DAN Europe Medical Q&A

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DAN medical specialists and researchers answer your dive medicine questions

Q: I am suffering from Meniere’s disease and I would like to know if it is possible for me to start a diving course in spite of my condition. A: Meniere’s disease is an absolute contraindication to diving. This recommendation, though, is only based on theory, and not on scientific evidence from affected divers who have personally experienced possible and multiple adverse events caused by diving with the above-mentioned clinical condition. If you wish, you could visit an ENT expert who specializes in ENT diseases within a diving context, to be absolutely certain, through direct clinical validation, of what is stated above.

Q: I am a scuba instructor at a resort that offers introductory scuba experiences. A student who made one dive to 6m for less than 20 minutes used a half tank of air and later told me that he started to feel awkward as if he were stoned. Was he experiencing nitrogen narcosis? A: At a depth of 6m, the partial pressure of nitrogen is not elevated to the levels that cause nitrogen narcosis, the effects of which usually appear at a depth of at least 33m but sometimes can occur in somewhat shallower water.

A variety of things — such as dive gear, underlying medical conditions, psychological conditions, or drugs and medications — could cause your student’s experience, but we need more details to provide a proper explanation. His gas consumption may indicate hyperventilation occurred during the dive.

Without further speculation, the student will need a dive medical exam, and he should discuss this incident with a dive medical physician if he wishes to pursue training. If the physician finds no psychological or medical contraindications, instructors should initially conduct his dive training slowly and with close observation to ensure no recurrence.

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TECHNICAL DIVER DIES OFF ISLES OF SCILLY

A German technical diver has died after getting into difficulties during a 110m dive some 45 miles southwest of the Isles of Scilly on Monday 7 June.

According to the UK Coastguard, the man was part of a group diving from a French catamaran.

A Coastguard search and rescue helicopter was despatched from Newquay at 6.30pm, and a paramedic onboard pronounced the diver dead on arrival.