Alert Diver Category: Safety 101

Being involved in a traumatic event can take a toll on everyone: dive professionals or rescue divers who perform a rescue, lay providers who help with CPR and first aid, and dive buddies or bystanders.

Interest in breath-hold diving, also known as freediving, has grown exponentially over the past decade. Most individuals who enjoy watersports have held their breath underwater at some point, but most do so without formal training or awareness of the known dangers despite the ready availability of this lifesaving information.

A TOPIC THAT COMES UP FREQUENTLY when discussing dive safety is the use of earplugs. Are they safe to use while diving? Does DAN have any recommendations?

MINORS HAVE BEEN DIVING FOR DECADES, but the incidence of scuba diving injuries among them remains poorly studied.

THE RAPID GROWTH OF FREEDIVING in the U.S. brings a positive light to a sport that is mentally healthy and physically inspiring but has little tolerance for error. Shallow-water blackout and respiratory barotrauma are the most feared consequences of freediving, but they can be minimized with training and good safety practices. 

Scuba diving demands not only physical fitness but also proper nutritional preparation. Like with any activity, we expend energy while diving; surprisingly, the energy required for routine recreational diving is somewhat moderate. Under unusually strenuous recreational conditions, however, it’s possible to burn more than 500 calories. 

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.