A revolutionary new product for scuba divers could put an end to worrying trend of divers being lost at sea. The H.E.L.P. (Handheld Emergency Location Pinpointer) is a simple yet effective piece of equipment that enables divers to signal their location to boats and other potential rescuers. When divers are separated from their boat by currents, engine failure or other circumstances surface currents can quickly cause them to drift out of sight. In the early 1990s a group dubbed the “Palau Six’ by the press went missing in the early 1990’s whilst exploring Peleliu in Micronesia. Despite surfacing from their dive in the vicinity of their dive boat they could not be picked up immediately to engine trouble. It was an hour before the boat was operational by which time the group of five Japanese divers and a dive guide had drifted out of sight. The divers had no effective emergency signaling device and though the boat captain searched for the lost divers for three hours his efforts proved fruitless. A massive search and rescue operation was put in place but it was not until three days later that the bodies of three of the unfortunate divers were located. The others were never found!...
This is exactly the kind of situation in which the new emergency dive flag could be used. With a compact size of just 20cm it will fit neatly in a BCD pocket and so can be carried comfortably by every diver on every dive. When required the H.E.L.P. can be extended to 1.5 metres and is topped with a high visibility flag. Indeed in tests carried out by the British Health & Safety Executive the fluorescent yellow dive flag was one of the most visible pieces of diver safety equipment (it could be seen for up to 3Km). Equipped with a non slip handle and weighing a mere 150g it is probably the best piece of emergency signaling equipment a diver could possess.
Emergency signaling devices for divers have been around for years but this is a new and fresh approach to a serious problem that costs the lives of a number of scuba divers every year. The H.E.L.P. is so compact that it is completely unobtrusive until it is needed yet, when fully extended, it towers above the diver and provides boat crews with the best possible location marker. Even when a diver is drifting amongst waves the bright yellow flag is easy to keep track of in comparison with safety sausages or other devices that divers currently use.
The issue of lost divers has become such a worrying one that some popular diving destinations such as marine reserves in the Egyptian Red Sea have even implemented rules that dictate that all divers should carry emergency signal flags.
Of course emergencies are not the only time when the H.E.L.P. would be of use to divers. In many parts of the diving from a boat is the only way to gain access to certain sites. After a dive it is imperative that the diver is back on the boat as soon as possible. Sometimes, because of tides and currents a diver may not be able to end his dive at the boat and so needs to be collected. In anything other than perfect conditions a diver at the surface can be hard to spot and thus spend a long time in the water before being found. The H.E.L.P. enables a diver to indicate his position to a boat and means that the time spent waiting on the surface is minimized.
In such cases the H.E.L.P. is the perfect solution in that it is small and light, can be seen at considerable distances and yet is inexpensive enough to enable every diver to afford one.
Though many scuba divers recognize the need for an emergency signaling device others can be quite complacent thinking that ‘it won’t happen to me’ or ‘I don’t need a flag because my type of diving doesn’t require one’. The truth of the matter is that all divers need and should be required to carry such a device. When the unlikely becomes reality the only thing separating a diver from the fate of death in the open water could be whether or not they have a dive flag with them.
Source: PR Web
This is exactly the kind of situation in which the new emergency dive flag could be used. With a compact size of just 20cm it will fit neatly in a BCD pocket and so can be carried comfortably by every diver on every dive. When required the H.E.L.P. can be extended to 1.5 metres and is topped with a high visibility flag. Indeed in tests carried out by the British Health & Safety Executive the fluorescent yellow dive flag was one of the most visible pieces of diver safety equipment (it could be seen for up to 3Km). Equipped with a non slip handle and weighing a mere 150g it is probably the best piece of emergency signaling equipment a diver could possess.
Emergency signaling devices for divers have been around for years but this is a new and fresh approach to a serious problem that costs the lives of a number of scuba divers every year. The H.E.L.P. is so compact that it is completely unobtrusive until it is needed yet, when fully extended, it towers above the diver and provides boat crews with the best possible location marker. Even when a diver is drifting amongst waves the bright yellow flag is easy to keep track of in comparison with safety sausages or other devices that divers currently use.
The issue of lost divers has become such a worrying one that some popular diving destinations such as marine reserves in the Egyptian Red Sea have even implemented rules that dictate that all divers should carry emergency signal flags.
Of course emergencies are not the only time when the H.E.L.P. would be of use to divers. In many parts of the diving from a boat is the only way to gain access to certain sites. After a dive it is imperative that the diver is back on the boat as soon as possible. Sometimes, because of tides and currents a diver may not be able to end his dive at the boat and so needs to be collected. In anything other than perfect conditions a diver at the surface can be hard to spot and thus spend a long time in the water before being found. The H.E.L.P. enables a diver to indicate his position to a boat and means that the time spent waiting on the surface is minimized.
In such cases the H.E.L.P. is the perfect solution in that it is small and light, can be seen at considerable distances and yet is inexpensive enough to enable every diver to afford one.
Though many scuba divers recognize the need for an emergency signaling device others can be quite complacent thinking that ‘it won’t happen to me’ or ‘I don’t need a flag because my type of diving doesn’t require one’. The truth of the matter is that all divers need and should be required to carry such a device. When the unlikely becomes reality the only thing separating a diver from the fate of death in the open water could be whether or not they have a dive flag with them.
Source: PR Web
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου