This is bound to get some people heated... Sorry ahead of time, my scale is a little different... If your belly is 2x bigger around then you are at the shoulders you should not dive. If the diameter of your butt is more then 2x your waste you should not dive. If you cannot swim 2 laps in a pool you should not dive. If you don't go to the gym (or equivalent) at least 2hrs per week you should not dive. If you don't dive At least 2x every 6 months (average) you should not dive, this aint riding a bike. If your are taking 2 or more cold medications you should not dive. If you have had more then 2 beers in 2hrs you should not dive. If you smoke more then 2 cigarettes every 2 days (average) you should not dive. if you don't drink at least 2 liters of fluid everyday you should not dive. My point here is if your not actively diving, taking care of yourself or using anything in excess and it shows you probably would be better served to stay out of the water. With or with out a doctors note...
Are you fit to scuba?
- Thread starter freewillie
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In principle I'd agree with most of that list ... on the other hand, I'd rather encourage someone to engage in an activity that's gonna motivate them to get out and be active than to discourage them to the point where they end up sitting in front of the TV in their spare time.
Rather than saying "you should not dive" ... I'd prefer to say "you should know your limitations" ... and encourage them to push those out gradually as they work on getting in better shape. I've known a lot of people ... including myself ... who use diving as a motivation for making better lifestyle choices ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
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If you haven't run across this title yet, you may enjoy reading Diver Down by Michael R. Ange.
I haven't seen a reference to the mental aspect of diving in this thread. IMHO, this is just as important a form of fitness for diving. It is also one that I am currently re-adressing through both a "real" dive rescue course and a solo course. I'll let you know how they play out...
I would feel much safer diving with an obese diver who remains "cool under fire" than I would with a supremely fit diver who "bolts" when something goes wrong.
Just me, feel free to disagree...
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Just a few things I would change.
Body Mass Index is a very crude indicator of weight status given it does not even differentiate between sexes. I know a girl who really changed her life and gave up drinking. She took up resistance training and started a healthy diet. She reduced her body fat percentage significantly and increased her lean mass. Her overall mass increased by 1kg. At a routine doctors visit, concern was expressed because of her weight gain.
Calories in versus calories out is also crude as it does not give any detail as to the quality of the nutrients being consumed and more specifically their effect on insulin levels and other hormones and neurotransmitters.
And I am not convinced by cholesterol being a great indicator of cardiovascular disease given it was part of the lipid hypothesis which was controversial at best. Of course, big pharma have made billions selling statin medication.
Inflammation, oxidation, and endothelial and vascular muscle dysfunction are good indicators of cardiovascular risk. So for estimating cardiovascular risk, better to carry out tests of inflammatory markers, oxidative stress markers and expanded lipid profiles along with 24 hour blood pressure monitoring and glucose intolerance tests (yep, unfortunately that is more expensive). Also, I think glucose parameters set by the medical community for pre diabetes are far too high.
Body Mass Index is a very crude indicator of weight status given it does not even differentiate between sexes. I know a girl who really changed her life and gave up drinking. She took up resistance training and started a healthy diet. She reduced her body fat percentage significantly and increased her lean mass. Her overall mass increased by 1kg. At a routine doctors visit, concern was expressed because of her weight gain.
Calories in versus calories out is also crude as it does not give any detail as to the quality of the nutrients being consumed and more specifically their effect on insulin levels and other hormones and neurotransmitters.
And I am not convinced by cholesterol being a great indicator of cardiovascular disease given it was part of the lipid hypothesis which was controversial at best. Of course, big pharma have made billions selling statin medication.
Inflammation, oxidation, and endothelial and vascular muscle dysfunction are good indicators of cardiovascular risk. So for estimating cardiovascular risk, better to carry out tests of inflammatory markers, oxidative stress markers and expanded lipid profiles along with 24 hour blood pressure monitoring and glucose intolerance tests (yep, unfortunately that is more expensive). Also, I think glucose parameters set by the medical community for pre diabetes are far too high.
OP
freewillie
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Off the top of my head I believe the DAN fatality statistics were 16 deaths/100,000 divers. That compared to 13 deaths/100,000 runners. Statistically scuba diving has nearly the same rate of death compared to running.
Intersting thing about stats is they do not always have a cause and effect relationship. One can't necessarily infer just because things happen at the same time there is a direct correlation.
My favorite example is that in the month of June there is a natural increase in road repair from the DOT. Daylight is longer, less issues with rain, etc. It also statistically is a busier month compared to other parts of the year for obstetricians. Normally there is a slight increase in the number of live births. Using the same logic if the DOT does more road repair you will cause more babies to be born. Obviously this is not the case. Simply two random events that coincidentally happen simultaneously.
Was just my opinion. From my own perspective it makes sense. One can argue any other cause and be just as correct. A cardiac event can happen at any time with any activity. Victim could have been walking to the store for soda (see section on calories BTW) and same could have happened. Just so happens when occurs during scuba diving under water becomes what DAN refers to as a inciting event and usually bad things happen to that diver.
freshorangina
Contributor
I agree with this as well. It always surprises me when I see people who "freak out" on entry, or just before. I can't really figure out why someone would want to participate in an activity which makes them panic. I have seen skilled DMs calm people down, but really it can disrupt the whole dive. For me, being underwater is my calm happy place, which is probably why I love diving. I have been in emergency situations early on, when I was 18 and it was probably my 7th dive. Being both physically and mentally prepared and focused was important, so is staying calm "under pressure".
I have dove with friends who were nervous divers, and it is not so much fun. Being nervous, she stayed above and behind me, which made her impossible to find without completely doing a 360. Ugh. A close friend of mine has expressed interest in learning to dive and I have not been overly enthused about this because he is prone to panic attacks and is really bad in emergency situations. There are enough variables to deal with when diving that I don't really want to add that to the mix...
One more note though, you don't have to be obese to have a heart attack, although it certainly adds to the risk. Not being able to calm oneself down in certain situations can also exacerbate a heart condition, so I guess the two can go hand in hand.
OP
freewillie
Contributor
Ironically one individual may have better cardiovascular fitness and at the same time be overweight than another individual who is thin but not as fit cardiovascularly. It depends more on your personal cardiovascular fitness for a given activity. There are plenty of overweight people who can swim in a pool, ride a stationary cycle etc for 20-30 minutes without significant problems. OTOH there are thin people who can't do the same.
Unfortunately for overweight people they don't always pass the eye ball test. Do you look fit? On the surface it is easier to assume a heavier individual is less fit and less healthy than a thinner person. Fair, no. Reality, yes.
I would recommend the mirror test. Look yourself in the mirror and answer honestly, "Am I fit enough to do this activity, or do I need to exercise more and get in shape for x activity."
Seraphimx
Contributor
I know for a fact that here in Quebec, since the weather is always crap and the water cold we have to get a special permit to Scuba Dive, this permits the FREE emergency care to have portable hyperbaric chambers that can be carried on-site with helicopter.
To make this long story short, the permit is theoretically in place to protect scuba divers, so anytime a death in scuba happens there's an investigation to determine the cause of the death and a coronary report of the events.
FQAS Bienvenue
side note: Damn, they should update it. It's been updated in 2009. That's sad. And the English website doesn't work...gotta love Quebec.
If you put it through a translator software you'll be able to tell the cause of death. Mostly aren't truly physiological problems but more psychological.
I checked rapidly and could only find really quickly 3 "recent" death caused by physiological problems : 1 Heart attack (the person had medical counter indication to dive) & 2 Decompression ACV accidents.
If you click the little folder on the right you have a complete description of the events and conclusion by the coroner.
But, seriously, if you look at each one of them you'll notice it's truly some disturbing deaths. I've seen at least 4 Death Caused by (Solo penetration dive on the Empress of Ireland) (FYI 95-140ft deep) and more on underwater workers being sucked in by the current in an electrical barrage.
Yes, it's important to be in good shape but I can't see at a first glance if it can be a big part of diving incidents.
BTW: This also includes people who Snorkel
To make this long story short, the permit is theoretically in place to protect scuba divers, so anytime a death in scuba happens there's an investigation to determine the cause of the death and a coronary report of the events.
FQAS Bienvenue
side note: Damn, they should update it. It's been updated in 2009. That's sad. And the English website doesn't work...gotta love Quebec.
If you put it through a translator software you'll be able to tell the cause of death. Mostly aren't truly physiological problems but more psychological.
I checked rapidly and could only find really quickly 3 "recent" death caused by physiological problems : 1 Heart attack (the person had medical counter indication to dive) & 2 Decompression ACV accidents.
If you click the little folder on the right you have a complete description of the events and conclusion by the coroner.
But, seriously, if you look at each one of them you'll notice it's truly some disturbing deaths. I've seen at least 4 Death Caused by (Solo penetration dive on the Empress of Ireland) (FYI 95-140ft deep) and more on underwater workers being sucked in by the current in an electrical barrage.
Yes, it's important to be in good shape but I can't see at a first glance if it can be a big part of diving incidents.
BTW: This also includes people who Snorkel
PlantationBeachResort
Registered
The most dangerous I have ever felt on a boat was with a woman who accused the dive staff of stealing her wetsuit. After roughly 3-5 minutes of argument, the dive staff informed her she was in fact already wearing the 'stolen wetsuit'. The same thing happened with her weight belt the next day. I was scared for her safety.
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