Message from Dr Jack Meintjes

from Alert Diver Autumn 2016

Parting Shot

FROM THE MEDICAL DIRECTOR’S DESK

After every year, I am struck by the realisation of how quickly time flies. Another year has gone by and it is time to reflect, make new resolutions for the year ahead and continue improving our skillsets. For us at DAN-SA, it is a difficult task deciding what to improve on when we look back at how the organisation has excelled over the years.

When I look back at DAN-SA’s 20 years of service, which was started by Dr Frans Cronje in 1996 and accepted into the international DAN confederation of organisations in 1997, I am grateful for the opportunity to have become part of such a great team of people that keeps going and growing. South Africa is really blessed to have some of the best diving doctors in the world, all of whom have a passion for diving. To date, I receive numerous calls from doctors who would love to be involved with DAN-SA.

In this edition of Alert Diver, we aim, as always, to respond to the queries which we have received from our members, starting with nutrition, which is not only discussed amongst divers, but also within other sporting communities. As such, we provide you with more information on the importance of good nutrition and by doing so, we keep this hot social media discussion going.

During the DAN-SA Divers’ Days, we have noticed an increased interest in the safety of diving while on medication. We have previously published articles relating to medication and diving, yet we realise that this is a common concern for divers and therefore we provide you with more detailed information regarding certain medications in the Medication and drug use article by Dr Cecilia Roberts.

In South Africa, asthma is prevelant in more than 10% of the population. Many of these persons with asthma (some of whom might not even know that they have asthma) may be divers. For this purpose, Dr Blanche Andrews provides an update on the latest information DAN-SA has on diving with asthma.

In our final article in the Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA) series, Francois Burman provides additional information on identifying and managing risks which are associated with diving businesses.

Remember to have a look at the training courses we offer as they are tailored to provide competencies for the treatment of diving injuries and illnesses, but also to add value to any interaction with the DAN-SA hotline – in particular, the ability to perform a neurological examination, which would assist the DAN-SA hotline doctors in making informed decisions regarding the management of an injured diver.

I hope that you find these articles interesting and stimulating. Finally, I want to use this opportunity to wish all DAN-SA members a happy new year filled with diving adventures.

Dr Jack Meintjes

Medical Director DAN Southern Africa

“I would like to thank everyone at DAN-SA for providing an excellent service and for their efforts in keeping our sport a safe one by educating and informing divers.