■ Scotland: 0345 408 6008 For further contact details see bsac. com / dci MARCH 2026 ADVERTISERS
Survey request for diver trails
BSAC DIVERS AND CENTRES ARE BEING asked to help Historic England understand the effectiveness and usefulness of diver trails on protected wreck sites.
In the recent past, Historic England funded the installation of physical dive trails on several protected wreck sites. These comprise of stations marking out key features on the wreck, lines connecting the stations together, and interpretative material in the form of waterproof booklets, site maps, and dive slates.
Now, Historic England has commissioned MSDS Marine to undertake a strategic review of physical dive trails on England’ s protected wreck sites.
Examples of dive trails include Normans Bay, Thorness Bay, Colossus, Coronation and Iona II. All of these historic dive sites are great dives, made more interesting because of the diver trails.
However, the trails require regular maintenance to ensure they stay functional.
Marine growth needs to be removed from lines, plaques and buoys, and occasionally stations and lines will need replacing.
This short project will undertake a review of the use of the physical dive trails and provide recommendations for how Historic England can support volunteer licensees in the ongoing maintenance of these trails.
This survey is part of that project and will allow the project team to understand how divers, centres and charter skippers interact with dive trails on protected wreck sites. This in turn will help to target funding so that divers get the benefit.
The survey will only take a maximum of 10 minutes and could really help forward planning- and hopefully even more groups willing to support diver trails on their own favourite protected wreck. To complete the survey go to bsac. com / divertrailsurvey
Reprieve for Whipps Cross chamber
FOLLOWING THE CLOSURE OF THE Whipps Cross Hyperbaric Chamber at the end of September last year, LHM Healthcare has been instructed to re-open the facility.
The move to re-open Whipps Cross comes as Chichester Chamber continues to encounter difficulties in maintaining a consistent service.
NHS England’ s National Medical Director of Specialist Commissioning has used his executive powers to immediately reopen the Whipps Cross facility under an emergency contract to only treat critically ill divers suffering from decompression illness and patients with gas embolism.
The Chamber is now actively seeking arrangements to allow them to provide a full service for divers.
All divers and clubs are reminded that, in the event of an emergency, they should contact the British Hyperbaric Association( BHA) National Diving Accident Helpline for immediate advice. This service provides 24- hour emergency medical support to divers and healthcare professionals across the UK.
For incidents in Scotland, a separate emergency line is available- please request the on-call hyperbaric doctor. The helplines have access to real-time information on chamber availability and will coordinate care as required. Emergency contact numbers:
■ National( England, Wales, Northern Ireland): 07831 151 523
■ Scotland: 0345 408 6008 For further contact details see bsac. com / dci MARCH 2026 ADVERTISERS