Honduran lobster divers, DCS and DAN
The Miskito Indians, of the La Moskitia region of Honduras, spend eight months of the year diving for lobster. Their pay is by the pound so there’s incentive to catch as much as you can. To do their job, the divers make 8-12 dives a day to depths of 100 ft or more. They stay on the bottom hunting and collecting lobster until their tanks are nearly empty, then they ascend, change tanks and make another dive.
The aggressive diving routine of the lobster divers has resulted in resulted in high numbers of Decompression Sickness (DCS), or “the bends.” The Association of Handicapped Miskito Indian Divers has over 2,000 members, but they know there are many more Miskito Indian divers who have been injured but, due to their remote locations, never make it into the regions capital, Puerto Lempira, for treatment. It’s estimated that about 1% of the total Miskito Indian population suffers with some form of disability as a result of a diving injury. In many of the La Moskitia families there is at least one member who suffers some level of paralysis from DCS.
Eric Douglas, Director of Education for Divers Alert Network (DAN), and Matais Nochetto, DAN’s Medical Coordinator for Latin America, are spearheading DAN’s Harvesting Diver Project to raise awareness about the Miskito divers and others like them. After reviewing the Miskito’s diving techniques, DAN is working in the community to promote simple ways the divers can increase their safety and reduce their cases of DCS. They’re also offering oxygen first aid training so divers can help each other prior to arriving at a chamber for treatment.
To learn more about the Harvesting Diver Project and DAN’s work with the Miskito divers, look for the story in the upcoming issue of Alert Diver magazine.
