FORT EUSTIS, Va. –
"It felt like a knife being plunged into my chest."
During a training program at Fort Eustis, Va., Ann Morse recalled an experience she had while diving in Florida.
"When we reached about 130 feet, I tried to inflate my buoyancy compensator and realized my inflator valve wasn't hooked up so that I could fill it with air from tank. It became harder to breathe."
Morse, a Virginia Beach Marine Rescue Team diver and medical safety officer, was experiencing what is known as a "chest squeeze," which was one of the many topics covered during the Dive Medical Technician Course hosted by the 20th Engineer Brigade, 30th Engineer Battalion, 511th Engineer Dive Detachment, May 2.
"If I had known then what I know now, I would have been able to better handle the situation," Morse said. "This training makes me feel safer as a diver and more confident as a medical technician because I can identify problems and know how to treat them."
Both divers and medical personnel from local and federal search and rescue dive teams participated in the training. It instructed them on basic dive first aid, known as "tender maneuvers." The course took place inside Fort Eustis' multi-person hyperbaric chamber, specifically designed to artificially reproduce under-sea pressure.
"We're happy to be able to host these divers and share with them our experience," said 1st Lt. Mark Golay, 511th Engineer Dive Detachment executive officer in charge. "We are as much medical technicians as divers, and this training gives us the ability to share our extensive dive medicine training with them."
The divers went through a variety of scenarios, including performing neurological exams on each other and learning symptoms of common medical dive problems. They did this all inside of the hyperbaric chamber, which was pressurized to reflect a depth of 30 feet.
"After completing this training, they will be able to take care of themselves and other divers," Golay said.
With this training under her belt, Morse said she felt better equipped to teach other members of her team the techniques she learned.
"This helps me better understand how bodies react to pressure when diving, and some of the symptoms to watch for," she said. "As a medical provider, it will also better enable me to determine if an injury is dive related or not."
While this may have been the first time Soldiers at Fort Eustis have hosted this training, they hope it's not the last.
"I hope we can host this training again in the future and continue to build these relationships [with the local community]," Golay said.