Tag: #diving

A special meeting of the British Diving Safety Group was held online on Tuesday 12 May 2020 that included medical experts, the majority of diver training organisations (including RAID) and supporting industry representatives. The purpose of the meeting was to determine how the latest changes in government guidance may apply to the UK diving community. And how we must interpret these into best practices considering the legality of returning to diving as well taking into account the ethical and social aspects of potentially putting increased demands on the health and rescue services.

The consensus of the attending parties was that the infrastructure to safely support diving activity is still lacking and requires more time to re-establish itself. Contamination risks remain too high during the preparation for diving and could put undue pressure on businesses who must operate safely and within the law. More importantly, should emergency support be necessary, this would place an unacceptably high burden on rescue services and medical treatment facilities at a time when they are already stretched.

The 5 main reasons not to return to diving just yet:

1. Transmission risk of the disease
2. Non symptomatic divers could still have the disease
3. The effects of the disease on the lungs is not sufficiently understood yet
4. Undue stress on healthcare and emergency workers in case of an incident
5. Risk of a 2nd wave

Consequently, the view of all concerned was that whilst we respect everyone’s desire to return to diving activities as soon as possible, it is too early to restart diving in the UK. We should be considerate of the impact any activity could have until such a time when the supporting infrastructure can safely operate at full capacity and in line with government guidance.
With regret, we must encourage divers to act responsibly and not go diving, however safe it may seem to do so. We will continue to work together to provide suitable guidance to support a planned return to safe diving as and when the time is right.

We’ve set out a 3 week period during which we’ll prepare guidance documents for:

• divers
• site operators
• shop owners
• boat operators
• any other relevant groups

We will also re-asses the situation and viability to return to diving at the end of this 3 week period, which will be followed by another RAID update.

In summary, stay at home and lets improve the UK’s numbers further before we go out and enjoy diving again.

RAID UK

Please note:

As a dive agency and an active member of several industry organizations, we have no expertise in medical issues, most especially infectious diseases. However, we do have a fiduciary duty to our members to bring to their attention, bulletins and releases on medical issues from accredited experts in the field. When we make a statement that is directly related to health and safety, our policy is to cite reliable sources.