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She took off through the convention center with me right
behind her. I tapped Bill on the arm on the way past him
and said, “Come on!” We headed across the show floor while
Patty Seery, DAN’s deputy director of education, hurried to
grab a medical kit that had not yet been packed away. As
we made our way across the convention center I asked if an
ambulance had been called, and the woman responded that
one had. She said when people saw the severity of the injury
they had immediately blurted out, “Go get DAN!”
After quickly covering the length of the convention center,
Bill and I entered the bathroom and took in the scene. The
injured man was standing at the sink with his hand wrapped
in wet paper towels. He had indeed been spurting blood, as
indicated by spatters on the sink and walls. Although the
amount of blood was substantial, it did not appear to be life
threatening. He was alert and applying direct pressure to the
wound. We walked up, identified ourselves and asked the
man how he was feeling and if we could help. The bleeding
was reasonably well controlled, but the paper towels he
was holding on the wound were soaked through. His skin
color was good, he was alert, and he denied feeling dizzy
or lightheaded. As with many accidents, much was evident
from the initial assessment we did as we arrived on the
scene. We got an idea of the amount of blood lost, noted the
types of marks made by the blood (spatters as opposed to
drops), saw the bleeding was well controlled, observed the
man’s skin color and quickly confirmed an adequate level of
consciousness and alertness.
Patty arrived with the first-aid equipment, and we all
put gloves on. Bill and I helped keep the hand elevated and
maintained direct pressure on the wound. Brad, another friend
of ours, helped Patty move the dressings so we could bandage
the wound. While they were assembling the supplies, we
assessed the injured man’s fingers for function and feeling. After
we had collected dry dressings, we removed the paper towels
to reveal an impressive five-inch gash in the man’s hand. As we
began to remove the old dressing, a man that had been standing
next to us asked if he could see the wound before we covered it
up again. He told us he was a surgeon but that we were doing a
fine job and should carry on. He advised the injured man that a
trip to the emergency room was the best course of action.
We applied fresh gauze pads to the wound and then wrapped
the arm with bandages to secure the gauze. We did this while
continuing to hold direct pressure and making sure the wound
stayed elevated. In the course of our assessment and treatment,
we discovered that the man had been using a dive knife to cut
wraps that held his booth together and the knife had slipped.
The ambulance crew arrived shortly after we had completed
the bandaging, and they took the man to the emergency room.
Although we were at a dive show, this was an injury that
could have happened anywhere. But whether it occurred on a
dive boat, in a convention center, on a beach or at home, the
treatment would be the same. This incident really showed me
the importance of the first-aid skills taught in the DAN’s Basic
Life Support: CPR and First Aid class. It also demonstrated
the importance of having the proper medical equipment, such
as a first-aid kit, readily available. It is just as important to be
prepared in our daily lives as it is at the dive site.
I was very proud to hear that when there was an emergency,
the first words out of the mouths of the divers present were
“Go get DAN!” That speaks volumes about the job the folks at
DAN have done in promoting safety in the diving community
through education and training. I am proud to be a DAN
Instructor and part of a network of divers trained in first aid,
able to help out wherever a need arises.
AD
www.alertdiver.com
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