When you start requiring medical screening of divers, then you are regulating a sport. Where does it stop next? Bowling, ice skating, rock climbing?
It worked no problem at all here for decades and continues to work without issue in lots of europe. Its no different to asking someone to sign a self certify form.
Here every single instructor that makes a penny profit has to have a full medical every year to be legally allowed to teach and again its not a problem. If its for personal gain you are a commercial instructor therefore have to abide by commercial diving regulations and medicals. Mine costs me roughly £100/year.
EDIT:- Just for reference the instructor medical includes the following:
- FBC and LFT (blood tests) - checks for diabetes and other problems.
- Exercise test. Usually a step test for 10 minutes linked to a heart monitor with pulse recorded every 2 minutes. Recovery times also noted.
- Lung function and lung capacity tests - spiriometry and other tests.
- Hearing Test - Response to various frequency sounds and if you can detect them
- Eyesight test
- Colour vision test
- Urine sample (protein, blood and other problems)
- Blood pressure and more pulse work
- Full 12 lead ECG
- Co-ordination, reflex and strength test
Now im not suggest every diver needs that every year by any means but basic ones like exercise test and so on could be very useful. An ECG, lung function and other tests prior to starting diver training course again maybe very handy.
Driving a car is dangerous to yourself, and others. Diving is dangerous to yourself, and not others. If we don't require medical screening of drivers, why would we need medical screening of divers?
Im not all together sure that is a bad thing especially with regards to eyesight. Again, medical screening for drivers does exist in a lot of country and works without issue (germany comes to mind as an obvious example with mandatory medical and first aid).
I think society saves more money by letting older high risk divers dive. If they had an MI and cardiac arrest on a dive boat, the chance of saving them is almost nil. Therefore, society saves a bit of money by not prolonging their life in the ER, the intensive care unit, then cardiac rehab after bypass.
But places the lives of rescuers, boat crew, helicopter crews and everyone else at risk to sort out the problem.
If the dive boat had an AED, their chance of surviving increases. I really think, the nice thing about an AED is you could potentially save a healthy young person who's heart has stopped from near drowning.
AED and near drowning isn't that useful. In fact for near drowning compressions on their own have a far higher than normal rate of properly restarting the heart rhythm .
Accident stats here show that just under 50% per year are caused by heart attacks or medical problems. That figure has also gone up massively since celf cert was introduced just after the year 2000.
Mandatory medical isnt a bad thing and isn't over regulation. It works in many places. Agencies asking for that would be no different to insisting on their self-cert as current.
Malta has a system whereby you can dive with a self cert but need a medical certificate to enter into training for a course. Again, it works well.