FROM THE SAFETY STOP
//
L E T T E R S F R O M M E M B E R S
12
|
FALL 2014
GRAB, CHECK AND GO
I purchased a DAN Grab and Go
first-aid kit just before a recent tour
of Mongolia. When it arrived, I
checked out the kit to see what it
contained. Later, I was very glad I’d
taken the time to do that.
We were staying at Red Rock
Ger Camp in the northern Gobi
desert, many miles over very bumpy
dirt roads from the nearest town,
when the local women’s crafts
collective visited to show their
wares. While riding to our camp,
two of the women took a nasty
spill from their motorcycle. They
arrived bruised, scraped and in some
pain. Fortunately, our tour group
included both a critical-care nurse
and a retired doctor who examined
them, cleaned and bandaged their
abrasions and handed out painkillers
from their own first-aid supplies.
One woman had strained her
shoulder and it needed support, but
all anyone had were bandanas, too
small to make a proper sling. Then I
remembered the triangular bandage
in my DAN kit. I quickly fetched
and applied it, to the comfort and
satisfaction of the patient and our
group’s “medics.”
Your first-aid kits are a must-have,
especially for adventure travel when
you’re miles from any medical help.
Purchasers should check out the
contents before packing their kit in
their luggage — I’m glad I knew what
was in that little red pouch when it
was needed!
—Callie Mack, via email
MISGUIDED PROTECTION?
As a DAN member and lifelong
waterman, I’m extremely
disappointed to see the propaganda
article regarding California’s new
underwater parks (Summer 2014,
Dive Slate, Page 14). I have been
hunting in the ocean in California for
more than 30 years. The best hunting
grounds that I have dived for decades
were taken away from me, and it was
done in the name of science.
The “science” on which these
decisions were based is junk science.
Black and white sea bass counts
have been increasing dramatically
since gillnetting stopped and with
the existing protections of the
Department of Fish and Game
(now renamed Department of Fish
and Wildlife with infiltration and
pressure from the Humane Society).
The lobster fishery is also healthy
and had been growing year after year
before any area closures.
Spearfishermen account for such
a tiny percentage of take that there is
no reason to close off any area to us.
Taking a position against underwater
hunters alienates a large percentage of
DAN membership. I’ve always liked
and recommended DAN, so it hurts
even more when an organization I
considered to be a friend — that I
belong to — takes a position against
me. I hope you’ll even the score
by adding an article about hunting
California waters and how these
new parks have affected divers who
hunted those areas for years.
— John Weymouth, via email
Publisher’s response:
Dear John,
I reread David Helvarg’s article, and
for the most part it simply reports
established facts. The author’s bias
in favor of marine protected areas
(MPAs) is clearly evident in the
last sentence though: “I suspect
that in as few as 10 or 15 years
from now, the Californians who
today so vehemently oppose MPAs
will have to shrug and reluctantly
acknowledge that something of
value really did happen when a
world-class state park system moved
underwater.” That is his opinion,
and it’s stated as such. Please
understand DAN was not politically
motivated in our coverage of this
topic, nor were we involved in any
way in the process to create these
MPAs. Our editorial treatment of
this issue in Alert Diver was intended
to speak to new realities of California
diving of which our members should
be aware. Any opinions expressed in
the article should not be construed
to represent the views of DAN.
— Stephen Frink, Publisher,
Alert Diver
RESCUING AN
UNRESPONSIVE DIVER
I was reading my Summer 2014
Alert Diver magazine when I noticed
something that confused me. In
“Right People in the Right Places”
(Skills in Action, Page 56), I saw the
following statement: “The other
divers partially inflated Al’s empty BC
and swam him up to the surface at
an aggressive speed.” This concerned
me because I learned in my rescue-
diver training to straddle the back
of the unresponsive diver’s tank and
inflate my own BC until the two of us
achieved neutral buoyancy so I could
more easily control the ascent. Also, if
a rescuer happens to drop a diver and
Letters
THE MAGAZINE OF DIVERS ALERT NETWORK
SUMMER 2014
PROTECTING CALIFORNIA’S WATERS
STUNNINGST.LUCIA
PAULHILTON:
THEPOWERTOMAKE
ADIFFERENCE
NEWZEALANDREVERIE
ALIFEAMONGWHALES
MENTALHEALTH
FIRSTAID
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