Day 2

The Underwater Diving Centre

Today we started bright and early at 8:30 am. The first session we began looking at Anatomy and physiology, focusing on how the body works under pressure. Initially we looked at the trachea, the bronchus and the alveoli and how O2 becomes CO2 and how it is pumped around the body with the heart. This is interesting and there were many things that I learnt: Such as parts of the heart and the use of Veins and arteries.


After a morning break we looked at Blood and the different states (fluid & solid) as well as the different types of blood cells and their function. Moving on to the skeletal system, vertebrae column, joints, sinuses and muscles the content is not for the weak minded as there is a lot of information and medical terminology to take in.

First aid was the next area and we began by looking at the current legislation and what each persons role is as a first aider. From record keeping, administration and dealing with multiple casualties to 'RIDDOR' , Post Traumatic Stress and heart attacks. This again was interesting but listening to people talk all day did began to take it's toll on some people's concentration.


After lunch we looked at ABC (Airway, Breathing and Circulation) and DRAB (Danger, Response, Airway and Breathing) and safety consideration. One important thing to highlight are the four link chains of survival (Early Access, CPR, Defibrillation and Advanced Care). All of these aspects are important as we are told they will appear in our assessments. One important fact is that you are only allowed to retake any assessment once as failing the retake means the end of the course for you.

For some reason a lot of the next lesson was dedicated to shock and how to identify and treat different types of shock. After this a Navy video was shown to explain Diving Physics based mainly on the Archimedes principle, Boyle's law and Dalton's Law. Needless to say that many of us needed a breath of fresh air. A quick trip to the pier to collect our dry suits and safety gear and we headed out to town. Knowing that some of us were going to dive this evening we all bought some warm socks and had an early dinner. All in all, a very busy day!

A view of Fort William from the pier.

My only disappointment is that I have not had a good chance to talk to my wife or children today. I hope they realise I still love then and they are ALWAYS in my thoughts.

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