Radoo
Registered
Opening this thread after reading the BSAC 2018 report - full report in here: https://www.bsac.com/document/diving-incident-report-2018/bsac-incident-report-2018.pdf
Lots of things to learn from there, at least for me as a new diver.
In summary, 19 fatalities were recorded in UK during the last year - the highest number since 2004. Although we don’t have full data and some of the information provided is not very clear, if you look at the at the rescue and resuscitation part you notice that an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) was used in 20 cases with quite a high success rate of 30% while CPR +/- oxygen was used in 104 cases with a success rate of aprox 16%.
That’s quite a significant difference and it seems quite obvious that using an AED can make the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful resuscitation.
I’m not an expert in resuscitating a diver but from my point of view a collapsed/unconscious diver should be connected to an AED straight away. Even if he initially have a pulse and shows signs of life his heart rhythm can degenerate into a rhythm that is not compatible with life. And those rhythms require a shock to delivered by an AED ASAP . Every minute of delay reduces the chance of successful resuscitation by 10%. Ten percent.
We all insist that to have O2 on the boats we use to dive but from my point of view an AED as important as O2. Actually even more important than oxygen in a case where we are assisting a diver who is in cardiac arrest - you can deliver a little bit of O2 via rescue breaths but you can’t replace a shock (if the rhythm is shockable). Add good quality CPR to this.
I know it’s more feasible to spend resources preventing accidents. But they are happening and they will continue to happen. Isn’t better to be prepared for them? Don’t you guys think that basic resuscitation skills and AED use should be part of the basic training no matter what agency you are registered with? Shouldn’t all the boats used for diving have an AED? I think it can save precious lives.
Lots of things to learn from there, at least for me as a new diver.
In summary, 19 fatalities were recorded in UK during the last year - the highest number since 2004. Although we don’t have full data and some of the information provided is not very clear, if you look at the at the rescue and resuscitation part you notice that an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) was used in 20 cases with quite a high success rate of 30% while CPR +/- oxygen was used in 104 cases with a success rate of aprox 16%.
That’s quite a significant difference and it seems quite obvious that using an AED can make the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful resuscitation.
I’m not an expert in resuscitating a diver but from my point of view a collapsed/unconscious diver should be connected to an AED straight away. Even if he initially have a pulse and shows signs of life his heart rhythm can degenerate into a rhythm that is not compatible with life. And those rhythms require a shock to delivered by an AED ASAP . Every minute of delay reduces the chance of successful resuscitation by 10%. Ten percent.
We all insist that to have O2 on the boats we use to dive but from my point of view an AED as important as O2. Actually even more important than oxygen in a case where we are assisting a diver who is in cardiac arrest - you can deliver a little bit of O2 via rescue breaths but you can’t replace a shock (if the rhythm is shockable). Add good quality CPR to this.
I know it’s more feasible to spend resources preventing accidents. But they are happening and they will continue to happen. Isn’t better to be prepared for them? Don’t you guys think that basic resuscitation skills and AED use should be part of the basic training no matter what agency you are registered with? Shouldn’t all the boats used for diving have an AED? I think it can save precious lives.
