If you're on a trip out of town, your options are probably limited to Emergency Room.
Dont ever do this. It will waste your time and the ED doc's time. And they won't sign it. As an ER physician, I have had several people bring in forms for whatever reason. Unless they pertain to the specific emergency at hand, I will not fill them out. And honestly some of those forms take so much time and review of so much information that it is not feasible to fill those forms out. It is not the role of an ER physician to do so.
Something no one has been able to answer to my satisfaction:
The question about family history of heart attack/stroke (or whatever the specific wording is): how far back do you have to go? I've checked the yes box, but added a note that the relative affected was a grandparent, not parent. Is checking yes when it was only a grandparent, not a parent/sibling, necessary?
I am interested in brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, parents, and yes even grandparents. I think two generations shows some significance. I always ask about that.
and hypothetically speaking...
If my father died last week of a heart attack at age 105, do I now need to say YES to having a family history of heart attack?
Note that if he died of a heart attack at the tender age of 45, then I would have been able to answer NO for the next 25 years...
Which of these 2 situations seems to be more realistic for concern?
The form is a joke.
I absolutely agree the form is a joke. From the training perspective, it is not a joke. However having a typical physician fill out that form is probably more of a joke and less beneficial than we might expect. The fact is we live longer than we used to, and so we have to redefine age significance.
I'm 62. For God's sake, stop this post. Mark "yes" or "no" one way or the other and get on with it. If you mark a "YES", you have to get a Dr.'s permission from someone who may or may not know dive medicine. ****--it's so simple.
Those medical forms are so "for the dive shops" anyway-- WE LEARNED THAT IN DIVEMASTER SCHOOL.
I think there are a lot of people who are upset about the form because it really doesn't do anything but invade personal, private matters, and does not really add any benefit to the dive. It's like having a school ask your child's social security number. They don't need it, they shouldn't use it, and it simply does not provide any benefit. It's an invasion of something that does not require such invasive measures.
Quite frankly, the medical form in no way actually mitigates legal risk for the dive operation. It is a farce, a joke, and does not help them in any way.
Take it from another perspective, I do not believe I've ever been on any dive operation where the dive op changed its protocols, or provided some different kind of care for individuals who did Mark yes on their medical form. The fact is the dive op is not a medical entity and does not know how to provide medical care. They don't know the difference between a cardiac arrest secondary to a stroke versus a pulmonary embolism versus cardiomyopathy versus diabetic ketoacidosis. Nor should they.
The diver should be responsible for himself or herself. The diver should determine whether or not he or she is capable, comfortable, trained, and in a condition adequate for the dive.