Let's Open a Can of Worms - Epilepsy in Diving

[oly5050user]

If a student came to me and checked off epilepsy I would have to turn them down.I would not accept a medical release from a Dr.....they are a danger to themselves and to who ever they dive with.The person diving with them may put themselves in danger attempting to rescue this person.Does not take long to drown,so even if the seizure is a short one, it is too dangerous for all involved..Some people afflicted with this malady can sometimes sense the seizue coming on,so if driving a car they have time to pull over and stop the car.In diving that is a luxury that does not exist.A instructor can turn down students for any reason,there is nothing saying everyone has a right to learn to dive.I turned down one older woman who wanted to be certified to dive nitrox.Told her no way because she has no idea on depth/time she is in the water,always goes deeper than planed on.She just blindly goes on her dives and if it was not for having a pro dive with her she would be a statistic.

 

[diver 85]

If a student came to me and checked off epilepsy I would have to turn them down.I would not accept a medical release from a Dr.....they are a danger to themselves and to who ever they dive with.The person diving with them may put themselves in danger attempting to rescue this person.Does not take long to drown,so even if the seizure is a short one, it is too dangerous for all involved..Some people afflicted with this malady can sometimes sense the seizue coming on,so if driving a car they have time to pull over and stop the car.In diving that is a luxury that does not exist.A instructor can turn down students for any reason,there is nothing saying everyone has a right to learn to dive.I turned down one older woman who wanted to be certified to dive nitrox.Told her no way because she has no idea on depth/time she is in the water,always goes deeper than planed on.She just blindly goes on her dives and if it was not for having a pro dive with her she would be a statistic.

yep, IMO it's(being a certified diver) a priviledge & not a right....

 

[SkipperJohn]

in most states if you have epilepsy you can't drive a car. I think that says a lot.

 

[TGreene]

Like most any other illness or disease there are varying degrees of severity, so lumping everything into one basket is a bit absurd and uneducated to say the least... Epilepsy is no different!

It's like saying that all cancer is created equal and is a certain death sentence. Well yea, if you have pancreatic cancer you had better start making plans and quickly, but skin cancer is all together different, or is it..? You have Basal Cell Carcinoma and then you have Melanoma which are vastly different, but are both Skin cancer.

Do you guys understand where I'm going with this..?

Here's some great reading: All About Epilepsy & Seizures | epilepsy.com

-Tim

 

[Spady]

Although I can never say never, I doubt I would ever sign off for an epileptic patient to dive. Too much of a potential liability.

 

[Jayde323]

My sister is an epileptic, and there are so many reasons on so many levels that she would never be able to dive. I am going to use her as an example:

1. If she ever had a seizure (she has petit mal, grand mal and partial complex type seizures) under water she not only would put herself in danger, but also her buddy. After a seizure she is very disoriantated and tired. So if by chance she made it through the seizure, she would still be in great danger.

2. Medications. Her grand mal seizures are controlled by meds. The petit mal and partial complex are not. Even if all of her seizures were controlled by the meds, we don't know how they would respond to depth, or any of the other stressors the body goes thru (or may go thru) when diving. Many anti-convulsants have been known to build up in the liver, then release into the blood stream. It's happened to my sister before and required hospitalization. The impact of diving on the body could definatly make this a huge concern.

3. Everyone is not educated on how to deal with an epileptic having a seizure. If someone on the dive did not know she was an epileptic and she had a seizure, what would they do? Start treating her for a dive related illness?

Your right. This is a can of worms. To me, an epileptic diving should never be a consideration.

 

[TGreene]

Then let's also add to the list anyone who's a potential stroke risk: Overweight, family history of any type of heart condition, smoker, etc. There are a lot of conditions that can set off a lot of other conditions and so on and so forth while the snowball continues to roll and grow.

Yep, it's definitely opening a Can-O-Worms that should only ever be looked at on a case by case basis.

-Tim

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

This is one of those conditions that need to be taken on a case-by-case basis. The initial knee-jerk reaction is "Epilepsy?? No way should they be diving. They will be a danger to themselves and to those around them". And that is not an entirely unreasonable opinion, but should be explored a little more.

But now step back, take a look at a large and growing portion of the dive population (including instructors and DM's):

1. Male
2. 50+ years old
3. 20-40 lbs overweight (or more).

That demographic (which I belong to) falls dead-center in the bullseye for heart attack risk. We may, in fact, have a greater chance of death on any given dive than an otherwise healthy epileptic patient that has their seizures well-controlled. We have no problem being cleared to dive, and dive boats are full of us

So, although my initial thought was that epilepsy should disqualify someone from diving and especially from a leadship role while diving, I have to re-think that opinion (or quit diving myself, and take a large portion of dive professionals with me ).

Best wishes.

 

[TGreene]

Dammit, I see that I've just opened a whole 'nother can-o-worms!

-Tim

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Dammit, I see that I've just opened a whole 'nother can-o-worms!

-Tim

No, we were typing along similar lines at about the same time, so I'm to blame for about 1/2 of that can of creepy-crawlies