As always, I’m excited to share this installment of Safety Stop in my President’s Message. It is my goal to raise awareness about the risks associated with diving, and also underwater photography. I welcome your individual stories and submissions to the Safety Stop column so please don’t hesitate to email me at President@sfups.org. If you wish to share your article anonymously just let me know. In this month’s Safety Stop article, I would like to talk about the dangers present above you while underwater, instead of those dangers below. A large percentage of injuries to divers occur when they return to the surface. Let’s briefly discuss why some of these incidents happen and how to avoid them.
Of course, the main concern at the end of everyone’s dive is whether or not there’s a boat traveling at the surface. Because it is hard to determine the location of noise while underwater, never surface if you hear a boat engine nearby. We were taught during our open water scuba certification to always carry a safety sausage. When you are ending your dive, let’s get in the habit of deploying the safety sausage. If your dive buddy or divemaster typically does this, try to alternate performing this task to make sure you are familiar with it. If you can see someone already at the surface it’s probably safe to ascend near them as they already have eyes on what is present at the surface.
It may seem like common sense, but be aware of divers that may be above you. Serious accidents have happened by a diver above mistakenly kicking the scuba mask off someone beneath them. Imagine trying to surface from 80 feet without a mask. In an earlier safety stop column, I recommended carrying an extra mask in your BCD pocket in the event of a dislodged mask or broken mask strap.
For those that dive over at the Blue Heron Bridge, or any shallow dive for that matter, take a look at your surroundings before you start your dive. Are there fisherman overhead that could hook you with their line? Are there people with throw nets nearby? Let’s not forget that fisherman have the same right to be there as you do. Is there a boat channel nearby that you have to make sure that you don’t wander off into? When I’m over at the bridge and have lost my bearings, I only surface near a bridge piling / marker pole, or use my compass to swim in a direction Northeast toward the beach until I get into the shallows. So make sure you always dive with a compass, and are familiar with its operation.