Divers with a ‘Duty of Care’

(Professionals, Instructors, Clubs & Schools)

The Pod is an efficient back-up to emergency Oxygen equipment provided by Professional Divers, Dive Schools, Clubs and Branches, where there is a duty of care to provide emergency Oxygen equipment and associated medical plant, in accordance with the standards of the HSE Diving at Work Regulations 1997 and associated ACoPS. It can also be considered for Boat/RIB owners and  professional skippers, working remotely from the shoreline.

The Pod should be used when additional casualties are present with signs and symptoms that can benefit from the administration of high concentrations of emergency Oxygen especially when the arrival of the Emergency Services or evacuation times take longer than the duration of the available emergency Oxygen.  Finally, it is also an efficient and viable option in the unlikely event that emergency Oxygen administration equipment fails for any reason and cannot be used.

In such circumstances, while waiting for the arrival of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS), the administration of higher concentrations maybe beneficial to the injured diver especially when presented with signs and symptoms of Evolved Gas Disease (Decompression Illness) as well as other medical conditions that will benefit from high concentrations of emergency Oxygen.  In these cases, the Pod should be used until EMS arrive on scene or emergency Oxygen is made available.

The Pod quickly connects to the Low Pressure (LP) coupling from a cylinder’s 1st Stage and is then preferably used with a standard high concentration reservoir Oxygen Mask (conscious, breathing casualty) or a Bag-valve Mask (non-responsive and non-breathing casualty). If these masks are unavailable at the scene of the emergency, a pocket mask with an O2 inlet can be connected.

The Pod can also be attached to the Oxygen cylinder within a rebreather (CCR) system or to any available Technical divers decompression cylinder where the higher Oxygen content will prove  beneficial.   It has already been used in an emergency situation after the Oxygen kit became exhausted. The RIB Skipper used available onboard CCR O2 cylinders on the journey back to shore where, following EMS and hospitalisation, the diver made a full recovery.