Written by DAN Staff
As you know, risk management requires constant attention. To better manage diver safety it’s important to stay up to date on the most notable injuries and use this knowledge to direct your efforts and attention to the places they’ll do the most good. Here are some of last year’s most notable injuries and some easy ways to prevent them from troubling your students.
Ear Squeezes
It’s no secret that ear injuries are the single most common affliction among divers both new and experienced. Ear equalization is not an innate skill – most people have not tried equalizing before taking a scuba class. Performing a new skill combined with the other requirements of diving results in frequent ear squeezes, barotrauma and other aural maladies.
It’s easy to lose sight of how equalization is natural for you because you’re an experienced diver, but constant repetition is key to making it natural for student divers. Give students an opportunity to practice equalization on the surface until it becomes muscle memory. In your briefing, as you gear up, and before you descend, mention it and repeat it until it’s an assumed part of every dive. It’s a great way to both prevent injuries and instill good habits in new divers.
Boat Ladders
Boat ladders come in a surprising variety of shapes and sizes, and they represent a common and sometimes serious source of trauma on dive charters. Fingers pinched in hinges, toes crushed against boats and concussions from falling ladders are frequent causes of reports to DAN. Finger amputations and broken bones are not unheard of, and it doesn’t help that dive boats are a uniquely challenging environment for people who may be at home in on the water.
Give clear and concise instructions for approaching and climbing the ladder. It’s often the approach to the ladder in heavy seas that poses the greatest risk. Divers need to be coached on how to address fin removal and queuing to board the boat in currents or challenging conditions. Try to keep instruction simple to make it easier for divers to internalize and apply while dealing with the rigors of exiting the water.
Propeller Injuries
Backed by engine power and rapidly spinning, propellers can easily cause lethal injuries with minimal warning. Preventing these injuries is straightforward, but you need to reinforce safe habits that will stay with your students for their entire diving careers Your experience provides you with a respect for the risk posed by boats that new divers might not have.
You can discuss the results of a propeller injury and the ease with which injuries can occur. Promote situational awareness and giving boats a wide berth. It’s important to teach your divers to stay as far away from boats, both maneuvering and anchored, as possible. While this may seem like common sense, the numbers don’t lie: Year after year divers make minor miscalculations and must deal with the serious consequences.
For more information about common diving injuries, visit DAN.org
