Question about flying after diving

[joed]

I was trained to wait 24 hrs. between diving and flying. I was just told by a dive operator that I could wait only 12 hrs. before flying after diving as long as I stayed above 59 feet. He said the current rules were:
Wait 12 hrs. after a dive if you are 1- 59 feet deep and wait 24 hrs. after a dive if you are 60 feet deep or deeper.
Is this true?

 

[BigJetDriver]

I was trained to wait 24 hrs. between diving and flying. I was just told by a dive operator that I could wait only 12 hrs. before flying after diving as long as I stayed above 59 feet. He said the current rules were:
Wait 12 hrs. after a dive if you are 1- 59 feet deep and wait 24 hrs. after a dive if you are 60 feet deep or deeper.
Is this true?

HERE'S THE LATEST FROM DAN:

Data were presented at a Flying After Diving Workshop at DAN in May 2002 and the following guidelines were the consensus. They apply to air dives followed by flights at cabin altitudes of 2,000 to 8,000 feet (610 to 2,438 meters) for divers who do not have symptoms of decompression sickness (DCS). The recommended preflight surface intervals do not guarantee avoidance of DCS. Longer surface intervals will reduce DCS risk further. For a single no-decompression dive, a minimum preflight surface interval of 12 hours is suggested. For dives requiring decompression stops, there is little evidence on which to base a recommendation and a preflight surface interval substantially longer than 18 hours appears prudent.
A second flying after diving study began in 2002 with support from the U.S. Navy. The study is investigating additional dive profiles and oxygen breathing in the surface intervals as a possible method for making the surface intervals shorter.

 

[knotical]

As the experts perform more studies, the guidelines change. The current guidelines from UHMS and DAN, adopted by several agencies including PADI, for civilian recreational scuba divers are:
If no DCS symptoms,
after a single no-required-decompression-stop dive, wait 12 hours
after multiple nrds dives, wait 18 hours.

It is also wise to dive conservatively toward the end of your dive trip.

Military and others often have different guidelines.

 

[BigJetDriver]

As the experts perform more studies, the guidelines change. The current guidelines from UHMS and DAN, adopted by several agencies including PADI, for civilian recreational scuba divers are:............

I think that's what I said, isn't it?? :06:

Data were presented at a Flying After Diving Workshop at DAN in May 2002 and the following guidelines were the consensus. They apply to air dives followed by flights at cabin altitudes of 2,000 to 8,000 feet (610 to 2,438 meters) for divers who do not have symptoms of decompression sickness (DCS). The recommended preflight surface intervals do not guarantee avoidance of DCS. Longer surface intervals will reduce DCS risk further. For a single no-decompression dive, a minimum preflight surface interval of 12 hours is suggested. For dives requiring decompression stops, there is little evidence on which to base a recommendation and a preflight surface interval substantially longer than 18 hours appears prudent.
A second flying after diving study began in 2002 with support from the U.S. Navy. The study is investigating additional dive profiles and oxygen breathing in the surface intervals as a possible method for making the surface intervals shorter.

Rob Davie

 

[knotical]

I think that's what I said, isn't it?? [/COLOR] [/SIZE]

Rob Davie

Pretty much. I'm just a slow typist, so our posts happened almost in parallel.

 

[joed]

If the cabin altitude is 2000-8000 feet, how high up will the plane be? For example if my jet flies at 30,000 feet what will the cabin altitude be? Also, how does one know how high the jet will fly on any given day? Thanks.

Data were presented at a Flying After Diving Workshop at DAN in May 2002 and the following guidelines were the consensus. They apply to air dives followed by flights at cabin altitudes of 2,000 to 8,000 feet (610 to 2,438 meters) for divers who do not have symptoms of decompression sickness (DCS). The recommended preflight surface intervals do not guarantee avoidance of DCS. Longer surface intervals will reduce DCS risk further. For a single no-decompression dive, a minimum preflight surface interval of 12 hours is suggested. For dives requiring decompression stops, there is little evidence on which to base a recommendation and a preflight surface interval substantially longer than 18 hours appears prudent.
A second flying after diving study began in 2002 with support from the U.S. Navy. The study is investigating additional dive profiles and oxygen breathing in the surface intervals as a possible method for making the surface intervals shorter.

Rob Davie[/QUOTE]

 

[alcina]

Good rule of thumb...if it's off the ground & has wings, use the guidelines

 

[Rick Murchison]

If the cabin altitude is 2000-8000 feet, how high up will the plane be? For example if my jet flies at 30,000 feet what will the cabin altitude be? Also, how does one know how high the jet will fly on any given day? Thanks.

Commercial jets maintain cabin altitude at 8,000' MSL whenever they are above 8,000' MSL.
If you're interested in flying in non-commercial aircraft (or in driving over high mountain passes), there is a table in the NOAA diving manual that provides guidance for intervals based on your final group designator (from the US Navy tables) and the cabin altitude (actual altitude if in an unpressurized vehicle) to which you intend to go. (Table 4.3, page 4-28)
Rick

 

[Charlie99]

Good rule of thumb...if it's off the ground & has wings, use the guidelines

And sometimes even if it IS the ground and doesn't have wings ...... typed as I look out at 10,000' elevation Haleakala volcano from our sea level condo here in Maui. .

 

[ArcticDiver]

Just in case you didn't pick up on it the info relayed by BigJet and other is just what it says it is; the consensus of current thought. It was based on reported injuries, accidents, and successful dives.

Note that there is no mandatory reporting of dive accidents, per se. Nor is there a single agency that does accident investigation and analysis. So there is no assurance that all accidents have been reported. Nor is there assurance that the true cause of an accident attributed to diving has been discovered. So there may be more or less accidents and injuries than reported. Diving caused accidents as contrasted to accidents that coincidentally occured while diving but were not caused by diving may be more or less than reported.

So, while some may interpret the Consensus as a Firm Rule that just is not the case. It is an attempt by reasonably well informed, thoughtful people to give divers like us some guidelines; nothing more or less.

Under the proper circumstances a diver can probably cut the wait time to 18 hours, or less maybe. But, the longer the wait the greater the safety margin. This is a hobby for all of us who aren't getting paid to dive. So, why not use at least 24 hours and do an even better job of stacking the odds in our favor?

Oh yes, don't forget the dive shop or charter boat operator who is suggesting you do that extra day of diving gets the extra money, but doesn't have to pay for the chamber ride, or suffer the consequences of a DCS hit.