January 2010    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 25, No. 1   What's this?

Lying About Your Health Could Be Lethal

our medical expert tells you why you shouldn’t fib to dive shops

from the January, 2010 issue of Undercurrent  

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Last month, we published reader comments about how much, if any, health information you disclose on the dive shop medical questionnaire. Most of you say you keep mum. I saw many of the reasons you gave for why as quite valid. Doc Vikingo, a frequent Undercurrent contributor, does not. Here’s his opinion:

Scuba diving, perceived by much of the non-diving public as risky if not outright dangerous, has avoided government meddling to an astonishing degree. Regulation by federal, state and local governments has been avoided largely because the dive industry polices itself. This includes common practices like asking divers to complete a medical history questionnaire before training or a taking a dive trip. This self-policing has benefited divers by giving them freedom to dive whenever, however and with whomever they choose. Much of this is obviously due to divers adhering to industry practices. But when it comes to being forthright in completing medical questionnaires, it’s sometimes a different story.

When Undercurrent asked readers about whether they disclose medical conditions to dive operators, a surprising number of you replied that you didn’t, for fear of an operator not permitting you to dive. But I’m with much of the dive industry and medical experts in believing it’s a mistake not to tell the truth about your health. It could cost you your life, and possibly the lives of the buddies and guides you’re diving with.

The risks are real. For example, Divers Alert Network’s annual report on dive-related accidents and deaths routinely indicates that cardiovascular events cause 20 to 30 percent of all fatalities. Moreover, medications like tranquilizers, antidepressants and narcotic pain relievers and certain cardiac and respiratory drugs that cause no problems topside may act differently at depth, and may combine with or increase nitrogen narcosis, resulting in significantly impaired thinking and behavioral control. ...