The Dive Otter

Scuba Acronyms

[ As Of Jan 2025 ]
*If you notice an acronym that I'm missing please let me know

Deep Dive Into Some Of These Acronyms

AED

Automated External Defibrillator is a medical device that can help restore a normal heart rhythm in someone experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. AEDs analyze the heart's rhythm and deliver an electric shock if needed. They are designed to be easy to use and have clear instructions. You should get training on them anyway.

AOW

Advanced Open Water is a certification level that is typically obtained shortly after the Open Water class. It usually involves several different types of dives including "deep". The industry assumption is that anyone holding the Advanced Open Water certification is competent enough to handle dives down to the maximum recreational limit of 130ft.

BAR

The gas pressure unit typically used outside of north america. When purchasing an SPG be very careful with what pressure unit it is displaying. Most divers in north america will be taught to use PSI. To convert from BAR to PSI the precise conversion rate is 14.50377 but nobody is going to remember that, so just use 15.

PSI = 200 BAR * 15 = 3000 PSI

CPR

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation is the technique you use when someone's heart has stopped beating and involves chest compressions and breathing into the nose/mouth of the individual. You should get training on how to properly conduct CPR.

DCI

DCS

AGE

Decompression illness, or DCI, is associated with a reduction in the ambient pressure surrounding the body. DCI encompasses two diseases, decompression sickness (DCS) and arterial gas embolism (AGE). DCS results from bubbles in body tissues causing local damage. AGE occurs when bubbles enter arterial circulation, traveling through the arteries and potentially causing tissue damage by blocking blood flow at the small vessel level. Read more about all three in this article from DAN

Deco

As a recreational diver, we shouldn't even be talking about Decompression in the context in which you will typically here this acronym, which is "we have 10 minutes of deco to do". Once you are at a certain depth for a sufficient period of time, you will have a decompression obligation that you must meet before you surface if you want to do your best to avoid DCS.

FFW

FSW

Feet of Fresh Water or Feet of Salt Water is a unit of measure that indicates the depth (more correctly the pressure at that depth) in fresh or salt water. You will see it typically used like so "100ffw" to indicate 100 ft in fresh water. Because fresh water is roughly 3% less dense than salt water the atmospheres we learned in class that every 33 feet is 1 atmosphere is slightly incorrect when in fresh water...which is actually 34. But does it actually matter at recreational depths? Nope. But if you want to be super precise about your depth, then change the setting on your computer to whatever water type you are diving in at the time.

PFO

Patent Foramen Ovale - essentially a hole in your heart that increases the risk of DCS. Read more about PFO's in this article from DAN. PFOs occur in about 27% of people and do not generally pose a significant risk...unless you are a scuba diver. PFOs can be repaired with surgery so it is not necessarily going to stop you from diving.

PSI

The gas pressure unit typically used in north america. When purchasing an SPG be very careful with what pressure unit it is displaying. Most divers outside of north america will be taught to use BAR. To convert from PSI to BAR the precise conversion rate is 14.50377 but nobody is going to remember that, so just use 15.

BAR = 3000 PSI / 15 = 200 PSI

SPG

A Submersible Pressure Gauge is used to display the pressure in your gas cylinder. It can display in PSI or BAR or both so be very careful while purchasing an SPG that you get the one you want. Also, not all of them are designed the same. Some have a white background and some have a black background. Some Show a red 'warning' area starting at 500 PSI and some start at 700 PSI. Some are large. Some are small. And some are very small!