KOTA KINABALU: Scuba divers should review essential underwater safety practices following the recent death of a 31-year-old woman off Pulau Tioman, whose post-mortem confirmed the cause of death as arterial gas embolism (AGE).
Sabah Dive Squad Club medical adviser Dr Eugene Tan 陈俊利 said AGE is a serious injury caused when expanding air tears lung tissue and enters the bloodstream during an ascent, often blocking blood flow to the brain or heart.
“Following the recent tragic loss of a diver off Pulau Tioman, it is crucial to review key underwater safety practices.
“Keep breathing continuously, especially while ascending. If ascending rapidly during an emergency, exhale continuously.
“If you want to make it simple, do not ascend faster than your breath bubbles,” he said in a statemen, adding that scuba divers should ascend slowly at a rate of less than nine to 18 metres per minute and to make a three-minute safety stop at five metres.
Dr Tan also emphasised the importance of the buddy system by maintaining close contact with the other scuba divers.
If separated, search for no more than one minute before making a slow ascent to regroup at the surface.
He also advised divers not to dive if they have asthma, chest infections or lung congestion.
In the event of an emergency, Dr Tan, who is an internal medicine specialist based at the Kota Kinabalu Regional Armed Forces Hospital in Sepanggar here, said a diver who surfaces confused or unconscious should be given 100 per cent oxygen immediately, laid flat and transported urgently to a hyperbaric chamber.-pr/BNN
