Update on ContaminatedWater Diver Training

Presented by

Steven M. Barsky, Marine Marketing and Consulting

Awareness of problems in contaminatedwater diving has increased

Most commercialdiving companies nowrecognize there is aneed to protect divers incontaminated water.

New problems have beenrevealed

• Non-point sourcepollution

• 40% of U.S. waters donot meet EPAstandards

Storiescirculated aboutdivers who havegotten cancer• San Diego Harbor

patrol

• Michigan Police

• Israeli Navy

Scientific correlation hasbeen established with IsraeliNavy divers exposure

• Haifa harbor dives

• Dr. Elihu Richter

• Paper to be published inEnvironmental HealthPerspectives in 2003

New form of Pfiesteria identified

• Pfiesteria shumwayae

• Appears to be equallytoxic to P. piscicida

• Toxic to humans

Swimmer’s Itch

• Schistosomecercarial dermatitis

• Carried by fecalmatter from waterfowl

• Results in intenseitching

M ichigan

Acanthamoeba Keratitis

• Affects wearers ofcontact lenses

• Infection of cornea

• Can lead to vision loss

• Can occur in fresh andsalt water

Trbutyltins

• Used on hulls of large ships

• Absorbed through skin

• Still in use worldwide

• Danger to diver doing hull searches

PCBs• Dangerous carcinogen

• Accidental dumping

• Boating canals inMichigan site of worstcontamination incidentin 2002

• 30,000 times safeexposure level inMichigan

Michigan

507 Lakes inCalifornia listedas “impaired”under CleanWater Act

No pollution control planmandated until 2012

California

Drug wastes contaminatinginland waterways

• Steroids, antibiotics, &hormones

• Personal carepollutants– Considered the next

big unknown inpollution

Hudson RiverPCBs

• General Electricdumped PCBs intoriver

• 40 mile stretch of riveraffected

• Dredging scheduled tostart in 2005

Most polluted beaches• Huntington Beach, CA

• Malibu Surfrider Beach, CA

• Kiddie Beach, Ventura, CA

• La Jolla Beach, CA

• M ission Bay, CA

• M iami Beach, FL

• Jones Beach, NY

• Indiana Dunes Lakeshore, Porter County, Ind.

Different groups take differentapproaches

• No standard for publicsafety divers

• Commercial industryhas standard

Filming of contaminated waterdiving techniques

• Traveled across U.S.

• New York

• Columbus, GA

• Long Beach, CA

• Huntington Harbor, CA

New York Harbor Patrol Divers

• Dive full time

• Use AGA mask

• Use Viking PRO suit

• Don’t use dry gloves

• No formal deconprocedure

Trident Foundation

• Use both AGA &SuperLitehelmets

• Use Viking suits

• Use dry gloves

• Performextensive deconprocedures

CaliforniaDepartment ofTransportation• Full time team of

divers inspectingbridges

• Almost all diving is inpolluted sites

• Use surface-suppliedgear exclusively

Long Beach, CA Lifeguards

• Perform hull searchesin harbor

• Rescues in harbor

• Body recoveries

• Use AGA/Viking/Drygloves

• Full decon proceduresused

Companies are adapting techniquesand equipment to their needs

• Decon proceduresvary widely

• Decon adjusted tolevel of threat

• Diving equipment isconsistent

When to use full-face mask

• When contaminantswill not causepermanent injury ordeath

• You know for surethere are no othercontaminants present

When to use helmet…

• When contaminantswill cause permanentinjury or death

• When risk that full-face might bedislodged is high

Tools available to assist intraining

• Chemical tables

• Training course on CDROM

• Diving in High-RiskEnvironments

• NEW! Video on CD-ROM

CD-ROM supplements othermaterials

• Use with trainingcourse and book

• Good review tool afterformal training iscomplete

V ideo is in QuickTime Format-plays cross-platform on Mac & PC

• 9 separate programs

• Quick review

• Can view eachprogram individually

• Average running time5 minutes per program

Let’s take a look at the video… .

Thank you for attending!