The Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber offers several courses on rescue diving and decompression physiology. (© S. Barsky. All rights reserved.)

Emergency Rescue Diver course is a course designed to prepare every diver with the knowledge, skills, and practice to handle emergency situations. The course is presented by Gordon Boivin, former senior instructor for the Canadian Coast Guard, and by Karl Huggins, program manager for the USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. Special topics include: the best techniques for beach and boat rescues, how to make the best use of emergency oxygen, how to efficiently manage the diving accident scene and specific methods for dealing with hypothermia, near drowning, and other diving maladies.

Tuition for the ERD course is $600 which includes all instruction, five night’s housing at the USC Catalina Isl. facility, and meals.

Advanced Decompression Physiology is taught by Dr. Michael Powell, head of Environmental Physiology and Biophysics at the NASA/Johnson Space Center. The course is designed to help advanced divers and diving leaders understand the forces at work in the human body during decompression. The course is taught from the aspect of bubble dynamics instead of the vantage point of decompression table theory. Students will learn what bubbles do inside of living organisms, including information on gas exchange, Doppler bubble detection, bubble control, and the influence of diving decompression on space decompression.

Tuition for the course is $180 which includes tuition, materials, housing on Catalina, and meals.

For more information, see the Chamber’s website at http://wrigley.usc.edu/hyperbaric/chamber. Or, contact the chamber at USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber, P.O. Box 5069, 1 Big Fisherman’s Cove, Two Harbors, CA 90704. Tel. (310) 510-4020. The USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber is part of USC, a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization.

Beach Report Card Positive
Heal the Bay has released its 2002-2003 annual Beach Report Card, assigning an A to F letter grade to over 300 California beaches based on their level of bacterial pollution. The Beach Report Card, a comprehensive evaluation of coastal water quality in California, is based on both daily and weekly samples gathered at beaches from Sonoma County to the Mexican border.

By assessing fecal bacteria levels, and making this information available to the public, the Beach Report Card is designed to protect the public health of the more than 100 million people who visit California’s beaches. Local health agencies complete routine monitoring of the beaches and analyze water samples for bacteria that indicate pollution from numerous sources, including fecal waste.

A poor grade means beachgoers who visit these beaches face a higher risk of contracting illness, such as stomach flu, ear infections, upper respiratory infections, and skin rashes, than swimmers at cleaner beaches.

“Heal the Bay is pleased that dry weather water quality results were generally positive this year, in part because of runoff diversions and other projects that minimize urban runoff,” said Heal the Bay Executive Director Dr. Mark Gold. “Of all the water quality monitoring locations throughout the state, 85 percent received good to excellent grades in dry weather, resulting in the best year-to-date for California beaches.”

Heal the Bay also studied the impact a beach’s location has on water quality. In Southern California, 88 percent of “open ocean beaches” received “A” grades in dry weather compared to only 44 percent of beaches in enclosed bays, harbors, or marinas, and 71 percent of beaches near a storm drain.

“There are some beaches, predominately those in enclosed areas or adjacent to storm drains or creeks, that even in dry weather consistently get poor grades,” said Dr. Gold.

“As we’ve learned, rain rinses pollution off the streets and into the gutter, where it flushes directly to the ocean.

Heal the Bay, founded in 1985, is dedicated to making Santa Monica Bay and Southern California coastal waters safe and healthy again for people and marine life. It is one of the largest nonprofit environmental organizations in Los Angeles County, with more than 10,000 members. The organization, funded by government grants, corporate sponsorships and member donations, focuses on education, outreach, research and advocacy and annually produces programs and events, including Adopt-A-Beach, Bay Days, the Beach Report Card and Coastal Cleanup Day. Beach Report Card weekly annual updates are available at www.healthebay.org

SCUBA Show 2003 Breaks Records
The 16th Annual SCUBA Show took place June 21 and 22 at the Long Beach Convention Center. It was the largest expo ever in the history of this, the largest dive expo in the western United States. The exhibit hall was packed with 57,000 square feet of diving exhibits. A total of 10,887 attended the event. Saturday attendance is consistently the busiest day with 6,016 underwater enthusiasts in attendance. Sunday’s attendance was a record high at 4,871.

In addition to the exhibit hall, the continuous underwater film festival and seminars were very popular portions of the show.

Many attending participated in the exhibit hall pool/demo tank. Highlight of the weekend was the Saturday night Casino Party benefiting the Catalina Conservancy Divers. During the party, Bill Wilson, a founding member of the California Wreck Divers was awarded the California Scuba Service Award.

“We are very pleased with the growth jump that this year’s show has taken,” stated show producer Dale Sheckler. “I have never seen more enthusiasm in the attendees. It was an exciting show.”

Plans are already underway for SCUBA Show 2004. Moving to May 22-23, 2004, the show will take place in the larger hall C to accommodate the much needed room for expansion. For the most up to date information, visit www.saintbrendan.com on the web.

Scuba Industry Mourns Loss of John J. Cronin
The diving industry is mourning the loss of the man who introduced more than 10 million people into the sport of scuba diving. John J. Cronin, co-founder and CEO of PADI, The Professional Association of Diving Instructors, died July 15 at his home in Temecula, California at the age of 74. Cronin, one of the most influential men in the diving industry and current President of The Diving Equipment and Marketing Association would have completed his 50th year in the industry next year.

For questions or more detailed information, please contact, Bob Coleman, (800) 729-7234 x 2538 bobc@padi.com.

Uwatec Recalls All Smart Dive Computers
Uwatec is voluntarily recalling approximately 6,000 Uwatec Smart dive computers. All three models of the Smart dive computers are affected: Smart PRO wrist, Smart PRO console, and Smart COM console. A software programming error in these computers may cause the alert signals to stop working properly, and, in some instances, the screen freezes. If this occurs, inaccurate information is displayed, such as water depth, tank pressure, ascent rate, etc.

The Smart dive computers were sold from February 2002 to July 2003. They are identified by the “Smart” name on the front of the dive computer and on the box.

For complete information call a special toll free number 1-800-808-3948 in the U.S. or visit the website at www.uwatec.com.