Medicine and Health · Prevention

Introduction

Safety and Preventional Plan

Emergency Plan

Hyperbaric Chambers

Introduction

As in all activities involving risk, diving requires that safety and preventive measures be taken into account before going on a dive. This means participating in some form of training with qualified instructors on prevention and first aid for diving emergencies.

Safety and Preventional Plan

Having an Accident Prevention Plan ready is as important as choosing the site for the dive or the gear that will be used.
It is advisable to previously check on the weather and meteorological conditions, make a note of the telephone numbers and addresses of the medical emergency services in the area and also make sure of the location of any nearby hyperbaric chambers.
It is also important to consider aspects of the dive itself: depth, time, altitude, water temperature and the experience of the diving team taking part in the dive.
One of the most effective ways of preventing the situations that can lead to problems during the dive is the Buddy System. This system is the corner stone of diving safety, especially when the diver is a beginner.
It consists in obeying the rules regarding distance between divers, in both having knowledge on the diving gear, etc

Emergency Plan

This Plan is used when something has gone wrong during the dive and it becomes necessary to act in a fast and practical manner. The Emergency Plan must include the steps to follow during a contingency, what equipment should be used and the responsibility of each of the participants, so as to avoid an overlap in the various assistance tasks.
Among the steps included in this plan are those involving the injured diver, whether they be first aid and other actions to be carried out immediately, a quick evaluation on the simplest and safest way of transporting an injured diver to a medical assistance center, or related to the pertinent information that must be given to the doctor: at what depth and for how long did the victim dive, what are the victim’s symptoms etc.Preventing accidents is simpler when one has a thoroughly tested Prevention and Safety Plan to rely on.

Hyperbaric Chambers

Hyperbaric medicine, or oxygen therapy, reproduces the conditions a diver would find himself in on a dive, when the body bears all the pressure exerted by the water. In order to recreate these conditions on land, special equipment is needed: a chamber where the patient can be placed, either lying down or sitting up, in order to breathe pure oxygen at high pressure. The amount of time spent in the chamber, the pressurization and the number of sessions required varies from one person to another and depend on the accident in question.