In case of emergency at a dive site contact the
Coastguard (VHF Channel 16 or dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard)
- they will co-ordinate the other emergency services needed to help you.

If you are at home following a dive and suspect you may have decompression illness contact the Hyperbaric Medicine Unit in Aberdeen on 0845 408 6008,
out of hours ask for the hyperbaric consultant, they will tell you what to do next.

If the patient is seriously unwell or deteriorating rapidly, inform the ambulance service promptly by dialling 999.

Don't turn up at a chamber unannounced, most are not manned 24-hours a day.

Hyperbaric Centres

• Hyperbaric Medicine Unit, Aberdeen

• Diving Diseases Research Centre, Plymouth

• British Hyperbaric Association
  

Diving Medicine

• Divers Alert Network

• Scottish Diving Medicine - download the Diving Incident Checklist and How to Treat DCI - it could save your life!

• ScubaDoc - professional diving medicine advice online

• UK Sport Diving Medical Committee
  

Other Organisations

• Forth Coastguard

• British Diving Safety Group - aims to promote safe diving practices amongst the British sport diving community

• Maritime and Coastguard Agency - the official MCA site

• Fort William Coastguard - Fort William sector's unofficial site

• Shetland Coastguard - unofficial site of the Shetland Coastguard

• Disclosure Scotland - the website of the Scottish Criminal Record Office Disclosure Service

• Central Registered Body in Scotland - provides free Disclosures (police checks) for volunteers in the voluntary sector working with children, young people and vulnerable adults
  

Articles

• Beating a Bad Back - Dive, Charlotte Boan
  Many of us have suffered the odd twinge as we lift cylinders on and off dive boats, but for some divers backache is quite literally a pain in the… back! Charlotte Boan goes in search of a remedy.

• Bent? Moi? - Dive Girl, Louise Trewavas
  What's the first symptom of decompression illness? In most cases it's denial. Identifying and getting treated for a bend might seem simple in the testbooks, but in real life it ain't necessarily so.

• Caution First - Deeper Blue, Jim Caruso, M.D.
  Why smoking and scuba diving dont mix.

• Chill Out - How to Beat Stress Underwater - Dive, Charlotte Boan
  Charlotte Boan asks a panel of diving experts about stress, its causes and how to avoid it.

• Coping with Nitrogen Narcosis - Dive, Dr Pete Larkin
  Euphoria or desperation? it Affects us all in different ways. Dr Pete Larkin finds out the truth about getting ‘narked’

• Decompression Sickness - Dr Jules Eden.
  Experienced diving medicine specialist, and founder of e-med.co.uk - gives a free guide to Decompression Sickness (DCS), answering many of typical questions asked by divers.

• Diving with a Broken Heart - International Technical Diving Magazine (2001), Barbara L. Krooss.
  As many as one in three people has a heart condition at birth that could make them more susceptible to potentially life-threatening decompression sickness, sometimes after years of problem free diving. This article describes patent foramen ovale (PFO) and what can be done about it.

• Decompression Sickness; expect the unexpected - Scottish Diver, Alison Fuller-Shapcott
  Two out of three divers who suffer decompression sickness were diving in accordance with Decompression Tables, Alison Fuller-Shapcott looks into why we all need to be vigilant.

• Headaches and Diving - Deeper Blue, Dr. Frans J Cronjé,
  Why smoking and scuba diving dont mix.

• Hidden Legacy of the Bends - Diver, Apr 2003, Dr Ian Sibley-Calder
  In this article Dr Sibley-Calder discusses the risks of nerve damage associated with decompression illness.

• Hidden Legacy of the Bends - Diver, Apr 2003, Dr Ian Sibley-Calder
  In this article Dr Sibley-Calder discusses the risks of nerve damage associated with decompression illness.

• One in Three Divers has a PFO, Do You? - Dive, Louise Murray
  What is a PFO and what can you do about it if you have one?

• Reduce the Risk - The Scottish Association for Marine Science
  Decompression Illness (DCI) is unpredictable.  A diver may follow the same dive profile as their buddy, within the dive tables and suffer DCI, whereas the buddy may be fine.  Unfortunately, there is no way of eliminating the risk of DCI if you dive! However, there are ways that you can reduce the risk.

• Rethinking the Hit - International Technical Diving Magazine (1997), Andrea Zaferes.
  Decompression sickness (DCS) is no simple illness. Rather it is a conglomeration of symptoms that occur when gases dissolved in body fluids under pressure are released too rapidly, forming bubbles in tissues as well as in blood and lymphatic systems.