I second catherine's comment about Damselfish's suggestion being a good one. However, I could envision a situation where disclosure to an operator becomes the hook upon which to hang a lawsuit (e.g., with knowledge comes the responsibility to act in a certain way). If someone omits their condition to a dive operator, how could the dive operator be held liable for something that was concealed by the victim or the victim's family? Seems to me that omitting information only harms oneself. And as to someone's comment about ruining someone else's dive, if you were running a marathon and someone collapsed in convulsions in front of you, would you stop to help and later complain that you were unable to win the race because of some marathoner whose doctor cleared him/her should have refrained from running because he/she had a previous heart attack? If the operator or other divers are called upon to assist in some sort of emergency, and the buddy with knowledge of the condition is unavailable, wouldn't a MedicAlert bracelet or necklace with the condition clearly stated, alert rescuers to the condition, much like disclosure upon a form? I think there's a couple of issues running through this thread. One, whether it is worth disclosing where there is the potential discrimination against diving with diabetes despite the fact that changing medical opinion is coming around to the view that diabetes is not an absolute contraindication to diving. The only danger for a diabetic diver comes from extreme low sugars underwater; if steps are taken to mitigate that by someone with their sugars under control (e.g., half a Snickers bar before every dive), that diver's risks are the same as the general diving population. That ties into the second issue, which is whether there has been enough medical evidence pro or con to make a definitive determination on whether diabetic divers should dive or whether there are standards that diabetic divers should follow. There are none, which is part of the problem. Three, potential rescuers need to know of the problem in order to deal with it. If there was an atmosphere of welcoming people with various conditions, those people would probably disclose, and dive training would probably include rudimentary medical training beyond what is taught today. And four, legal liability of dive operators. If, for whatever reason, they are released from liability, either for nondisclosure reasons or express waiver, that should be the end of it. I think most people on this thread have made good points, and in a perfect world there would be complete disclosure, the appropriate privacy measures taken, basic medical training for all divers, and no liability for dive operators acting in a responsible fashion. However, in a world such as ours, we will continue to debate individual vs group rights, normative values and the like. I'm glad we can continue to educate each other, and hopefully advance the sport of diving.
