Learn how to save a life with CPR and first aid training

Done properly and with adequate training, scuba diving is tremendous fun and relatively safe.

Still, functioning in an underwater environment is unnatural and potentially dangerous.

That’s why all divers, regardless of how often they dive, should become competent in life-saving measures.

After all, there aren’t many things more important than learning how to save a life. Unfortunately, too few of us really know what to do if we come across a person in trouble and in need of medical attention.

That was part of my motivation for getting certified on Nov. 12 in first aid, CPR and O2 provider. I hadn’t had a CPR, or cardio pulminary resuscitation, class since I was in Cub Scouts, and I was a little surprised by how much the certification class had changed.

First of all, the speed at which the chest compressions are admininistered is TWICE as fast as I recall. And this change, as recommended by the American Heart Association, has taken place in just the last two years.

Perhaps you remember saying “one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand” as the pace to provide the compressions used to restart the heart. In my most-recent class, we were instructed to deliver compressions at the speed of the beat to the Bee Gees tune “Stayin’ Alive.”

Sing it with me now: “Ah, ah, ah, ah, Stayin’ Alive, Stayin’ Alive. Ah, ah, ah, ah Stayin’ Alive, Stayin’ Alive.” Apparently disco is back in vogue.

The reason for the increased speed, according to our instructor, BJ Stapp, a firefighter, medic and instruction coordinator for Michigan CPR, is the need to deliver as many beats to the heart as possible in the crucial first five minutes after a person goes into cardiac arrest. The American Heart Association recommends 100 compressions per minute, exactly the beat speed of “Stayin’ Alive.” Going too slowly  doesn’t generate enough blood flow, and going too fast doesn’t allow the heart to fill properly between compressions.

For those of you still burning any disco records you can get your hands on, the beat to Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust” will also work.

There are several other changes to CPR procedure, (too many to mention here), made as recently as five or six years ago, which is another reason to refresh your certification.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that the first five minutes, the first couple of minutes that someone is having a medical emergency, are the most important,” Stapp said. “And that’s usually the time that it takes the medical responders, the professionals to get there. So if people can learn what to do correctly, and learn how to do it with confidence, they can make a big difference.”

Regarding scuba diving, Stapp said it’s not necessarily injuries caused by the dive that require the most medical attention, but rather inherent problems the diver had before he or she undertook the dive that are triggered under the application of the dive.

“What we don’t realize with the pressure changes and some of the activities and things that we are doing, there is a lot of demand on our bodies.  And all this demand can cause a lot of problems. They can be as simple as an underlying problem that we already have, like diabetes, or asthma, or something more serious like a diving emergency.”

The most serious diving emergency, according to Stapp, is a heart attack, most often brought about by physical exertion under the water.

“When diving, there is an increased workload on the heart. Because when we go under that pressure it kind of pushes the blood to the core of our body and makes our heart work more. And so when it works more, we have an increased chance for a heart attack,” he said.

Stapp spent about six hours Saturday teaching a small group of students first aid and CPR, and how to use an AED, or automated external defibrillator. We were also taught how to administer oxygen to victims in need. Each of the certifications is good for two years.

Most commonly, divers will need to inhale pure oxygen if they ascend to the surface too quickly. The oxygen helps push out the nitrogen loading caused by the quick ascent and reduces the chances of decompression sickness.

I also discovered breathing pure oxygen can cure my biggest problem: headaches caused by a high number of dives in a short period of time. When I go on a dive vacation, I try to cram as many dives as I can into that short period of time. I usually do a minimum of three dives a day, and sometimes four if I can squeeze in a night dive. All of that diving builds up carbon dioxide (CO2) in the blood, and causes my head to feel like a large pumpkin. Stapp said taking deep breaths and long exhales just before asending to complete a dive can help, as well as taking in oxygen after the dive has been completed.

The students were put through a variety of emergency situations and taught how to respond. In addition to the CPR, students were also taught how to help someone who is choking by using both adult and infant manikins. First aid training included what to do for allergic reactions, heart attack, fainting, diabetes and low blood sugar, stroke, seizure and shock. The procedures not only provide aid for the victim, but also provide protection for those administering the aid.

Stapp said first aid and CPR programs are available through the American Heart Association, the Red Cross, fire departments, places that train lifeguards, local universities, and of course Stapp’s program, Michigan CPR, for which more information can be found at www.MichiganCPR.com

This article and video are scuba specific. My general story and video about the CPR and first aid training can be found at macombdaily.com with this link: www.macombdaily.com/articles/2011/11/12/news/doc4ebf350c20aae105287714.txt

Don Gardner can be reached at don.gardner@macombdaily.com

Police postpone retrieval of cannon from river

DETROIT (AP) — Police divers on Sept. 7 postponed retrieval of a possibly centuries-old cannon from the Detroit River after strong currents and murky water thwarted efforts to raise it to the surface.
The divers were assisted by the U.S. Coast Guard until the operation was shut down, Detroit police spokeswoman Eren Stephens said.
No new recovery date was announced.

This photo shot by Sgt. Ken Stiel and provided by the Detroit Police department shows a cannon believed to be more than 200 years old in the Detroit River. Divers planned on recovering the cannon on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011, before murky waters and a strong current forced a cancellation of the project. It's the fifth cannon found in the area in three decades.

Dive team members discovered the cannon about 200 feet from Cobo Center in downtown Detroit during a training session in July. It's the fifth cannon found in the area in three decades.
Once it's recovered, the Detroit Historical Society hopes to restore and preserve the cannon, which is more than 6 feet long and likely weighs about 1,200 pounds.
Three other cannons were recovered in the 1980s and a fourth was recovered by the department's dive team in 1994. Those are believed to be British and French. Detroit Historical Society Curator Joel Stone said the latest find will be studied to try to determine its age and where it came from.
"This is all kind of a detective thing," Stone said. "You get one piece of the puzzle, and then you get another piece of the puzzle."
The cannon could be one of several believed to have fallen into the river in 1796 when they were being transported by the British, Detroit police said. Cannons that have been found in the area, however, also may have gone down anytime up to the War of 1812, Stone said.
Sgt. Dean Rademaker, who took part in the dive when the last cannon was found in 1994, spotted what turned out to be the latest one in July. Department divers previously had been to that area of the river hundreds of times without finding it, Rademaker said.
"I thought to myself, 'You gotta be kidding me,'" he said of the discovery.

Divers more typically find cars and guns. In 2009 during a training session, they turned up a 6-foot, 300-pound bronze statue that had been missing for more than eight years from the Grosse Pointe War Memorial. The statue was returned to its suburban Detroit home.

Exploring the Eliza Strong shipwreck in Lake Huron

As promised, here is a short video of my weekend dive with Bruno's Dive Shop, located in Clinton Township, on the Eliza H. Strong. The Strong was  a barge that was carrying lumber when it caught fire and sunk on Oct. 25, 1904, about a mile from Lexington. She sits in about 20 feet of water and is home to many interesting treasures, including the old-fashioned square-headed nails and a sink that is still attached to the craft. In fact, during the video, you will see me "washing" my hands in the sink.
The video is courtesy of Michael Lynch, an instructor who runs his own Great Lakes diving site called michigandiver.com, and Bruno's Dive Shop.

Dives on the Strong and the Sport provide chance to watch father and son begin checkout dive process

Do to an unexpected change in my work schedule, I had been unable to do much diving this summer.

But I was able to get out recently and did a couple of wreck dives in Lake Huron near Port Sanilac and Lexington in Michigan’s thumb on the Great Lakes Diver, the dive boat owned by Bruno’s Dive Shop, which is located in Clinton Township.

I had the pleasure of meeting Stephen and Ryan Puckett, a father and son from Grosse Pointe Woods, who were doing there checkout dives for their open water certification.

Here is an interview I had with them before the dives, during their dive briefings with instructor Rick Davies from Brunos, and then after the dives.

Watching them deal with a combination of excitement and nerves while preparing for their first dive outside of the swimming pool brought me right back to when I was in their position so many years ago.

Am I ready? Can I do it? Will I remember everything from my training?

Since we were doing checkout dives, basically the final exam for new divers, both dives were relatively shallow. Our first dive was down to the Eliza H. Strong, a barge that was carrying lumber when it caught fire and sunk on Oct. 25, 1904, about a mile from Lexington. She sits in about 20 feet of water and is home to many interesting treasures, including the old-fashioned square-headed nails and a sink that is still attached to the craft.

Our second dive was aboard the Sport, a 57-foot tugboat that sunk in a storm off of Lexington on Dec. 13, 1920. She also has the rare distinction of having an underwater state historic site plaque, which was placed there in the early 1990s.

Thanks to some lousy weather, visibility was pretty poor for both dives, but for what I could tell, the Pucketts did fine.

It was great to get back in the water. It made me realize how much I miss it. I only hope I’ll have more chances to dive next year.

Soon, I will add some underwater video and photo stills of my two dives on the Strong and the Sport.

Explorers find 2 shipwrecks in northern Lake Huron

PRESQUE ISLE, Mich. (AP) — A team of underwater explorers has found two long-lost shipwrecks in northeastern Lake Huron.

Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary on Wednesday announced the discovery of the schooner M.F. Merrick and the steel freighter Etruria in deep water off Presque Isle (PRESK' EEL').
They were detected during an expedition called "Project Shiphunt," which involved scientists and historians from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and five high school students from Saginaw.
Both ships sank after colliding with steamers in dense fog.
The 138-foot-long Merrick went down in 1889. Five crew members were killed. The intact hull was found resting upright on the lake bottom.
The Etruria, which was 414 feet long, sank in 1905 — just three years after it was launched.
A documentary about the expedition will be released Aug. 30.

U.S. Congressman takes heat for diving with U.S. flag

By DiverWire Staff

(DiverWire) -  Last weekend US Congressman Allen West joined a group of military veterans and local divers to celebrate Learn to Dive Month in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The Republican Congressman, a certified diver, was one of several dozen divers to descend on the wreck of the Ancient Mariner near Deerfield Beach. During the dive, the group unfolded an American Flag and took turns posing for pictures.


On Tuesday, which is ironically “Flag Day” across the country, West took heat from a group of bloggers who pointed out the divers were technically “in violation” of the U.S. Flag code which states, (b) The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise
Given the current scandals in Washington, D.C., one might think skeptics could find something better to focus their attention on. West, in his first term in office, talked about the importance of flying the flag following the event. “I think it’s important wherever we are, that the flag flies,” said the 22-year veteran Army officer who is also a Master Scuba Diver. “It’s still America down there.”
Tuesday afternoon, the congressman’s office issued a statement, saying he participated in the event or bring attention to scuba diving near his district, and calling West’s actions “sign of respect for the flag.”

US Congressman Allen West (R-FL)

“He went diving with several disabled veterans who fought to defend the American Flag and this nation,” said West’s communications director, Angela Sachitano.
“In addition, Congressman West would like to wish everyone a Happy Flag Day.”
Controversy or not, the event was a major success. There were 33 people on the boat Aqua View with Jeff Torode and his crew from South Florida Diving Headquarters, who took the veterans for free. With calm waters and good visibility, everyone enjoyed great diving.
West told the Sun-Sentinel newspaper that he tries to dive “if not every month, then every other month,” either locally or in the Keys. Certified in scuba while in college, West got re-certified and then got his master diver certification after he retired and moved to Plantation.  “Diving is a great opportunity to connect with constituents,” West said, “and find out what their issues are.” It’s unlikely that any of West’s constituents would have a problem with the Congressman honoring his brother soldiers by proudly displaying the American Flag during a dive, but stranger things have happened.

The “soiled” flag is scheduled to be auctioned for charity, with the proceeds slated for the Diveheart Organization, which deals with teaching soldiers and others with disabilities how to scuba dive. Current bid on the flag is $500 and the auction runs through June 25. For more information, contact Force E at 866-307-3483 or visit Force-E.com

Shipwreck champagne sold to anonymous bidder

MARIEHAMN, Finland (AP) — Finnish officials say an Internet bidder has paid 54,000 euro ($78,235) for two bottles of 200-year-old champagne found in a shipwreck at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

Auctioneers in Mariehamn say that an anonymous buyer from Singapore paid a world-record price of 30,000 euro for a bottle of Veuve Clicquot and 24,000 euro for a bottle of Juglar.

Both bottles are believed to be the oldest preserved examples of their respective brands.

Friday's auction was held in the capital of the autonomous Aland Islands, a Finnish archipelago situated between Sweden and Finland. Divers last year salvaged 145 bottles of champagne from the shipwreck, at a depth of 165 feet (50 meters) on the seabed.