PADI Medical Form

[Pearldiver07]

Back to some of the original post's concerns...

If a student marks all "No" answers, then it comes up in conversation that they had a comprimising medical condition I will stop any in-water training to insist that they get a doctor's OK. Unless they give me some specific reason, age alone is no reason to insist on doctor's approval.

Concerning getting a doctor's approval, that medical form has an additional 6 pages that explain in DETAIL what the doctor is looking for, and provides the doctor with more concrete evaluation criteria. And note that the form's block for OK from the doctor says that he/she doesn't find any reason for you not to dive, not that they find you fit to dive. Legally a very different statement.

Personally, I was lucky enough to have a GP that was a trained and active diver (luckily by the shop where I used to work). He knew the potential impacts of diving and medicine and would always advise me as to any condition or medication and its impact on my diving.

There's more to life than surface intervals... Good diving.

 

[dive1]

I had a student lie on his medical form. He was young, fit and I saw no visible problem. while doing confined water in a pool I was demonstrating scuba unit removal and replacement , when it was his turn he was laying on his back but not responding to instructions. I immediately went over to him, he was breathing and looked as though he was falling asleep. after several times of asking whats wrong his girlfriend who was sitting pool side said he needed to eat something I knew instantly DIABETIC! I got his sugar level back up, ask him why he lied. His response...I went to another dive shop and they said I had to see a doctor and they probably wouldn't let me dive. If this would of happen underwater on a real dive he would have died. End of story. On another note i have sent potential students to a doctor with medical form in had and on some occasions the doctor wrote " I find no medical conditions that would conflict with diving, but I don't consider diving in there best interest... WHAT! with me its either yes or no, there is no in-between.

 

[Graf]

Your responses and thoughts behind them are very valuable and appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Thalassamania]

Some points raised - it's not a PADI form it's from the RSTC, a body to which most of the major recreatioinal training agencies subscribe - they set a miniumum standard for medical requirements and training standards.

We've been through this a dozen or more times ... what's one more? The RSTC does not set standards that anyone has to live up to. RSTC standards are the least restrictive wording of a given standards area of all the members, thus (by definition) every member's standard exceeds RSTC standards ... that's what the RSTC exists for; it is a complete and utter sham.

 

[jhmoore143]

I have seen some dive shop personel actually tell people not to answer any questions YES unless they speak to them first. Then the dive shop clerk says "oh, that's no big deal, just mark NO". Wrong, wrong, wrong! . . .

I am happy to say, the dive shop I will be going to is the exact opposite than this. I saw on the medical form, the question "have you ever had Sinus surgery?" My concern was that I had surgery for a deviated septum 25 years ago. I wanted to ask the guys at the shop about this, but before I could get too deep into it, they shut me down and said I should talk to my doctor about this.

Luckily, I was able to get into see the doctor the following day and she said it isn't anything I should be concerned with.

I haven't started the OW training (yet). . .going for my "Discover Scuba" class tomorrow. I talked my wife into it (finally) and we are going tomorrow. I wanted to do this for a long time, but she wanted me to lose some weight first (with good reason) - now I am down 60 pounds and we are going on a cruise, so it all seems to be falling into place. It now seems that she is more excited about this than I am.

I looked up the dive shop I want to go through and found out they are the only 5-star instructor rated dive facility within 50 miles of me so I am pretty comfortable about this too. . .

So, with baby-steps, tomorrow is the first day of a whole new set of challenges and discoveries. . .

 

[gwells]

The form does not ask that. There is no item for surgery in general. It asks about heart surgery specifically, and it asks if you have back, arm, or leg problems following surgery.

fyi, boulderjohn, it *does* have a specific comment about surgery, leg surgery in particular.

this is copied directly from my medical form: "Back, arm or leg problems following surgery, injury or fracture?"

 

[boulderjohn]

fyi, boulderjohn, it *does* have a specific comment about surgery, leg surgery in particular.

this is copied directly from my medical form: "Back, arm or leg problems following surgery, injury or fracture?"

Read it carefully.

It does not ask you if you have had any such surgery. It asks you if you have had problems following such surgery. If you had no problems following the surgery, then the answer is NO.

 

[Dive IDC]

This may be a helpful article related to better understanding of the PADI medical form itself. PADI medical form information needed before filling it out

 

[Griffo]

I have to get a dive medical every year. I'm asthmatic, so have to tick 'Yes' to the box, even though it's allergen triggered. So every 12 months I have to go through an expensive round of tests to prove that I'm OK to dive. Annoying, but if I ever ticked "no" and something happened, my insurance could be cancelled. It also means I need to carry it in my dive-log as you get the occasional charter that makes you fill out a medical form - and then it might or might not be valid in the country I am in at the time. Bloody annoying.

 

[drrich2]

People lie for convenience and to avoid yielding control. Those who answer 'no' to everything, but read over the form, are alerted to conditions that could impact their diving. They then have the option, at their own free will, to consult a Physician who can assess them & provide recommendation, which they can then follow or not, as they will. The ultimate control is in the hands of the diver.

Once you check 'yes,' you lose control. It gets turned over to a doctor (you can get around this sometimes by doctor shopping for someone who'll give the opinion you want, if you can find one). You can end up having to get periodic re-eval.s as another poster noted.

Now, some people may protest 'Who'd dive if the doctor wouldn't clear it?'

A lot of people. Like the diabetic guy. Yes, it could kill them. Lots of things can kill a person. Some people want to make their own decision about whether to take that chance, and what measures/consultations to evaluate &/or mitigate risk they take.

Not putting this out there from a moral perspective, but a practical one. Dive shops don't mind the liars so much (long as they don't have a serious episode & make a problem, which can indeed happen), since for them, a key purpose of the form is for liability coverage (and of course to warn some people off diving).

I'm not telling people to lie on the form. I'm laying out why people do. Especially for very minor medical issues (e.g.: if you admit having high cholesterol controlled with Lipitor, are you stuck going through the rig-a-maro of seeing a Physician, etc...?).

Richard.