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Yes, sir, diver 85, it would be downright foolhardy to listen to any of the Medical Moderators on this forum, who include a cardiologist, dentist, ER physician, psychiatrist, ENT & an august member of Duke Dive Medicine, among others, all of whom are avid divers.
Why they might tell you something like found in Duke Dive Medicine's post of January 28th, 2013 above: "The decision should ultimately be up to the physician who performed the procedure, though.
I would also point out that DAN's input will not involve any "eyeball to eyeball" contact, and may not even involve a physician. You may find the following post of mine from some years ago to be informative:
The Call DAN reflex: An involuntary and almost instantaneous abnormal movement of the less than optimally functioning nervous system.
On this and other diving medicine forums I frequently see responders, who appear to be genuine in their desire to be helpful, stating that DAN is the ONLY one qualified to answer the question and should ALWAYS be contacted and there are NO experts on this forum and the like.
Of course emergency diving medicine inquiries should be brought to their immediate attention. And, while it often is a wise idea to inquire of DAN about non-urgent situations, one needs to appreciate the likely limitations of doing so.
For example, when one contacts DAN they first, and often only, speak with a paraprofessional (e.g., registered nurse, diving EMT). These folks often simply thumb to DAN's medical FAQs (DAN | Site Map) and read or email a paraphrasing to the individual. They frequently are quite busy and give the briefest possible reply. For understandable reasons, DAN provides very limited direct physician access. As such, the answers received from the experts on a diving medicine forum are likely to be longer and more informative than the responses from DAN, even when both are in essence correct.
Also, diving medicine forums typically afford greater opportunity for more rapid give and take between participants than is the case with DAN. Finally, links to previous board threads on the topic, professional magazine and journal articles on the topic, and other reference sources are often given on these forums, another nicety not usually provided in a DAN reply.
And, DAN does occasionally give a rather shaky response. I can cite a number of these. It is a very worthy and valuable organization, but it in fact is not the be all and end all of diving medicine fact and opinion.
It would seem wisest to inquire from a range of sources and see how the opinions rank based on the factual and theoretical support given an opinion, the thoroughness and clarity of the response, and similar factors.
In summary, in non-emergency cases I can see no compelling reason not to seek advice from recognized diving medicine forums and other reputable sources that have knowledgeable physician participation and turning to DAN only if that fails. Some diving medicine inquiries are rather easy to answer and do not require DAN's valuable, but limited, medical resources.
Regards,
DocVikingo
