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Show Caution urged in skin diving Skin diving enthusiasts are gaining thousands .of new recruits re-cruits each summer. Thousands of Americans of all ages and both sexes are spending summer sum-mer weekends exploring lakes and streams from the vantage of the fishes. From the medical standpoint physicians say that diving makes demands on the body which are unlike those met above the surface. Navigating under water is heavy exertion and those with respiratory problems or heart and blood vessel disease should not attempt it, says Today's Health, the magazine of the American Medical Association. Diving is ruled out for those with perforated ear drums. Ear plugs are for surface swimming only and should not be used for diving because of water pressure. The depth changes also require that sinuses and ears be in good shape to equalize equa-lize the pressure. Asking your doctor to evaluate eval-uate your fitness for diving is a precaution that will pay dividends. div-idends. Along with good health, the potenial diver should be a better than average swimmer A moderatey skilled swimmer can dive with SCUBA equipment, equip-ment, but in an emergency the swimming skills born of long practice and good physical conditioning con-ditioning may mean the difference dif-ference between survival and death. Never dive alone, the AMA advises. Use a' buddy system and be certain that your buddy bud-dy is competent and trustworthy. trustwor-thy. Learn to use artificial respiration res-piration and see that your buddy bud-dy knows it. Plan your dives. Know where you're going, how deep and how long you can stay under. Work out a system of underwater communications signals for emergencies. Never dive when you are overly tired, have a cold or are just not feeling well. Use quick release buckles on weight belts or SCUBA harness. har-ness. You may need to cut loose and surface quickly. Do not indulge in horseplay and take needless risks. Watch out for boats while in the water. The power boat skipper may not know you're there. Watch your depth. Pressures mount rapidly as you descend. de-scend. Don't hold your breath while ascending. Air will expand ex-pand inside your lungs and should be allowed to bubble out as you are coming up. |