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A team of top researchers and leaders of the Divers Alert Network (DAN) addressed the demands of public safety diving during the recent DEMA show in Las Vegas. DEMA is an organization dedicated to the business side of diving. DAN's President and Director of Training, Dan Orr, pointed out that diving accidents could cause injuries and losses that might be irreversible. Yet, most diving accidents could have been prevented. Diving involves nature's conditions, physiology, physics and technology, any of which could cause such problems as running out of breathing gas, entrapment, equipment failures, rough water conditions, injury, buoyancy problems, inappropriate breathing gas, and health conditions that impair a diver's abilities. But the human element in diving also unwittingly—or deliberately—puts aside known procedures and safety measures, creating mistakes and crises that could have been avoided, Orr said. Diving involves what might appear to be "routine" procedures, but which, in fact, are vital to diver safety, Orr said. Such things as avoiding peer pressure, confguring diving gear on the dock rather than aboard the boat where rough water might reign, knowing how to deploy or share an air supply to another diver without losing one's own supply, being able to operate the dive gear octopus in any conditions, knowing how to ditch weights in one motion, doing pre-dive equipment checks for self and buddy, achieving correct buoyancy, and setting a communications system are all things good divers know, but they must be practiced regularly, according to Orr. "Consider the risks and your diving ability," he said. "Practice basic and emergency skills regularly. Stay within your ability." He added that there should always be a method to "call the dive, at any time, for any reason, no argument," because safety must be paramount. Statistics show that the diving population is actually getting older—perhaps due to the time and money older individuals might have for sport diving, and the fact that people live longer these days, have better medicine and controls for chronic conditions, and stay with the sport because it is appealing. But the trend seems true for public safety divers, too, who have usually been at diving work longer, developing the specialized skills needed for rescue and recovery. Age can be a factor in safe diving, said Neal Pollock, Ph.D., DAN Research Director and Research Associate at the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology of the Duke University Medical Center, because divers need physical ability, emotional maturity, and intellectual ability to be safe divers. They must master a reasonable knowledge base, recognize and manage visible and invisible hazards, think clearly and act effectively when under the stress that an underwater emergency can create. There is certainly no upper limit for a diver's age, but a safe diver needs the individual capacity and health to avoid compromising safety. Aerobic capacity, learning and retention, processing ability, and fexibility in the brain's functions are important to safe diving. Dr. Pollock said, "You need strength and endurance to dive." A ftness strategy means doing regular exercise. "Use it or lose it!" he warned. For example, good pulmonary function can be promoted by regular exercise. Diving's positive effects involve a physical prowess that encourages a diver to get ft and stay ft, and to keep to a plan of sound nutrition. Diving also has an intellectual component that stimulates continued learning and critical thinking skills. And it has an emotional element that motivates individuals to be engaged in both self-appraisal and group interaction to assure safety and ftness among divers and their teams. Physical health is important. Chronic disease such as hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes (or pre-diabetes) can be risk factors to safe diving, Pollock said. Immersing the body in water sends blood to the heart and that could adversely affect a diver whose physical health is such that the stress of immersion, the demands of buoyancy, the stress of cold water, or the weight of dive gear creates a danger. Pollock recommends working with one's physician, preferably one familiar with the demands of diving, to maintain a health level that tolerates the tasks and hazards associated with diving. For example, managing glucose levels on the day of www.lawandordermag.com 79