Or rather you can, or any other injured or distressed diver that I might come across...lol. Last night I had the wonderful opportunity of being trained one on one by Shannon in Emergency O2. The Emergency O2 specialty covers everything you need to know to administer Emergency O2, from how to recognize signals that someone is in distress, how to set-up the air, test it, what to say to the individual in distress and finally how to administer the O2 until medical help arrives.
It's funny how much I am starting to feel like I belong at OPD, maybe one day they'll give me a key...lol. I arrived a few minutes early last night and just waited out front for Shannon but had to laugh when she arrived and opened the door for me. You see Shannon hurt her back recently (that was not the funny part) and was bringing gear (laundry) back to the shop, but due to her injury she is unable to lift anything so I had to go to her truck and bring in her laundry. It's just like being at home, grab the laundry and get it put away...lol.
It was a great night and lots of learning, instead of going through the book page by page and reviewing the chapter review one question at a time, because it was just the two of us, Shannon took me through everything in detail asking me questions along the way. How fast should the flow be? What are the 2 different types of mask systems? What is Oxygen? What is it made up of? Why is it important? What does it do in the body? It turns out in one of the recent classes Shannon was teaching, she had a Doctor in the class who was able to detail out exactly what the process is, from how much O2 the body actually absorbs, how much is exhaled, how that differs with exertion level, and what exactly it is doing in your body. Shannon was kind enough to walk me through a similar conversation, and due to my gross lack of biology knowledge this was a great experience for me. I now see lungs in a completely different way, no longer are they just bags that sit inside you and hold your air, they are complex systems of branches upon branches of what are called bronchi ending in bronchioles the thickness of a human hair! This is where O2 is absorbed and then moved through your body... man we are an amazing creation!
After assembling and disassembling all 3 of the O2 units OPD has, and talking through all of the differences in masks, portability, ease of use, set-up, and additional tools. Shannon then tested me by asking me to, given a scenario, (1) pick which unit I would prefer to have, (2) set it up, (3) talk through what I would say to the diver, and (4) explain why I would have used this unit in the configuration that I did. We went through a few scenarios so that I got experienced with a couple of the units and different masks and the uses of each depending on the divers status and the amount of O2 to be delivered and how it was to be delivered.
OPD (Ocean Pro Divers) has a great policy in regards to their Emergency O2 and their Emergency training. Once you have received the training you are welcome (and encouraged) to repeat the course when they offer it again, free of charge, to ensure you are keeping up on all your skills. Additionally, they allow divers to take out their O2 kits so that the kit is available should a diver need it, instead of just sitting in the shop where it doesn't do anybody any good.
I am happy to say, I am now certified to administer Emergency O2... now I hope i will never need to...lol. I am getting quite the collection of certification cards... and next month... NIGHT DIVING!!
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