Heretical thoughts on the diver's medical form

[rjack321]

That is the current PADI form as of last year. The version hosted on PADI.com is from July 2020 rather than Jan 2021, but I assume it's just lagging behind slightly? Here you can see it on PADI's website: https://www.padi.com/sites/default/files/documents/2020-12/10346E_Diver Medical_Form.pdf_.pdf

I havent filled one of these out in over a covid year so its better at least! I think some operators have a stack of old copies and are using them up.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

That is the current PADI form as of last year. The version hosted on PADI.com is from July 2020 rather than Jan 2021, but I assume it's just lagging behind slightly? Here you can see it on PADI's website: https://www.padi.com/sites/default/files/documents/2020-12/10346E_Diver Medical_Form.pdf_.pdf

I think that's the current form. They don't update them often, and this caught the "COVID" effect.

Not being a medical doctor, I wouldn't want to interpret whether a diver is fit to dive or not based on what they self-report. Unless they answer "no problem" to all the questions, I'd rather see a doc sign off. That is, it's this sentence that bothers me:

"If someone is clearly unfit, the operator can still decline to take them."

 

[tursiops]

That is the current PADI form as of last year. The version hosted on PADI.com is from July 2020 rather than Jan 2021, but I assume it's just lagging behind slightly? Here you can see it on PADI's website: https://www.padi.com/sites/default/files/documents/2020-12/10346E_Diver Medical_Form.pdf_.pdf

This is the current form. Note it is NOT a PADI form. PADI refers to it as the RSTC medical form.

 

[tridacna]

Good luck in Australia. They’re a lot tougher than the US especially on a LOB.

 

[raftingtigger]

It will only happen if the dive community demands it. My proposal, if it is even that far along, is just an idea. If we, as a dive community, want to see such a change it will need lots of refinement and study. I will go back and make it a poll also.

 

[raftingtigger]

OP's way of doing it probably would be better. The forms are stupid and annoying.

However, if you lie on the form then you die and your family sues the operator, it will come out in court that you lied on the form and therefor it's not the operator's fault so the stupid form has served its purpose perfectly.

Will your being incomplete / giving less than honest answers on the form have anything to do with the ultimate liability if your 'omission' had no material effect on the outcome? Probably depends on the location. Just because a lawyer will try to use something, doesn't mean it will make a difference. I can think of a high profile recent case where the decedent had underlying medical conditions that the defense tried to use, but the jury found the 'operator' criminally liable because of grossly aberrant behavior.

 

[dmaziuk]

Good luck in Australia. They’re a lot tougher than the US especially on a LOB.

In Queensland when going to GBR. They have other states with other rules.

 

[uncfnp]

I see the “updated” form is still outdated. If needed there is no place for my PCP, a nurse practitioner, to sign the form. I haven’t had a medical doctor as my medical provider for more than 40 years.

 

[tursiops]

I see the “updated” form is still outdated. If needed there is no place for my PCP, a nurse practitioner, to sign the form. I haven’t had a medical doctor as my medical provider for more than 40 years.

You may want to query DAN or UHMS about how to handle this. The logos on the new 2020 Diver Medical are from DAN, RSTC, WRSTC, and UHMS. At Recreational Diving Medical Screening System - Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society there is a way to submit comments for consideration for the next revision.

I note that @Dr Simon Mitchell was on the committee that drew up this new form, perhaps he has a comment on how only MDs can sign it.

 

[tarponchik]

I know some international operators require a medical form outside of training. Who has needed a medical form, other than for training, and where was it?

Only once, on a liveaboard in Maldives. I do not remember, maybe the liveaboard in Australia also required medicals. They sent us a bunch of forms we had to fill but I honestly do not remember what kind of forms these were.