PADI and asthma

[Nova SS]

Hi !
Another newbie with an asthma question. Yes another astham question.

Im going to a lung specialist next week to get my flow numbers and I had my chest x rays taken a couple days ago. I have alleregy induced asthma since I was a kid. I have read all the threads and was wondering even if the doc clears me will a PADI school certify me?

Not a medical question, more a politcal question.

I understand the dangers involved. While in the sub service I worked with deep submergance program and have been in a chamber down to 100 ft and have done dives / asents from that depth with no problems, and with no gear

If they automaticaly say NO for asthma I may fib on the forms.

 

[TSandM]

Nova, I got certified through a PADI shop. I have mild asthma, and all they required was a physician's statement clearing me to dive.

 

[Ann Marie]

As long as a physician clears you, I don't think that a shop can refuse to teach you. I believe that would be infringement of the American's With Disabilities Act.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

As an instructor I know I won't allow anyone with asthma to sign up for classes without a release. Recently one of my students showed up with a form filled out and honetly I went so far as to check with the doctor to see if he really filled it out or was it faked.

He's a diver and I have concerns for him. You have got to know that there are days when you just can't dive, respect that.

 

[Dive-aholic]

My wife has asthma, has been medically cleared to dive, and she's a PADI instructor. No politics with that one, at least not with the organization. The shop or instructor may be another story.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

As long as you are cleared medically there is no problem. As far as PADI goes. The shop or instructor may be different. If the shop/instructor is not comfortable doing it or the shop/instructor for whatever reason does not want to assume liability they can refuse to teach you. No violation of any rules or acts. They have the final say and it's just like any PRIVATE business. They have the right to refuse service.

 

[cuddlefish]

If you have medical approval from a doctor, most shops and instructors are comfortable with that. There was one time in the 15 years I've been an instructor that I decided not to take a student. It was an 11 year old girl with exercise induced asthma. I explained to her father about the medical form. He said, "no problem, I'm a doctor, I'll sign it". I let him know that he needed to review the "guidelines for physicians" that is attached to the medical questions. I told him it was important for him to understand the possible risks. He would NOT even look at it. He would not listen to ANY information I had about the possible risks to his daughter. I wasn't even saying she couldn't do the intro dive. But I did insist that he hear me out and make an informed decision. He didn't care...he just wanted her to be able to do the dive. After that I saw her in her bathing suit and she had a very long chest scar from a heart surgery. I felt for the girl and wanted her to be able to participate in all of life's fun activities. But her father was not being resposible...as a parent or a doctor. I told him I would not take her diving under these circumstances.

 

[MB]

You can have asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, heart disease, and a large bone in your nose, and I'm sure you can find someone to teach you. As a previous post pointed out, you can also find a physician to clear you if you look hard enough. One of the grand ironies in life is that we humans frequently decide first, and then seek info to substantiate what we've already decided. So it is with the post about the MD dad. So it is with the intent to lie about one's health status. Would that we always used these marvelous big brains that humans are blessed/cursed with. But the practice of making informed and tough decisions after we obtain and analzye information is limited to a very few members of this species...

...While in the sub service I worked with deep submergance program and have been in a chamber down to 100 ft and have done dives / asents from that depth with no problems, and with no gear...

Depth and ascents have very little impact on asthma. The major factors in play here are (a) cool, hyperdry air, (b) acting on compromised alveoli, (c) during workout conditions (increased respiration rates / exercise / currents / etc), (d) for a prolonged period of time. You can't just stop the treadmill test when you are underwater, away from the boat, and in the process of a very slow ascent to control your offgassing. Chamber dives do not replicate the conditions of water dives. A potential diver might use the fact of successful chamber dives to jusitfy a decision that's already been made, but it really has very little bearing on the factors that make asthma a dangerous condition for diving.

Good luck.

 

[MB]

As long as a physician clears you, I don't think that a shop can refuse to teach you. I believe that would be infringement of the American's With Disabilities Act.

ADA has opened a lot of doors to people, but it does not prevent instructors from exercising their own professional judgements about conditions that put students, dive buddies, and themselves at risk. ADA is not intended to be a blanket that requires every shop and instructor to teach every person with every disabilty to dive.

It takes a fairly knowledgable instructor to anticipate and design a course that will accomodate a person's disabilities. Divers with disabilities often require different buddy protocols, activity profiles, etc., and these differences vary greatly across different conditions and individuals who have them. Most instructors simply aren't aware of that stuff, and don't have the disability expertise to figure it out. And, some disabilities are simply incompatible with diving.

 

[scubatoys]

You will probably get cleared, which should not be out of the ordinary for allergy induced - we never put cats in the tanks... or pollen... so really the air is better than what you are breathing now except as MB has pointed out, it is very dry... And there is a solution for that... the Bio Filter.

When you do get your release, I'd suggest you make yourself a few copies of the doctors release and laminate one and keep it with your dive gear, as the same question will pop up on every form you run into in your diving career. Bring a copy to give to the dive operator in Cozumel, Cayman, etc...