When Are You too Sick to Dive?

[Jax]

. . . I feel muzzy-headed, as I often do when viremic at the beginning of an illness.

Oooh! So THAT is what it's called!

 

[Chris12day]

I grew up in the midwest, not close to an ocean at all. I have only dove in a quarry twice. It is not for me.

I travel a lot for work and take every opportunity to dive in the worlds oceans, like Fernando de Noronha, Brazil.

If I feel any congestion in my nasal passages or even a twinge in my ears, I do not dive.

Safe diving.

 

[aquaregia]

I once did a dive when I suspected that I had a cold coming on, but wasn't sure. By the end of the dive, I felt awful and spent the rest of the day shivering asleep in the car. My dive buddy said he was actually somewhat concerned that I might need a ride to a professional. Anyway, now if it even occurs to me, I (try to think that I would) sit out the dive.

 

[Quero]

When I've done dives I've secretly wanted to skip, it's always been at the beginning of a cold, and I've always had to suffer the consequences of doing those dives later when my cold became much more severe and long-lasting than I would otherwise have expected. I often get customers who have traveled half a world to come do a course with me or dive with me, so when their vacation time is tight and I'm a little under the weather, I sometimes dive anyway as long as I decide I can do so without jeopardizing their safety or mine. If I'm sick enough that I really can't do the dive safely, the customers' needs have to be subordinated to safety, but I have to admit that I try hard not to have to disappoint them.

One time, for example, I had a nice couple from Australia doing their AOW the two days before their LOB trip. I was feeling tired and had a bit of a scratchy throat, but I did the Nav and Night dives with them in the afternoon/evening anyway, and had three dives booked on a boat the next day to finish up. I woke up the second day knowing I was going to be sorry, but I really felt I had to dive--it was too late to find a sub, and these divers had to get on their LOB on the third day--we were out of time! I managed two of the three dives from the boat, but was 100% blocked and could no longer clear after the second dive. Fortunately we were doing a module that I could supervise indirectly, and one of my colleagues took my divers down with his group. I was sick for two whole weeks after that and had to reschedule a bunch of people!

 

[Starcruiser]

Great advice all around. I usually go by the ' If it don't feel right, don't do it. ' rule. I should have followed that rule this weekend, when I thought i was over a cold. Did one dive on Saturday that normally isn't difficult, and found myself breathing harder and sucking air more than usual. I should have listened to my inner self, but really wanted to dive. Now I'm going to wait until I feel 100% before trying it again. Lesson learned.

 

[Amphigorey]

I dove in Monterey about a month ago when I was getting over a cold. I didn't feel like I had less energy than usual and felt normal other than mild sniffles in the morning, so I thought I was sufficiently well to dive. Midway through the first dive, though, I felt this weird pressure around or in my eyeball. I noticed that it got worse with a minor depth change, so signaled to my buddy that I needed to ascend. After a few seconds it mysteriously cleared, and I cancelled the ascent and we finished the dive. I didn't feel the pressure again for the rest of the dive, and I felt fine on land.

Immediately on descent for the second dive, though, my eye felt heavily pressured again. I was only a few feet deep, and I instantly stopped the dive.

On reflection, it must have been a sinus blockage right around my eye. I didn't know what it was at the time because I'd never felt anything like it; I've had sinus pain before, but never in that area, and I didn't feel congested, so it wasn't immediately obvious. It felt incredibly weird.

 

[oldogre]

As well as all the above reasons, I would never Dive with an open wound ( I dive wet).

 

[Red fins]

I agree with this completly.
When I was due to sit my OW I had to postpone it for another month because I got a cold. I was so dissapointed, I was looking foward to it so much.
But Im glad I decided to wait. When I finaly did do the corse I was able to concentrate fully on all the new skills I had to learn and make the most of it. It was great!

 

[BradyMcd]

Puked all through the IE, just seasickness though, nothing major as long as you pay special attention to hydration and caloric intake. Congestion can ruin a dive much faster than an upset stomach though, any decongestants you take could wear out during the dive, making for a very painful ascent. Basically if I've any doubts about how I feel I thumb the dive and opt to freedive from the boat instead, as others have pointed out the water won't be going anywhere quick, you can always dive another day.

 

[leabre]

For me it's a) when I can't focus, b) when I can't equalize, or c) if I'll be a liability to my team or self.