Portland Coastguard's helicopter was required to winch one diver off the dive boat X-Dream near Lulworth Cove on Saturday, before being called upon immediately to take another diver off the charter boat Sidewinder near Anvil Point, following a rapid ascent.
The divers were landed together at Poole, where they were met by a hyperbaric doctor and transferred by ambulance for recompression treatment. A Portland Coastguard officer has told Divernet that Coastguard reports indicated relatively brief chamber stays for both divers, implying that the cases were not serious.
After the incidents, one Portland Coastguard representative was reported by the BBC to have said that 'the dive season has begun with a vengeance'.
But the officer with whom Divernet spoke was at least happy that the previous Easter long weekend - traditionally a difficult time as rusty divers head to the coast after winter - had passed without any serious incidents to report. |
