When treating a scuba diving injury, what is the priority action?

Administering oxygen in the treatment of a scuba diving injury, particularly one involving decompression sickness or arterial gas embolism, is a critical priority action. Oxygen therapy helps to manage the effects of nitrogen bubbles that form in the bloodstream during a dive-related incident. By providing the injured diver with pure oxygen, it increases the partial pressure of oxygen in the lungs, facilitating the elimination of nitrogen bubbles and reducing the risk of further complications.

Oxygen serves as a therapeutic adjunct that can help alleviate symptoms and improve the diver's condition while waiting for emergency services to arrive. It can effectively help prevent or mitigate the severity of injuries caused by this type of incident, making it an essential step immediately after ensuring that the diver is stable.

Calling for emergency services is also important but comes secondary to providing immediate care that can stabilize the diver. Performing CPR may be necessary if the diver is unresponsive, but that scenario assumes the diver has lost consciousness and done so after initial oxygen administration, while moving the diver to shallow water may not be appropriate if the injury requires immediate stabilization at depth. The focus remains on treating the underlying issue with oxygen therapy first, underscoring its fundamental role in the initial response to dive-related injuries.