Heretical thoughts on the diver's medical form

[Julius SCHMIDT]

You apparently missed the part about Australia's medical form requirements being so much stricter.

Once again talking about it on the internet has made it so. Aussie forms are not stricter, just yes no like the rest and a diving medical before a course, and anything else that you have read or heard and lead you to this conclusion is bunk

 

[Esprise Me]

Once again talking about it on the internet has made it so. Aussie forms are not stricter, just yes no like the rest and a diving medical before a course, and anything else that you have read or heard and lead you to this conclusion is bunk

Is it not true that one needs a medical exam there regardless of one's answers on the form? Because if that's true, I think most of us would consider that stricter than the US, where no doctor sign-off is needed if all the answers are "no."

 

[boulderjohn]

Once again talking about it on the internet has made it so. Aussie forms are not stricter, just yes no like the rest and a diving medical before a course, and anything else that you have read or heard and lead you to this conclusion is bunk

You must have missed the part of the discussion where people from Australia talked about how strict it was and I said that I had just had to self certify when there a few years ago. There seems to be a great divergence of thought on the rules in Australia.

 

[dmaziuk]

Is it not true that one needs a medical exam there regardless of one's answers on the form? Because if that's true, I think most of us would consider that stricter than the US, where no doctor sign-off is needed if all the answers are "no."

Yesno: yes, if you need a doctor's clearance, they really want it to be a doctor certified to sign dive clearances in Australia, in English. Think SE Asian tourists with no observable skills, paperwork in quipu, and very little conversational English.

No: doctor clearance for a non-working dive is not an Australian requirement. It may be an operator's requirement. Depending on the state (we have states with state laws too), the operator, and their deal with their insurer, your mileage may vary greatly on that one. Someone like @boulderjohn who's clearly done some diving and can have a conversation about it in a language they understand, I can easily see them "forgetting" about that medical thing.

 

[boulderjohn]

omeone like @boulderjohn who's clearly done some diving and can have a conversation about it in a language they understand, I can easily see them "forgetting" about that medical thing.

I arrived with a medical all signed. They were wondering why the heck I brought it. They acted like they had never seen one before. All I had to do was sign a single sentence saying I was fit to dive. They did not know me or my qualifications from a newly certified OW diver until after that, when they asked for my C-card.

 

[tursiops]

I had to get an Australian medical exam and a signed release to dive on SpoilSport in 2002. That is my only experience diving in Australia.

 

[dmaziuk]

I arrived with a medical all signed. They were wondering why the heck I brought it. They acted like they had never seen one before. All I had to do was sign a single sentence saying I was fit to dive.

It's just as likely that the guy who put their website together filled in a few blanks from what he found on The Internet and the people on site had no idea. Like I said, as far as I know the clearance is required for working dives only so the fact that you didn't need it does not surprise me at all.

 

[Julius SCHMIDT]

You must have missed the part of the discussion where people from Australia talked about how strict it was and I said that I had just had to self certify when there a few years ago. There seems to be a great divergence of thought on the rules in Australia.

I didn't miss anything and you're beautiful and you're passsion is immeasurable boulderjohn and I love your deco writings and your flying through mountains stuff and understand you were posting your observations of other peoples ideas in the thread through wibbles post, but here it is as you posted regarding your GBR experience, and despite the babblers whose aunties uncle has heard of somewhere 50 years ago but have never been there and know absolutely nothing of what they repeat
there's nothing to a diving waiver in Aussieland and nothing to do except just sign the thing and dive

and anything else that you have read or heard and lead you to this conclusion is bunk

and this boulderjohn should not have been directed at you, but was a crazy divergence adressing the whole


One of many similar examples from diving in SA, VIC, NSW, QLD.

Also a diving medical can be completed by a dermatologist an opthamologist or a @#&#@&% gynacologist if they have appropriate knowledge and choose to do so.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @Julius SCHMIDT

Very simple form, similar to many liveaboard forms. The only obvious thing missing is nitrox certification. I've never been asked about deep certification, even in relatively advanced liveaboard locations. I carry my Deep Diver card just in case that ever changes. Requirement for AOW cert appears to be the usual surrogate for deep.

 

[Scoooter961]

I know some international operators require a medical form outside of training. Who has needed a medical form, other than for training, and where was it?

I need one for Anse Chastanet in St Lucia