Dive buddy medical contraindications

[Cave Diver]

This thread is an offshoot of two recent discussions.

At what point do you need to disclose medical conditions to your dive buddy? To what degree do you expect them to disclose them to you?

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

When the medical condition may have any impact whatsoever on the dive, during a worse case scenario, my buddy should know.


I want to know, at worst before the dive. At best, before I even drive out for the dive.

 

[Peter Guy]

a. Buddy should freely, quickly and openly disclose any condition, medical or otherwise, that might interfere with a successful dive -- whether buddy thinks it is a "big deal" or not.

b. I should freely, quickly and openly disclose any condition, medical or otherwise....

A while ago I ended up doing some cave dives with an "insta buddy" (we were paired online and I knew his instructor who vouched for him and we did simple dives) who did NOT tell me he had some medical issues -- not to mention some equipment issues. I became less and less "understanding" as the days went by. [Note -- I actually stopped diving with him, which was part of the original trip plan and never did anything to try to alter my plan so I could dive with him again.]

 

[TSandM]

I'm with Peter. If there is any known condition which could lead to a diver being incapacitated during the dive, I want to know about it, and preferably long before I'm sitting in the water going through the dive plan. Making a dive with a buddy with a medical condition is a risk assessment, just as much as the depth, length or environmental considerations of the dive are.

I tell my potential buddies about ANYTHING that might make a dive other than utterly routine -- for example, the fact that I have balance issues getting out of the water, and often need a quick hand for stability. I can't imagine someone not disclosing issues like heart rhythm problems, diabetes, seizure history, or anything else that could result in a big problem underwater. Although not every buddy will make his decision on a rational basis, it is still his right to MAKE that decision.

 

[w ripley]

It depends on the dive. If it really is a tech dive (e.g., very deep, multiple hours, very deep penetrations, etc.) I would prefer to go solo than with an unproven buddy. Unproven means we haven't been diving together before, and not his or her diving background.

If I have a buddy, then we will not only be sharing everything relevant to our ages and health conditions - and that includes prior trips to the chamber - but also talking about O2Tox hits, leaving the other when only one can make it out, etc. Just my 2cents, but I think everything needs to be on the table.

 

[BabyDuck]

anything that could reasonably come up should be disclosed. i don't need to know about your hemorrhoids...unless you had surgery on them thursday and they could start bleeding uncontrollably at depth. i don't need to know about your childhood leukemia if it's been cleared for 20 years, but i do need to know about the speeding ticket you got on the way to the cave if it's got you pissed off & distracted.

 

[rjack321]

anything that could reasonably come up should be disclosed. i don't need to know about your hemorrhoids...unless you had surgery on them thursday and they could start bleeding uncontrollably at depth. i don't need to know about your childhood leukemia if it's been cleared for 20 years, but i do need to know about the speeding ticket you got on the way to the cave if it's got you pissed off & distracted.

+1 on this

 

[BabyDuck]

richard, go check your temperature. you've been agreeing with me a lot...

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

anything that could reasonably come up should be disclosed. i don't need to know about your hemorrhoids...unless you had surgery on them thursday and they could start bleeding uncontrollably at depth. i don't need to know about your childhood leukemia if it's been cleared for 20 years, but i do need to know about the speeding ticket you got on the way to the cave if it's got you pissed off & distracted.

You nailed it ... your mental state is as important to me as your physical state, and I want to know if there's something going on that's going to take your mind off the dive. This is PARTICULARLY true for tech dives.

I'm thinking of one particular fatality ... the one Lamont helped recover ... where the diver showed overt signs of stress in the parking lot just prior to the dive. I have always wondered how much of a role that mental state played in the accident that took her life ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[diverdoug1]

anything that could reasonably come up should be disclosed. i don't need to know about your hemorrhoids...unless you had surgery on them thursday and they could start bleeding uncontrollably at depth. i don't need to know about your childhood leukemia if it's been cleared for 20 years, but i do need to know about the speeding ticket you got on the way to the cave if it's got you pissed off & distracted.

+3 on this, exactly the way I feel on this.