DEMA Show Recap
The 2012 DEMA Show ends today and here are some of my impressions….
The show floor itself was smaller than in years past, probably due to the economy and the fact that many manufacturers chose not to attend. Some of the big names were conspicuously absent, and some had very small booths, like DUI drysuits and Dive-rite. In fact the show was in the smaller north concourse rather than in the much larger south concourse.
PADI had a very large presence as did Oceanic and Aqualung. Some new products bring introduced, especially in the rebreather arena with PADI introducing their new recreational rebreather courses and Oceanic showing their new Explorer rebreather. They also were showing some new dive computers from their Hollis line. A new BCD is coming out in the spring and will be a jacket style with an attractive price point. Aqualung will be coming out with some redesigned regulators, BCDs and computers in late December/early January. A new line of super lightweight bags for both local and traveling divers were on display and will be available from them in the same timeframe. DAN had a nice section of the show floor and during my Instructor Trainer update talked about the new consolidation of courses from 14 to 8, eliminating duplication and combining course content where appropriate. They are also revising their materials to support the new courses.
In terms of travel destinations, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands had the largest areas with the Philippines and Malaysia and Indonesia close behind. Lots of travel specials going on for the show but nothing particularly earth shattering.
There are always smaller manufacturers and distributors at the show and some had interesting products to offer, like the underwater metal detector that us in the shape of a long wand about 4 feet long. Probably the most popular booth was the GoPro area. Every day of the show there were crowds of people around their HD televisions watching the sample videos. At 3pm every day they would hold a raffle giving away some of their camera systems, hats, t-shirts and other prizes.
After the drawings were completed, they would bring out a beer tapper and serve free beer to anyone who wanted some. The lines to buy things from them sometimes were 50 people long.
So next year’s show will be in Las Vegas a week later than this years’.
DEMA Show Update #3
The DEMA show is winding down, but there were still lots of great seminars put on by various manufacturers, dive travel destinations, and certification agencies. In particular, the seminars presented by DAN, the Divers Alert Network, have been particularly interesting and informative. We went to one today entitled How Physically Fit is Fit to Dive? presented by Dr. Neal Pollock, who is the research director at DAN.
Some highlights:
Dr. Pollock started out by discussing various types of “fitness to dive” including medical fitness, psychological fitness, physical fitness, diving knowledge, physical skills, and nutritional status. The biggest issues many divers face are physical fitness, and the need to be fit enough to meet the demands of a particular dive, but also have some reserve capacity to if exceptional demands occur on a dive, such as a sudden change in current or wave action, upwellings, etc. The exceptional demands will of course vary by the environment. As he put it: “You should be fit enough with a reserve to be safe for every dive”.
The next topic address was the rise of Body Mass Index (BMI) which is defined as a person’s weight relative to their height. In the 1960s through the 80s, the average BMI stayed relatively stable, while from the 90s through present day, BMIs are rising rapidly. The discussion turned to Metabolic Syndrome, which causes cardiac conditions and diabetes. Some additional information can be found HERE on risk factors for Metabolic Syndrome.
Diver fatalities were address next, and not surprisingly, smoking and obesity were common in dive fatalities. As would be expected, cardiac issues increase with age and are also a leading factor in dive fatalities. Dr. Pollock spoke of how divers die, with respect to age and gender. Young males tend to have a higher fatality rate than young females, due to what he called the “watch this” syndrome. As divers age, and especially once they reach their 50s and up, both genders’ fatality rates were very close due to common diseases in aging divers. We can expect a loss of 1% of our aerobic capacity every year after age 25-30.
Some things we can do as divers:
- Strength training using weights
- Aerobic training, like running, cycling, swimming
- Dynamic/flexibility training, such as doing yoga, playing volleyball or racquetball
It is recommended that we exercise 3-4 times per week, for 30-60 minutes per session, raising our heart rate to 60-75% of our max heart rate. To calculate max heart rate, simply subtract tour age from 220. The chart shown will help illustrate the point.
Another important point addressed was that of pre and post dive exercise. Dr. Pollock recommended that we isolate pre and post dive exercise to 24 hours to avoid the risk of causing decompression illness. The point here is that the exercise to avoid is what he called “high joint forces” exercise, like high intensity aerobics, running, etc.
As was mentioned, the seminars have been very educational, and Dr. Pollock referenced some additional websites that are worth mentioning here: Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Physical Activity and Health from the U.S. Surgeon General.
So, by being in better physical, medical and psychological fitness, as well as having and constantly improving our skills and education and knowledge we will help avoid injury during the sport we all love.
DEMA Show Update #2
Today we went to a very informative seminar put on by Divers Alert Network, entitled: Diving Emergencies: Planning Versus Improvisation with the presenter being Dr. Mathias Nocheto, one of the DAN diving physicians. During his talk, Dr. Nocheto brought forward some important topics for discussion that should be part of every divers safety planning, including having an Emergency Action Plan or EAP.
He started out by talking about what constitutes a diving emergency….things like DCI, possible gas embolism, near drowning and submersion incidents. The he went on to discuss possible reactions to these issues. The discussion really boiled down to some very important facts…for example, he stated that you as the rescuer should decide what constitutes an emergency and what conditions require activating your Emergency Action Plan.
The seminar then went on to discuss what should be part of your EAP, such as what to do in the case of diving incidents, non-diving incidents and what to do in the case of a missing diver. Dr. Nocheto then added that we as divers should also think about what evacuation resources exist, like is there EMS readily available? How is that evacuation resource activated? What other medical resources exist in the area, such as Hospital Emergency Rooms, Urgent Care Clinics, hyperbaric chambers and physicians trained in hyperbaric medicine.
Other things to review: knowing any local hazards, such as are there any marine animals that could cause an injury, is there any current or surge typically present, could there be any entanglement or entrapment hazards, or is there a culture of unsafe diving practices in the area? Do you have a first aid kit with supplies appropriate for the local area? Do you have oxygen available and if so, are you trained in ho it should be used?
So for all you Rescue Divers out there…take a moment to review your own EAPs for wherever you dive, and if you don’t have one, now is the time to get one started. Talk it over with your dive buddies and even your non-diving “shore support” who accompany you on your dive excursions before the local dive season starts again next spring. And of course, get trained in CPR, First Aid, and Oxygen Administration.
If you’d like more information on diving medicine and safety, DAN has some great online educational resources available to you as a diver. Some have a small fee associated with them, while others are free. You can access them HERE