Today Mark Slinn (intern), Andy Cavell (intern) and Ash Dunn (staff) attended a DAN (Divers Alert Network) O2 (oxygen) provider course. The course was conducted by the experienced dive medic technician and DAN O2 Provider Instructor Steve Reid. Steve took a break from his busy schedule as the owner of the new resort Sea View Koh Tao to conduct the course for Big Blue Tech and other diving schools in the area.

The course is described as:

DAN´s Oxygen First Aid for Scuba Diving Injuries Provider Course was designed to fill the void in oxygen first aid training available for the general diving public.

This course represents entry level training designed to educate the general diving (and qualified non-diving) public in recognizing possible dive related injuries and providing emergency oxygen first aid while activating the local emergency medical services (EMS) and/or arranging for evacuation to the nearest available medical facility.

In DAN´s most recent dive accident record, less than 33% of injured divers received emergency oxygen in the field. Few of those received oxygen concentrations approaching the recommended 100%. DAN and all major diving instructional agencies recommend that all divers be qualified to provide 100% oxygen in the field to those injured in a dive accident.

For countries like Australia, this course is required for all scuba diving professionals. For us on Koh Tao, this course is included and required for all staff and internship candidates.

The course was completed using theoretical examples, study of local and international law and practical assembly and administration of oxygen and oxygen related equipment.

This would be the perfect course leading up to their O2 Equipment Service Technician Course on the following day.

Divers Alert Network (DAN) is looking for divers and/or expeditions to get involved with in 2010 and to invite participants to take part in this observational, non-interventional field study. DAN will enroll adult volunteers, certified divers or students in the process of dive training and follow them during their regular field activities.

DAN is conducting a technical diving field study that will run through 2010. The purpose of this study is to document dive exposure, conduct ultrasound measurements of circulating venous gas emboli (VGE) and evaluate pre and postdive health status in divers of various experience levels and dive modes. The goal is to study those conducting extreme dives relative to the profiles completed by most recreational divers. Field studies in these areas began with pilot data in 2008 and continued in 2009. The most recent study was conducted at Inner Space at Dive Tech, a field research station for the technical dive study.

Accepted subjects will undergo a battery of anthropometric measurements as well as strength and fitness tests. They will complete a questionnaire regarding their health status and their previous diving experience. Participants will then be free to dive according to their own schedule, but each dive will need to be documented on personal dive computers that meet the standards for Project Dive Exploration. In addition to profile documentation, each participant will undergo postdive, precordial Ultrasound monitoring using standard protocols. For technical dives, the monitoring will start between 10 and 20 minutes after the end of the dive and continue at 20-30 minute intervals until no bubbles are detected. At the end of the day, all participants will fill out a standardized Decompression Health Survey.

DAN is primarily looking for 10-12 divers planning at least six days of diving to depths in the range of 210 ft (70 m) or more. Dives using both OC and CCR are acceptable. The most important thing needed by DAN is space to work either on a boat or on a land-based site, and a willing group of volunteers to participate. The commitment can be quite time consuming. But while this study requires a lot of the volunteer diver, the data collected on bubble formation as well as diver health and fitness is invaluable.

If you are a technical diver leading a technical diving trip or expedition, or if you are a diver involved in an expedition and believe you meet the study requirements, please contact DAN Research to learn more about the Technical Diving Study and its collection protocols. You can email Donna Uguccioni at duguccioni@dan.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 919-684-2948 ext. 627.

Like he did almost every week, Correy Fedor went scuba diving with his pals from Any Water Sports in San Jose.

But something horrible happened to the experienced diver Thursday morning. The 22-year-old Fedor had some sort of trouble, and he became separated from his two friends. They surfaced. He didn’t. And when he finally was found, he was dead.

Today, his friends and family gathered in San Jose to mourn “one of the good guys,” said Fedor’s aunt, Jill Perry. “He was one of those great kids. We may never know what happened to him.”

Fedor, along with Frank Barry who owns Any Water Sports, and another friend, Scott Chapman, were scuba diving off Monastery Beach in Monterey County on Thursday before work starting at 7:30 a.m., according to Barry’s wife, Ginny Barry.

State Park Sector Superintendent Dana Jones said Fedor was doing a “technical dive” down 250 feet — which is quite deep for amateur divers — but something Fedor had done before.

Fedor’s family said his equipment has been checked out, and nothing was malfunctioning. He had no health problems that his family knew about. According to the nonprofit group Divers Alert Network, deep diving can be fraught with potential hazards including something called nitrogen narcosis,a condition that can sneak up quickly and cause the diver to not think clearly. The Monterey County coroner’s office, however, has not yet released the cause of death.

Recounting the story told to her by her husband, Ginny Barry said the trio were making their “scheduled stops” back up to surface — something that’s necessary because it’s impossible to shoot straight back up to the surface.”They meticulously planned this dive,” Barry said. “But it was dark and overcast. Frank checked his compass and tapped Correy on the arm and pointed in the direction they were traveling. He assumed Correy was behind him and making his safety stops.”

When Frank Barry checked again next to him, Fedor wasn’t there, but he thought his friend was still following the plan. Barry and Chapman reached the surface.

When they couldn’t find Fedor — a University of California-Santa Cruz student studying anthropology — Chapman called 911 and Barry scoured the water. Fedor worked in Barry’s shop as a diving tech, and also on Barry’s charter boat in Monterey as a deckhand and dive master, Ginny Barry said.

Finally, her husband found Fedor facedown in the water and tried to revive him, rangers said. Emergency crews rushed on scene and performed CPR until 10:30 a.m. to no avail.

Fedor’s aunt said her nephew, a 2005 Santa Teresa High School graduate, was beloved in the scuba community. Fedor’s parents, Vanessa and Joe, along with brothers Jarred, 26, and Preston, 29, have been reading scuba blogs, learning how much divers connected to the happy-go-lucky Fedor, who also loved hiking, rock climbing and fishing.

“He and his father were planning one last fishing trip before school started,” Perry said. “They were supposed to put it on the calendar last night.”

Since 2004, 15 divers have died in Monterey County waters at spots including Point Lobos, Lovers Point in Pacific Grove and San Carlos Beach near Cannery Row, according to the Divers Alert Network medical research department. Two deaths reportedly occurred at Monastery Beach in that time period.

This is the second time this year a San Jose man has died after scuba diving in the Monterey area, although the other death was a different beach. In early August, Alec Piplani, 49, had trouble breathing after entering the water off McAbee Beach on Cannery, and was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

The Divers Alert Network Annual SCUBA Diving Report is one of the most anticipated and trusted publications in the dive industry. Each year, divers count on it as a resource to educate themselves; the knowledge they gain, hopefully, makes them safer divers.

Once again, the DAN Research team has compiled its findings from data gathered from incident reports and information shared through the Project Dive Exploration (PDE) initiative. The DAN Annual Diving Report – 2008 Edition examines contributing factors in SCUBA dive accident and fatality cases in an effort to understand those factors and improve dive safety.

The report is available at no charge to everyone interested in reading it; it can be downloaded from the DAN website at Divers Alert Network 2009 Report

The Divers Alert Network website is located at www.DiversAlertNetwork.org.

If you are a tek diver looking for a great dive get-away, then Tek week may be the answer. From Recreational to technical, Open Circuit to Closed circuit with dive profiles for all, it’s a great all-inclusive week! With crystal clear 100′+ vis, 83 degree waters and unlimited diving, Tek Week allows for a week of exploration on the deep walls and shallow reefs of Grand Cayman and the adventure to go where no one has gone before.

The event runs from August 29 through September 5, 2009 and DiveTech@Cobalt Coast has announce there are a few spots left for this unique and highly different week of diving.

OC Tek divers get a chance to dive with CCR divers and test dive a unit, meet some of the leading experts in the field and participate in evening lectures on topics of interest to Tek or soon-to-be Tek divers. We have a host of sponsors coming to the event to dive, entertain with their knowledge and reward with give-away items and a great raffle too!

Divers Alert Network (DAN) will be joining us, doing field research on divers doing profiles >70m, including Doppler and Ultrasound testing after all dives. We’re looking for test subjects willing to devote a little time to ’seeing’ and ‘hearing’ their bubbles after a dive. Divetech is a designated field research station for DAN for 2009/2010.

Confirmed Sponsors for 2009 include VR Technologies  (Sentinel, Oroboros, VR3), Silent Diving (Evo, Inspiration), Oceanic Ventures (Training/Travel), DiveRite (O2ptima, FX & Tek gear), rEvo Rebreathers (rEvo CCR), Titan Dive Gear (Titan/Hydro lights), Shearwater Research (Pursuit), Laguna Research (CCR Controllers), Poseidon (MK6 CCR) and NUVAIR (trimix & oxygen analyzers) with more updates to come….

The package includes 7-nights accommodations, tax & service charges, unlimited awesome shore diving, 7-day full meal plan (includes Beach BBQ), round-trip airport transfers, daily boat trip – 2-3 hr runtimes, Stingray City trip, unlimited scrubber (408, 812, Extend Air), unlimited gases  - O2, He, Air and Mix fills
Carrie Lee trip (Normoxic/Trimix divers), Doubles/stage bottles/bailout bottles (DIN) and a DVD/CD of Tek Week.

http://www.divetech.com/Tekweek.htm
www.cobaltcoast.com
1 888 946-5656 Toll free for information or reservations