Signaling Devices For Scuba Divers

The Coast Guard encourages commercial, sport and recreational divers to be properly certified through an accredited diving course and to utilize signaling devices and safety equipment as part of their gear. Scuba divers should consider carrying with them certain signaling devices to signal the boat or other divers during a distress situation or when separating from the dive boat. This practice facilitates detection during day or night time by emergency responders. Safety and signaling devices available to divers are not limited to the ones listed below:

• Personal Locating Beacon
• Inflatable Surface Signaling Devices
• Marine Survival Lights
• Inflatable Surface Signaling Devices
• Storm Whistles
• Light Sticks
• Flashlights
• Personal Locator Lights
• Underwater Signaling Devices
• Pocket Mirror
• Knife (No Tip)
• Air Horns

The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the Department of Homeland Security dedicated to protecting the safety and security of America.

Coast Guard Continues Search for Missing Scuba Diver Off Desecheo Island, Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Coast Guard, Puerto Rico Police and Puerto Rico Emergency Agency rescue crews continue to aggressively search for a scuba diver who went missing while on a recreational diving trip Saturday in waters near Desecheo Island, Puerto Rico.

Alfonso Santana Rivera, 36, a resident of Hato Rey is still missing since separating from his dive partner after surfacing in waters on the northwestern tip of Desecheo Island Saturday. Santana was reportedly wearing a black rash guard, air tanks and a buoyancy compensator at the time he was last seen by his dive partner.

So far, Coast Guard surface and air rescue crews have conducted 22 searches to find Santana spanning over 3,058 nautical square miles.

Santana's dive partner was rescued Saturday by the crew of the motor vessel Orca Too, after he was located by the crew of an Air Station Borinquen HH-65 Dolphin helicopter safely on the rocks off the northwestern coast of Desecheo Island. The Orca Too was vectored in by the crew of the Dolphin helicopter and the vessel's crew rescued Santana's dive partner from the rocks at approximately 4:45 p.m. Saturday.

Since Saturday, Coast Guard, Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action F.U.R.A. and Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency rescue crews have been aggressively searching for Santana with HH-65 Dolphin helicopters from Air Station Borinquen, Coast Guard Cutter's Matinicus and Sapelo, an HU-25 Falcon Jet from Air Station Miami, Fla., an HC-130 from Air Station Clearwater, Fla. and F.U.R.A. Cobra marine units and divers. A Puerto Rico Air National Guard C-130E aircrew, the crew of the Orca Too and Good Samaritan Vessels also assisted with the search.

Coast Guard Cutter's Matinicus and Sapelo are 110-foot patrol boats homeported in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE by
Seventh Coast Guard District
Public Affairs Office
July 17, 2007

Review will follow soon for : Dive Assistant - Desktop Edition, a PC scuba diving application for recreational and advanced scuba divers. Brief description: The application can store profiles for multiple divers on one device. The Dive Assistant is primarily a dive logging tool. It can automatically calculate dive times and pressure groups for scuba diver. There is no longer need to carry dive tables when scuba diving as long as the scuba diver is equipped with the Dive Assistant, which is the only PC software to support dive table lookup. It's possible to either download existing dive tables or develop your own tables that are also used in the Dive Planner. The Dive Planner is incorporated into the Dive Log and pulls data from previous dive. Once scuba diver has finished using the planner it will add the details to their current dive. The alert function issues an alert when your dive qulifications need renewal - essential for instructors and other professionals who need to renew their qualification on a regular basis.

dive kit * dive history * log