which 4 drops of 2% acetic acid were instilled in the left ears 

 of 14 of 26 divers before diving and 8 of 16 members of a control 

 group who wore diving hoods but remained out of the water. A 

 comparison revealed that 43.8% of the untreated individuals 

 showed an increase in bacterial counts in the ears after diving, 

 whereas 13.6% of the treated individuals showed a similar 

 increase. Thus, acetic acid application can be an effective 

 prophylactic against ear infection associated with diving. 



Further preventative measures can be taken to prevent 

 contamination of divers who regularly enter polluted waters. 

 Phoel ( 1981 ) recommends that divers who regularly work in 

 polluted water maintain current immunization for diphtheria, 

 tetanus, smallpox, and typhoid fever. Phoel (1981) also gives 

 the following protocol for disinfection of divers. After a dive, 

 the diver should be washed off while still dressed in the dive 

 gear, using either fresh or sea water from the ship's water 

 system. Scrubbing with detergent and hot fresh water make the 

 procedure more efficient. After removing the dive dress, the 

 diver should scrub his hands with an antibacterial soap and then 

 shower. The suit should be washed in 50% bleach and hot fresh 

 water for 20 minutes, rinsed in fresh water, and hung at room 

 temperature to dry. In a study of divers in the New York Bight, 

 a disinfection procedure was employed after the dives, i.e., 

 divers were sprayed with betadine while still fully suited 

 (Coolbaugh et al., 1981). No organisms were recovered from the 

 suit exterior after the disinfection procedure. 



Helmets and suits specifically designed to protect divers 

 from microbiological and chemical pollution can improve diving 

 safety. During the mid-1970s, a working group was formed whose 

 purpose was to improve diving safety by selecting and developing 

 new procedures and equipment to protect divers from hazardous 

 materials encountered while diving. The group consisted of the 

 EPA, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of Energy, 

 Undersea Medical Society, University of Maryland and NOAA. 

 Advice from commercial diving companies was also considered. 



Smooth-skinned dry suits are now available, which are more 

 amenable to decontamination than the commonly used, coarse- 

 textured foam neoprene suits. Series exhaust valves are 

 available on some commercial helmets and masks which eliminate 

 the problem of water splashback through the exhaust system by 

 trapping water in a cavity between the two valves of the system. 



The most comprehensive development in diving safety is the 

 double-layered positive pressure suit under suit ( SUS ) . The SUS 

 combines a foam neoprene dry inner suit worn under a conventional 

 dry suit to protect the diver from leakage and from hyperthermia. 

 Before diving, clean water at a pressure slightly greater than 

 the outside water pressure is pumped into the space between the 

 suit layers. If a leak occurs in the suit, the result is that 



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