Escambia County symposium urges stronger dive safety planning, highlights hyperbaric access gap

PENSACOLA, Fla. — Local dive operators, public-safety teams and medical specialists meeting under the auspices of the Escambia County Marine Advisory Committee on June 9 urged stronger on‑site planning, routine checklists and clearer evacuation routes for diving incidents, while several speakers warned that gaps in access to hyperbaric chambers can lengthen time to definitive treatment.

The symposium, organized and opened by Robert Turpin, marine resources division manager for Escambia County, brought together dive-shop owners, charter operators, Coast Guard and Fish and Wildlife representatives, law-enforcement dive teams, hyperbaric physicians and representatives from Divers Alert Network (DAN) to discuss prevention, preparedness and response for diving emergencies. “I hope that with the people here in the audience and the panel up there, that we can engage in a very thorough and robust discussion over the challenges and the resources for the prevention, preparation, and the potential response to, to diving incidents,” Turpin said.

Speakers described a chain of prevention and response that begins with diver training and pre-dive checklists and extends through vessel-level emergency action plans, coordinated on-scene communications and prompt transfer to a medical facility and, when needed, to a hyperbaric chamber. Several panelists and audience members said the system frequently breaks down after a diver reaches a local emergency room because not all chambers are willing or available to receive diving patients.

“We spend a good bit of time giving a really good briefing to…