DANBURY — Newtown’s “diver doctor,” David Charash, DO, is poised to host the next in a series of annual Dive Medicine Conferences on April 11 at Danbury’s Ethan Allan Inn at 21 Lake Ave Extension. Welcoming vendors and exhibitors including Newtown Underwater Search And Rescue (NUSAR), Dr Charash told The Newtown Bee that he is honored to be bringing in one of the world’s foremost authorities on deep water diving.

“Joe Dituri is recently retired from serving as a Navy Deep Submergence Unit commander, and he holds the world’s record for the deepest underwater dive,” Dr Charash said. “He is also one of the few divers to utilize a deep diving exosuit.”

Mr Dituri will discuss some of the health and safety implications of in-water recompression for both research and public safety divers.

“He’s a world authority on the subject of decompressing without the use of a hyperbaric chamber,” the physician added.

Mr Dituri will be joined on the program by cold water expert and author Bernie Chowdhury, who will cover health and safety practices for cold water diving along with Dr Charash.

“Bernie’s and my talk will probably be most useful for the many public safety divers we’ll have at this year’s conference,” Dr Charash said. “For nearly half the year, these responders are diving in water that is cold enough to have health and safety implications.”

The local diver doctor said he also invited underwater photographer Peter Venoutsos to present some of his work, specific to diving in shark-infested waters. Rounding out the speaking program is Rhonda Moniz, who is a remotely operated vehicle pilot, engineer, diving safety officer, and underwater cinematographer.

Dr Charash said Ms Moniz will cover the latest developments and applications of ROVs.

“Local and regional responders are beginning to utilize ROVs to send into dive sites to do reconnaissance before committing divers themselves to potentially dangerous environments,” he said.

Longtime NUSAR volunteer and Chief Michael McCarthy said every year he has attended his Newtown neighbor’s conference, he has come away learning new things and meeting new professional contacts.

“This conference is a labor of love for Dr Charash, who is so into the sport, but also very dedicated to keeping divers safe,” Chief McCarthy said.

Most of the recent NUSAR volunteers have attended at least one of the conferences, the chief said, and have gained knowledge that helps them be better, safer responders when called upon either locally or regionally for both emergencies and to assist law enforcement agencies with things like evidence searches.

“NUSAR will have a booth, so we hope to continue our networking and learning about practices and equipment capabilities that we don’t have that might improve and protect our own divers,” Chief McCarthy said.

“There is a CME/CEU credit available. Breakfast and lunch is included,” Dr Charash said. “Last year we had over 220 divers in attendance.”

Advanced registration is required, and the last day to register is April 8. The conference runs from 8 am to 2:30 pm with lectures beginning at 9 am.

The target audience for the conference is recreational and technical divers, commercial and public safety divers, medical providers including physicians, NPs, PAs, EMT s, RNs, and paramedics.

The fee of $65 includes breakfast, lunch, raffles, and interaction with vendors. Participants can receive 3.5 Category 1 CME/CEU.

For questions or to register, contact Raquel Rodriguez at 203-739-4916 or visit danburyhospital.org/events-calendar/2015/april/dive-medicine-conference.