prevent incidents from occurring in […]

THE DIVE INDUSTRY IS FULL OF DEBATES. Should you use a jacket-style, back-inflate, or backplate and wing buoyancy compensator? A canister light or a cordless light? A weight belt or integrated weights? Regular fins or split fins?

WHEN ASKED TO DESCRIBE THEIR FAVORITE COURSE, many divers will discuss the challenges and triumphs they experienced during their rescue class. Instructors often describe rescue as the most rewarding course they teach. It is often the first course in which divers begin thinking about others more than themselves, so it’s little surprise that it stands […]