What is the most common cause of diver emergencies?
Poor judgement
What three things should you consider before attempting an inwater rescue of someone in the water?
- Whether you need to get in the water (if not already)
- If you have the equipment and training necessary
- If you can reasonably expect to accomplish the resuce without getting into trouble yourself
What is diver stress?
Stress is defined as physical or mental tension that results in physical, chemical, and/or psychological changes in the body. Stress is a response to a perceived threat.
What are seven causes and examples of physical stress?
- Cold and heat
- Nitrogen narcosis
- Seasickness
- Fatigue
- Illness or injury
- Alcohol or drugs
- Discomfort or impaired function caused by ill fitted or malfunctioning equipment
What are three examples of psychological (emotional) stress caused by physical stress?
- Fear of being able to make it safely to boat or shore due to fatigue
- Fear that the regulator cannot deliver enough air due to overexertion and feeling air starved
- Feeling overwhelmed by being loaded with physical tasks
What are four causes of psychological stress other than physical stress?
- Peer pressure
- Thinking that the dive is too expensive to miss
- Mental task-loading
- Fearing looking like a coward
What is perceptual narrowing?
The tendency under stress to be less broadly aware and more focused on a perceived threat and/or solutions to that threat.
What effects can stress produce in a diver?
- anxiety
- increased breathing
- perceptual narrowing
- panic
What supplies belong in a well stocked first aid kit?
- Gloves, pocket mask, ventilation barriers, eye protection and face mask
- Reference materials for first aid
- Materials to record information
- Gauze pads and bandages
- Cotton tipped swabs
- Cold/hot packs
- etc.
What is a pocket mask, and what are four advantages of using one?
A pocket mask is a mask designed to facilitate rescue breathing.
Advantages:
- simplifies getting an effective seal and head positioning
- reduces disease transmission risk
- can be used for inwater rescue breathing
- can be used to provide oxygenated rescue breaths
Why is it important to have emergency oxygen available?
Prompt oxygen first aid can make a dramatic difference in the diver’s immediate condition and in the effectiveness of subsequent treatment.
What are the three primary types of emergency oxygen systems?
- Nonresuscitator demand valve units
- Continuous flow units
- Positive pressure resuscitator units (requires special training)
How do the three primary types of emergency oxygen systems differ?
- Nonresuscitator demand valve units operate like a scuba regulator, supplying 100% oxygen when the diver inhales
- Continuous flow units release oxygen continuously and can deliver more than 90% oxygen with the proper flow (15 litres/min recommended)
- Positive pressure resuscitator units use pressure from the cylinder to provide rescue breaths
How much oxygen should be available?
Ideally, carry a big enough supply to keep an injured diver on pure oxygen until in the hands of emergency medical care (640 litres can be expected to last 40 to 50 minutes).
What is an AED and what is the benefit of having one?
An Automatic External Defibrillator is a device that delivers a shock in an attempt to restart the heart (defibrillation).
The primary benefit is that it shortens the interval between the loss of heartbeat and attempts to restart the heart.
What is the difference between a ‘victim’ and a ‘patient’?
A victim is a diver in an accident situation who either has yet to receive help or who is receiving help but is not yet in a stable, safe environment.
A patient is a diver in an accident situation who is receiving emergency medical care in a stable, relatively safe environment.
What are the two roles a rescue diver may have at an accident dive scene?
- Skilled rescue assistant under a more qualified person’s direction and management
- Emergency manager, delegating tasks to others based on their abilities and qualifications
What two forms of readiness prepare you to manage an emergency, and what are the elements of each?
Personal readiness:
- maintaining physical fitness
- participating in regular training and practice
- proper attitude
Equipment readiness:
- having special rescue equipment or being able to improvise it on the spot
- knowing how to use equipment
- stowing it where you can easily get it if needed
What are the six basic steps for emergency management?
- Assess the situation
- stop, breathe and think about what you have to do
- Act on your plan
- Delegate
- tasks include getting emergency assistance, fetching emergency equipment, noting what happens, accounting for all divers, securing the victim’s equipment and controlling bystanders
- Attend to injuries
- try to calm and reassure the diver by explaining what you’re doing to help
- Control the scene
- Arrange evacuation to medical care
- if necessary, provide information about dive accident care and give them contact information for DAN or other emergency dive services
What considerations and procedures are involved with forming a local emergeny assistance plan?
- Jot down emergency contact information relevant to the dive sites you visit, including contact information for local EMS and DAN or other diver emergency service serving the local area
- When travelling to remote destinations, you may need several telephone numbers as well as VHF radio frequencies and even multiple language considerations
What three areas of preparation increase your self-resuce abilities?
- Physical preparation - proper health, fitness and diet
- Mental preparation - confidence and a feeling of wellbeing about the dive
- Equipment preparation - familiarity with the use of your dive equipment and emergency equipment, as well as keeping it in working order with good maintainance
What three dive procedures help you anticipate and prevent problems while diving?
- Maintain your equipment properly, and do a predive inspection
- Anticipate problems as part of your dive plan and devise plans to avoid those problems you anticipate
- Don’t ignore small problems
What should you do when you encounter a problem while diving?
Stop, breathe, think and then act based on a logical plan. Be prepared to formulate a new solution if your first doesn’t work.
What are five skills that increase your self rescue abilities?
- Good buoyancy control
- Proper airway control
- Cramp removal
- Handling air depletion
- Responding to vertigo (by making contact with a fixed object or watching your bubbles and consulting your gauge for up and down orientation)
