Are you a North Carolina diver? DAN has a free talk tonight!

DAN is renowned for their educational lectures and they regularly put on a series of free seminars at the DEMA Show that all dive professionals can access.

For the last three years, DAN HQ in Durham (North Carolina) has been running a bi-monthly diving medicine / research / safety series of lectures at their office in West Colony Place. The talk is held on the first Wednesday of every other month at 19:00. This programme provides an excellent opportunity for anyone with a thirst for diving knowledge to listen to a variety of local experts discuss dive medicine, research, and safety.

Tonight’s lecture (Wednesday 3rd April 2013) is entitled “Managing DCS in Remote Locations” and given by Dr. Nicholas Bird.

“Decompression sickness often occurs in remote locations. In such environments, treatment options and local expertise may be lacking. This presentation covers a description of decompression sickness, diagnostic criteria and treatment options, and factors that may help guide decisions about treatment versus evacuation.”

For those of you unfamiliar with Dr Nick, he is DAN’s Chief Medical Officer.

Doors will open at 18:15 for a pre-event social, and ‘Down Under‘ very kindly serve light refreshments. The presentation begins at 19:00 and will last approximately 45 – 55 minutes, followed by a question-and-answer session.

Admission to the lecture is free, and no registration is required. So come early, come hungry and hear Dr Nick wax lyrical about DCS logistics.

Upcoming Lectures in the Series:

June 5: “The Heart in Diving” presented by Dr. Petar Denoble

August 7: “Critical Thinking of Post-Dive Symptoms” presented by Dr. Matias Nochetto

Divers Alert Network President Dan Orr announces retirement

Divers Alert Network announced that well-known DAN representative and industry ambassador Dan Orr has retired from his position as President of DAN Inc. Orr, who has been with the DAN organisation for the last two decades, is a well-respected and recognized fixture at industry and consumer events throughout the world.

Dan Orr at the 2012 DEMA Show Photo Credit: Alese & Morton Pechter (pechterphoto.zenfolio.com)

Dan Orr’s passion for scuba diver safety has grown through his tenure with DAN that has taken him to virtually every corner of the globe. Orr, can often be seen engaging scuba divers at various events throughout the country. He is an invited speaker at diving medical and safety seminars around the world and often speaks to local scuba diving clubs and local scuba retail outlets.

Having held multiple positions within the DAN organisation, Orr is best recognized for developing the DAN Oxygen Programme that has become the worldwide standard in the first aid for diving emergencies. By working with instructors and local dive stores and local dive stores across the country, Orr helped build a network of DAN instructors and instructor-trainers that allowed this important initiative to quickly spread throughout the global diving community. Orr has spent his career at DAN promoting DAN’s mission of dive safety.

“Dan Orr’s commitment to the recreational scuba industry is unmatched. His spirit, dedication and expertise have helped make DAN the diving industry’s leading safety organization. For that, every DAN member past and present can thank Dan Orr,” said William Ziefle, President and CEO of DAN Inc. “We appreciate everything Dan Orr has done for DAN and the dive industry and wish them well in their future endeavors.”

Bill Ziefle added that Dan Orr has been named President Emeritus of the DAN Foundation and will serve DAN in an official capacity until his retirement in August 2013.

Among the many awards and accolades that Dan Orr has received over the years, the latest and most prestigious was the DEMA Reaching Out Award which was presented to him last Fall. A published author of numerous books, training programs and presentations, Orr was elected into the Hall of Fame for Disabled Divers in 2010, is a recipient of the NOGI Award in Sports/Education, the Wyland Icon Award, Beneath the Sea’s Diver of the Year, the Our World Underwater Award, the Leonard Greenstone Diving Safety Award, and is one of the inaugural Platinum Pro 5000 honorees by Scuba Schools International.

Are you a North Carolina diver? DAN has a free talk tonight!

DAN is renowned for their educational lectures and they regularly put on a series of free seminars at the DEMA Show that all dive professionals can access.

A list of Divers Alert Network lectures given at the DEMA Show by DAN experts, including Dr Neal W Pollock (pictured) Photo Credit: Rosemary E Lunn

For the last three years, DAN HQ in Durham (North Carolina) has been running a bi-monthly diving medicine / research / safety series of lectures at their office in West Colony Place. The talk is held on the first Wednesday of every other month at 19:00. This programme provides an excellent opportunity for anyone with a thirst for diving knowledge to listen to a variety of local experts discuss dive medicine, research, and safety.

Tonight’s lecture (Wednesday 6th February 2013) is entitled “The Physiology and Pathophysiology of Immersion” and given by Dr. Neal Pollock.

“Water can be a joy to swimmers and divers. The support it provides enables us to move in three dimensions with tremendous freedom. There is a toll, however, that comes with this dense milieu that we do not see in our normal air environment. This presentation will consider the effects of water immersion and the implications for swimmers and divers.”

For those of you unfamiliar with Dr Neal, he is a Research Director at DAN and a Research Associate at the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology at Duke University Medical Center.

Doors will open at 18:15 for a pre-event social, and ‘Down Under‘ very kindly serve light refreshments. The presentation begins at 19:00 and will last approximately 45 – 55 minutes, followed by a question-and-answer session.

Admission to the lecture is free, and no registration is required. So come early, come hungry and hear Dr Neal wax lyrical about  immersion physiology.

Upcoming Lectures in the Series:

April 3: “Managing DCS in Remote Locations” presented by Dr. Nicholas Bird

June 5: “The Heart in Diving” presented by Dr. Petar Denoble

August 7: “Critical Thinking of Post-Dive Symptoms” presented by Dr. Matias Nochetto

Overcome 3 common sales objections by Geoffrey James

These three classic sales scripts will help you to handle most sales objections.

 

Here’s some really basic sales techniques, right from the mouth of one of the world’s true greats in sales training, the inimitable Tom Hopkins.  (Check out the great video on his home page!)

I’ll give the objections and responses exactly how he gave them to me, followed by my own observations about customizing the scripts to make them work for YOU.

1. “I can get it cheaper elsewhere.”

Your response: ”In today’s world we can almost always get something cheaper. I’ve found that when smart people invest their money they look for three things: the finest quality, the best service and lowest price. However, it’s an undeniable truth no company can consistently offer all three. Two maybe, but not all three. Which two of those three things–quality, price, or service–do you think will most important for your long term plans?”

2. “I have a friend in the business.”

Your response: ”Hey, so do I! (Smile). But you know, there’s an old saying – I don’t know how true it is – that sometimes friendship and business don’t mix. If you bought from a friend you might not want to say anything if you weren’t happy with the purchase because it might damage the friendship. With me you can get on my case until you get exactly what you want.”

3. “I did business with your company in the past and they were unprofessional.”

Your response: ”I can really appreciate that. I really hate it when that kind of thing happens to me. Suppose the shoe were on the other foot and it was your company that had acted unprofessionally. You’d probably fire the person responsible. That’s probably what we had to do, and now it’s my job to make certain that you’re treated the right way from now on.”

There’s a reason that these are classics: they really do work. However, to make them work for you, you can’t just memorize them and repeat them by rote.

Instead, understand the logic and intent behind each of the responses and craft a response that uses words and a tone that’s natural for you.

For example, let’s suppose you’re in your mid-twenties, selling extreme sporting equipment wholesale to a buyer in his early thirties. Your version of response No.3 might be more like this:

“Yeah, I hear you. When I joined the firm there were rumors about some screw-ups. All I can say now is, as far as I can tell, the problems have been fixed and the screw-ups have left the company. My job is to make sure you get a great price on gear that people want and that it gets here right when you need it.”

Just think about what you’re trying to communicate and and that you are talking to a friend over a beer. It’s really that simple.

2013 Return to Phantom Springs

Deep in the west Texas desert lies Phantom Springs Cave.

In 2012 an expedition established that outside Florida, Phantom Springs Cave is the third longest USA cave in the USA, and tantalisingly it is still going. However it is not as straightforward as it would seem to explore here. Phantom Cave is a federally owned, strictly closed biological preserve for the endangered pupfish. The site is only accessible by a permit issued by the US Bureau of Reclamation, and only two permits are ever concurrently issued. Both are assigned until at least 2015.

Photo Credit: Becky Kagan Schott

Earlier this month, a precious permit allowed a team of ten hand picked divers to push this cave system further. The team comprised of Dr Andrew Pitkin and Brett Hemphill (deep exploration), Michael Poucher, Jason and Chrissy Richards (survey), Becky Kagan Schott and Curt Bowen (topside and underwater cinematographers), and Joel Clark and Corey Mearns (safety and logistics).

The expedition goals were to extend the line beyond the 2012 expedition and to continue exploring as far as safety and logistics allowed; to hand-tape survey the site, starting from the cave entrance and working inwards; and capture the action and events as they unfolded.

This expedition was not purely exploratory. Dr Thomas Iliffe, one of the worlds leading cave biologists holds the science permit for Phantom Spring. His goal was to work in-water with the other teams to gather water quality and cave fauna data.

Over the course of seven days the exploration divers hit a record depth of 462 feet / 140.8 metres, making it the deepest USA underwater cave system. The team also set up sediment traps, collected water quality data, surveyed over 8,000 feet of the cave, and shot hours of high definition video and still photos topside and underwater. Plans are being put in place to return.

Photo Credit: Curt Bowen

Advanced Diver Magazine Exploration Foundation has just published a fascinating report illustrated by sumptuous imagery.

“A billion stars illuminate the remote sky as the yelps of coyote packs echo across the desert. A beam of light suddenly flickers from inside the dark cave entrance. Seven hours have passed since the deep exploration team entered the cave with the goal to push this unique desert spring further (and possibly deeper than any other underwater cave in the United States).”

Click here to read the full story

Calling all male cave divers – research subjects required

A doctoral research study is being conducted by William B. Oigarden, MA, LMHC, NCC. He is a doctoral candidate at Barry University in the Adrian Dominican School of Education and he is investigating the personality traits and behaviour of male cave diver. (Specifically the relationship between dyadic adjustment, personality traits, and alexithymia.) Please pass this information on to relevant friends, peers and colleagues.

Dyadic Adjustment & Personality Traits in Male Cave Divers 

An Exploratory Study – Doctoral Online Research Study

Would you like to participate in a FREE research study investigating the relationship between personality traits and relationship satisfaction in male cave divers?

To participate click here

Study Requirements – Complete a demographic survey (5 minutes) and three scales that measure dyadic adjustment (10 minutes), personality traits (15 minutes), and alexithymia (5 minutes). You would need to allow approximately 35 minutes to complete the entire survey.

Eligibility Requirements – You must be a male cave diver, aged 18 years or older, and married or in a committed relationship. There is also a category for those who consider themselves in a separated relationship status.

After thoroughly reviewing and reading the Informed Consent screen, you will have two options. Should you choose to participate or choose not to participate in this voluntary study, your anonymity will be secure at all times. You also have the option to discontinue the study at any time. Once you have selected the “I agree” then the next button: you will be presented with a demographics questionnaire. Once this is completed, you will move into the rest of the online anonymous questionnaire.

This survey is completely anonymous and no IP addresses are collected by this researcher. 

This is a research study and is not considered a therapeutic session. This study is free to all participants. Participation is entirely voluntary and can be withdrawn at any time. Since this is an exploratory study and gender differences in activities similar to cave diving were found during the literature review this study will be limited to male cave divers. Future studies planned will include female cave divers.

If you should have any questions or need more information please contact Bill B. Oigarden (telephone 386 984-9348), Bill’s supervisor, Dr. Catharina Eeltink (telephone 321 235-8401) or the Institutional Review Board point of contact, Barbara Cook (telephone 305 899-3020)

Thank you for your time and interest in this study. This will be a partial fulfillment of a Ph.D. degree in Counselling.

Rescue of an unconscious diver from depth: the new UHMS guidelines

This is Professor Simon J Mitchell, photo credit Pete Mesley. Simon gave a presentation at EUROTEK.2012 entitled “Rescue of an unconscious diver from depth: the new UHMS guidelines”.

We are delighted that permission has been granted by the UHMS Journal Editor that allows the recreational and technical diving community to access this valuable resource.

The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) is an international, non-profit organization serving over 2,400 members from more than 50 countries. The UHMS is a primary source of scientific information for diving and hyperbaric medicine physiology worldwide. You can help support them by becoming a member and you also get access to the journals.

Follow this link to The Dive Forum to download the paper. Please do not upload this paper elsewhere because the UHMS are tracking downloads from The Dive Forum.

DAN 2013 Internship Application Deadline closes this Tuesday

This is Jenna Wiley, a Research Associate I at Divers Alert Network. She’s pictured here working on DAN’s Project Dive Exploration doing field research at Innerspace 2012 (Grand Cayman). Once upon a time she was a DAN Research Intern.

If you have the burning ambition to be a DAN Research Intern, apply now. Applications for this close on Tuesday 15th January 2013.

Strong candidates for this competitive program will have excellent communication and organizational skills, meaningful personal accomplishments, an established commitment to diving and goals that would benefit from participation in the program. Whilst diving is not a required skill for this internship, candidates should be certified scuba divers.

The program runs primarily from late May through August, and interns are recruited largely from undergraduate students at colleges and universities across the United States (post-graduate students, students from other countries and periods other than summer will be considered, if appropriate). Following an initial week of training at DAN headquarters, research interns are placed with host facilities, including DAN, where they will participate in projects matched to their interests and ability. The range may include field, laboratory and/or epidemiological studies. Most research interns work closely with mentor experts to maximize their learning opportunities.

For more information follow this link

Suunto launch World’s first watch-sized rebreather compatible dive computer

This morning Suunto unveiled their DX at the 15th International Salon de la plongee sous-marine dive show in Paris.

The DX is the very first of its kind to feature CCR compatibility. This is a non-monitoring setpoint dive computer that works as a support computer for the rebreather to 150 metres. It also contains all the advanced dive functions for open-circuit divers such as trimix support including helium and oxygen, with the capability of 8 gas switches.

Suunto Fused™ RGBM algorithm

The DX benefits from the new, advanced Suunto Fused™ RGBM algorithm. This algorithm was developed by Suunto in conjunction with Dr. Bruce Wienke. Suunto state that it seamlessly combines the benefits of the Suunto Technical RGBM with the latest full RGBM for deep dives. With no input from the diver, Suunto Fused™ RGBM automatically switches between the two modes to effectively manage the risks of decompression sickness. The new algorithm provides a slow continuous ascent from depth so technical and deep divers have a shorter total decompression time. It is also suitable for recreational divers, helping to maximise bottom time and minimize ascent time, so they can get the most out of their hobby. For more information and Dr. Bruce Wienke’s interviews on the Suunto Fused™ RGBM algorithm, check out www.suunto.com.

The Suunto DX includes the following features:

FOR REBREATHER DIVING:

• A setpoint, non-monitoring dive computer with dedicated CCR mode
• Configure up to 3 different diluents
• Adjustable high and low setpoints, as well as custom setpoint during dive
• Automatic setpoints switching at specified depths
• Possibility to switch to open circuit mode in case of bailout

FOR ALL DIVING:

• New, advanced Suunto Fused™ RGBM for CCR, technical and recreational diving
• Trimix support including helium and oxygen
• Gas switching between up to 8 gases
• 3D tilt-compensated digital compass
• Five modes: CCR, air, mixed gas, gauge, and off
• Optional wireless air integration
• Built-in dive planner
• Detailed graphical logs and dive data on your computer using Suunto DM4 software

FOR EVERYDAY ADVENTURES:

• Stunning, compact design
• Hard-wearing premium materials:
• Titanium case and scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass
• Optional titanium bracelet

Suunto Ambassador and leading cave explorer Jill Heinerth helped to develop the Suunto DX. “The Suunto DX is one of my support computers that go with my rebreather. It’s easy to integrate it into a rebreather dive plan, or any dive plan – open or closed circuit. It has one of the most accurate digital compasses, which I use to survey and make maps as well. It can really do anything, and it’s a beautiful, wearable watch. It has everything you need in a very small package, and it handles itself well under any conditions.”

Scalli Scuba Diving Internship closes in two days

Are you or do you know a certified diver from New England at least 18 years old? If you are interested in pursuing an underwater career and you are a qualified graduating high school senior, college freshman or sophomore, the Boston Sea Rovers are currently accepting applications for the 2013 Frank Scalli Annual Summer Internship.

The Internship will provide advanced dive training courses and ample opportunities to dive and train with a variety of dive professionals in abroad cross section of diving environments. Opportunities will include hands-on work with professional under water photographers and filmmakers, educational specialists, marine engineers and scientists, equipment manufacturer’s representatives, and dive shop owners.

In addition the Scalli Intern will be outfitted with dive equipment (provided by Sea Rover Clinic corporate sponsors) for their use throughout the summer and will receive the necessary financial support to ensure travel and living expenses.

The Sea Rovers must receive all packages by Friday 11th January 2013.  Selected candidates must be available for interview during the period January 15 through February 1, 2013.