Medtronic Pacemakers and Scuba diving

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Just limit your diving to 50 ft, assuming you're otherwise cleared to dive. The chances of DCS from that depth are small. And be careful to avoid embolism by by ascending slowly and not holding your breath. If you should need a chamber treatment, the difference between 50 and 60 ft pressure is very small -- they can recompress you to 50 FSW instead of 60.

FWIW he said above that his cardiologist wouldn't clear him.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[Hatul]

FWIW he said above that his cardiologist wouldn't clear him.

Best regards,
DDM

The question is did he not clear him because of depth limit on the pacemaker or for medical reasons?

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

The question is did he not clear him because of depth limit on the pacemaker or for medical reasons?

Hi Hatul,

According to the OP, both. See post #13.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[Hatul]

Hi Hatul,

According to the OP, both. See post #13.

Best regards,
DDM

Yes, I missed that. In that case there is no point in this thread.

 

[ProfRickMTJ]

My Medtronic pacemaker was installed in Jan. '08. My cardiologist had me demonstrate 13 METS and cleared me to dive. I went to Tahiti. Most of the diving was shallow and went well. But one day I went to 70 feet. I was very tired and just dragging myself across the bottom. When I got home there was a letter from Medtronic saying that below 62 feet the device wouldn't increase rate with exercise and it went to my night rate of 50 beats per minute. No wonder I was so tired! I am now cleared to dive to 50'. Holding pretty close to that limit I have had no trouble since then. Please listen to your manufacturer's limits!

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

My Medtronic pacemaker was installed in Jan. '08. My cardiologist had me demonstrate 13 METS and cleared me to dive. I went to Tahiti. Most of the diving was shallow and went well. But one day I went to 70 feet. I was very tired and just dragging myself across the bottom. When I got home there was a letter from Medtronic saying that below 62 feet the device wouldn't increase rate with exercise and it went to my night rate of 50 beats per minute. No wonder I was so tired! I am now cleared to dive to 50'. Holding pretty close to that limit I have had no trouble since then. Please listen to your manufacturer's limits!

Was this recent? Did you have the pacemaker interrogated afterward?

Best regards,
DDM

 

[John Ewbank]

For what it is worth, I have a medtronic pacemaker and am a certified PADI Open Water diver. I have not dived I whole lot, just about 15-20 times when I lived in Hawaii 2007-2008 timeframe. I usually just dived the reefs in about 30-40 feet of water and never had any issues at all. However, during certification we dived to around 60 feet twice, and I had no issues. On another dive, we hung out around 70 feet. I never had any issues, but I always felt much more comfortable around 30-40 feet (meaning I didn't feel nervous). Getting ready to dive in the Bahamas this summer, but will only do the 30-40 feet reef dives. That's where all the good scenery is anyway! By the way, I have 100% heart block and am 100% paced.

 

[Freewillow]

I have a friend with a Medtronic Pacemaker. He dived several times @ more than 130 feet without any problem.

 

[khaled bedda]

this is the only official document from Medtronic say 2.5 ATA max depth
I have Medtronic and I dive at 10 meters for 30 minutes

 

[Freewillow]

Interesting document. But these are max ATA for recompression chambers. No need to go higher in these. Nobody has ever contacted Medtronic in order to find out?