During the third week of the archaeological diving campaign at the Lin 3 site (Lake Ohrid, Albania), a safety training was conducted by the leading diving physician and safety expert Dr. med. Jürg Wendling (Biel, Switzerland).
In order to minimize the potential dangers associated with the special working conditions, strict safety regulations apply. This includes special personal protective equipment with two separate first stages and a faint-proof full-face mask with a communication unit. Unlike recreational diving, commercial dives involve monitoring solo divers from the surface. In addition to the supervisor on the boat, there is a standby diver on board who intervenes in case of emergency. The existing safety concept also includes various emergency measures that can be carried out by the participants of the campaign themselves. During the two-part safety training, the existing concept was presented and the various emergency measures were explained. The use of the individual first aid equipment was then practiced in small groups. In a following safety exercise an accident during a dive was simulated. A diver fainted while working under water and had to be transported to the surface by the standby diver. Using a special technique, the fainted diver could be brought onto the boat and, after being transported to shore, prepared for transport to the hospital with the help of the previously practiced immediate measures.
Through these safety drills and the close-meshed safety concept, a code of good practice is adhered to through which existing risks can be reduced. It is based on the so-called Gold Standard of Commercial Divers and allows the performance of these special tasks.
by Alexandra Ulisch, diver in the EXPLO Lin 3 2021 campaign