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Oxygen First Aid for Scuba Diving Injuries
DANīs 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 DANīs 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.
Oxygen First Aid for Aquatic Emergencies
Every year more than 4,000 Americans die from drowning and many more suffer from
near-drowning events.
According to the 1998 National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) Annual Sports
Participation Survey, 58.2 million Americans participated more than once in
swimming during the year. The same study identified nearly 30 million people who
participated in power boating, sailing, kayaking, rafting or canoeing.
When swimmers and boaters have near-drowning accidents, water in their lungs
keeps their lungs from working properly and they don't get an adequate amount of
oxygen. This may cause secondary drowning; victims appear to survive an incident
only to die at home a few hours later. Administering 100 percent oxygen first
aid immediately after an accident improves the victim's survival chances.
For nearly a decade, DAN has preached the benefits of providing oxygen to
injured scuba divers. During that time more than 80,000 people worldwide have
been trained in this first aid skill. In March of 1999, DAN Services, Inc., a
wholly owned for-profit subsidiary of Divers Alert Network, launched the Oxygen
First Aid for Aquatic Emergencies (Aquatics) program. Its goal is to extend the
life-saving skills of oxygen first aid to people who live and play in and around
water. Providing high concentrations of oxygen to near-drowning victims in the
first few minutes after rescue can prevent serious or even fatal complications.
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