Practical Diving First Aid (PDFA) – Diving Module

This module provides essential knowledge and skills for ensuring safety during diving activities. It covers the roles and responsibilities of the dive team, emphasizing the importance of a well-structured Medical Emergency Response Plan (MERP) and effective communication during emergencies.

Key Topics Include:

1. Roles and Responsibilities of the Dive Team: Understanding each member’s duties, response times, and documentation practices.
2. Causes and Prevention of Diving Accidents: Identifying common causes of accidents and strategies to prevent them.
3. Decompression Illness: Recognizing symptoms and treatment of decompression sickness.
4. Barotrauma: Understanding various types, including middle ear and sinus barotrauma, and how to protect against them.
5. Gas Toxicity: Awareness of conditions like hypercapnia, anoxia, hypoxia, nitrogen narcosis, and carbon monoxide poisoning.
6. Environmental Emergencies: Managing issues such as sea sickness, marine life encounters, drowning, hypothermia, hyperthermia, and dehydration.
7. Trauma Management: Approaches to handle fractures, bleeding, shock, and other injuries.
8. Applied Physics: The principles that affect diving operations.
9. Recompression Procedures: Techniques for treating decompression illness.
10. Documentation: Importance of accurate record-keeping in diving incidents.

This comprehensive module aims to equip divers with the necessary skills to respond effectively to emergencies, ensuring safety in underwater environments.