If you live in Latin America, practice medicine, and your first language isn’t English, getting continuing education materials on dive-related medical issues can be something of a hassle.
While most literature in hyperbaric and dive medicine is written in English, Spanish is the second-most-native language in the world.
Consequently, the Divers Alert Network has begun a series of dive medicine courses in Latin America to help with that.
The organization recently conducted the first DAN Academy of Dive Medicine at the Navy Base A.R.C. BolÃvar in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. Among the attendees were doctors, nurses, hyperbaric chamber operators and dive professionals from all over South America. Members of the Colombian Navy also participated via satellite.
The three-day program addressed a bunch of topics, including underwater physiology, breath-hold diving, fitness to dive, decompression illness and its clinical management, management of decompression illness in remote locations, hazardous marine life, and drowning. The faculty consisted of physicians from Argentina, Brazil and North America.
DAN Director of Medical Programs Dr. Matias Nochetto said:
“This course was extremely well received and exceeded everyone’s expectations. We are committed to enhancing the experience of future events and expanding the program throughout Latin America.”
The next DAN Academy of Dive Medicine is already being planned for 2017 to be held in Chile. For more info on that, send an email to AcademyDiveMedicine@DAN.org.
