Today's speaker was Karl Huggins; - the Director of the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber Facility at the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center since 1992 who has been involved with the treatment of hundreds of divers suffering from air embolisms or decompression sickness known as the bends.
Karl gave us a nice presentation about what troubles divers may encounter and explained how the Chamber functions. Who would have known that the center is the only one in our entire region to be staffed 24 hours / 365 days by a director and a rotating volunteer crew? Wow! Many thanks to Karl and all the amazing volunteers who since 1974, by their teaching of safe diving and fast response to accidents have considerably reduced the number of fatalities. In the Q&A that ensued, I was surprised to find out that most accidents are caused by the diver experiencing a sudden panic and wanting to reach air quickly; a reaction that can be greatly controlled by more hours of training. Happy Diving everyone! And for the chickens like me who love the ocean, happy snorkeling!!! ☺