Turkey DAN Safety Stop

DANEU organized a Turkey DAN Safety Stop in Istanbul to introduce the activities of DAN Europe Diving safety laboratory and the Green Bubbles project. A group of 15 divers participated in this event diving in the waters bordering the Black Sea. It was a typical example of citizen science event because the divers participated directly in the research activities and also in the safety campaigns.

Before diving, we all tested the quality of air in our tanks using the Co-Pro system. This is a quick and effective way to detect the presence of Carbon Monoxide (CO) in breathing air. It is based on a special balloon containing a CO-detecting capsule. If the air is contaminated by CO, the capsule inside the balloon will change its color. In our case all cylinders passed the control test.

Another important part of this research experience was the post-diving “bubbles test”. Venous gas bubbles can appear after diving. We used a Doppler device to look for bubble formation and decompression stress. A new DAN researcher, trained during her DAN Europe internship, performed post dive test in order to evaluate bubble grades. Divers received an immediate feedback about their decompression management. Bubble score is a good surrogate endpoint to investigate the decompression stress. The presence of high levels of bubbles defines a greater decompression stress.

Special thanks to our friends, Turkish divers, who braved the bitter cold to give us another exciting day and important data for our research mission!