Lake Mead Emergency Information & Procedures

By Bill

(5 ratings)

Important emergency contacts and procedures for diving Lake Mead. What to do in the event of an emergency including the nearest recompression chambers.


Emergency Procedures
  1. Contact the nearest Ranger Station or Park Ranger on duty, or
  2. Telephone the National Park Service 24-hour Communications Center at 702-293-8932 or 1-800-680-5851 and they will notify the nearest Park Ranger. The Communications Center also monitors Marine Band emergency channels 16 and 22.
  3. Area Ranger Stations are manned intermittently; therefore, the following numbers should be used for information purposes only.
    Overton Beach (702) 394-4021
    Echo Bay (702) 394-4060
    Callville Bay (702) 565-9612
    Las Vegas Bay (702) 565-8368
    Boulder Beach (702) 293-8904
    Temple Bar (928) 767-3401
    South Cove (928) 564-2220
    Willow Beach (928) 767-4000
    Cottonwood Cove (702) 297-1229
    Katherine Landing (928) 754-3272

Recompression Chambers

Primary Chamber University Medical Center (UMC), information phone and emergency 24-hour phone number 702-383-3603 (diving physician is always on call) or call 911 and await transport by ambulance to the emergency room in Las Vegas.

Back-up Chambers University of California, Catalina Island chamber. Emergency phone 310-510-1053. information phone 213-743-6793 (Mon-Fri), Call the Medical Alert Center, Los Angeles, 213-221-4114. They will contact the U.S. Coast Guard and Catalina chamber and will make all pre-arrival arrangements.

Fly direct to the Los Angeles International Airport, where the U.S. Coast Guard helicopter will pick-up and deliver to Catalina.

San Diego: Call the San Diego County Lifeguard Service, 619-224-2708, and they will handle the local arrangements and proper notification.

  1. University Medical Center Life Flight Emergency Number 619-543-3683
  2. USS McKee United States
    Sub-Tender (Don Ingram)
    Tender - 619-224-2735
    Submarine Flotilla Operations - 619-225-6818

REMEMBER: Whenever a diving accident victim goes to a chamber for treatment the following information is necessary:

  1. Victim's full name and age.
  2. Victim's symptoms and treatment administered after discovery.
  3. Profile of dives, depths and bottom times during past 12 hours before accident.
  4. Depth and bottom time of last dive (or during dive) before accident.
  5. Brief description of accident and names of witnesses.
  6. Flight number or airline, estimated time of arrival and airport. Include airplane's pressurized altitude if possible. (If using the back-up chambers in California)

For questions regarding diving accidents you may contact the Divers Alert Network (DAN) at 800-446-2671 or 919-684-2948 (Monday through Friday) or the emergency number at 919-684-8111 (Monday through Friday).


Information provided by Lake Mead National Recreation Area

Last Updated: 2/2/2012


How helpful did you find this article?

Share