Underwater heart rate monitor?

[Duke Dive Medicine]

The only thing I'd add to Bubbletrubble's thorough treatment of your question is that an asthma attack under water is not even remotely like an attack on land. Gas density has a profound effect on airway resistance. The density of your breathing gas increases with pressure; at 99 feet (4 atmospheres absolute), air is four times as dense. If your airway resistance is already high, it will be proportionally more difficult to move air in the event of an asthma attack. This could not only cause panic and rapid ascent leading to arterial gas embolism, it could also lead to unconsciousness and death due to CO2 toxicity.

For what it's worth, we have three criteria for clearing a person with asthma to dive: the dive candidate should have no symptoms related to the asthma; a normal physical examination; and a normal pulmonary function test both before and after exercise. We'd be very hesitant to clear you if your asthma is severe enough that you recently required nebulizer treatment in a hospital.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[Scubaru_Steve]

The only thing I'd add to Bubbletrubble's thorough treatment of your question is that an asthma attack under water is not even remotely like an attack on land. Gas density has a profound effect on airway resistance. The density of your breathing gas increases with pressure; at 99 feet (4 atmospheres absolute), air is four times as dense. If your airway resistance is already high, it will be proportionally more difficult to move air in the event of an asthma attack. This could not only cause panic and rapid ascent leading to arterial gas embolism, it could also lead to unconsciousness and death due to CO2 toxicity.

For what it's worth, we have three criteria for clearing a person with asthma to dive: the dive candidate should have no symptoms related to the asthma; a normal physical examination; and a normal pulmonary function test both before and after exercise. We'd be very hesitant to clear you if your asthma is severe enough that you recently required nebulizer treatment in a hospital.

Best regards,
DDM

My asthma in itself is not bad. I suffer no symptoms during a normal week, including exercise, rock climbing, daily activities. This occurance that landed me in the hospital is from a cold. Whenever I get a cold it always go to my chest. Now the only reason I went to the hospital was my albuterol sulfate inhaler had expired and I was without one, went to get a nebulizer to help relieve the asthma, however they ended up providing me with a albuterol inhaler.

I am planning to have a pulmonary function test done here soon.

 

[Pedro Burrito]

Now my curiosity has the best of me, are there heart rate monitors that are waterproof?

To answer your specific question: yes, there are. I have a Uwatec Galileo Luna with a heart rate monitor - the Polar T31-coded. It's waterproof to deeper than I ever want to go. I've had it down to 100 feet with no problems. I do not have it set up to use in the algorithm but it's interesting to look at the data after the dive.

As blackvans1234 mentioned, I lose the monitor often before/after dives and spend lots of time looking for it.

 

[Alexandra]

@Pedro Murrito
Did you guy the official Luna heart rate monitor upgrade or just get the Polar T31 strap and sync it with your Luna?
I assume you then can view the HR log on your dive computer?

thanks
Alexandra

 

[Pedro Burrito]

@Pedro Burrito
Did you buy the official Luna heart rate monitor upgrade or just get the Polar T31 strap and sync it with your Luna?
I assume you then can view the HR log on your dive computer?

thanks
Alexandra

You have to upgrade the software on the Luna to get the HR monitor to work so you have to buy the official upgrade. If you lose the strap, the documentation says to purchase another Polar T31.