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-----Original Message----- From: Steve Lindblom <s_lindblom@co*.co*> To: techdiver@aquanaut.com <techdiver@aquanaut.com> Date: Tuesday, February 24, 1998 7:06 PM Subject: Re: Divers Supply, IANTD, Tom Mount and tragic technicaldiving -Reply >Dan wrote: > >>The sooner someone starts >>>>testing this as mandatory medical screening, the sooner we will save the >>>>lives of divers who have been IANTD or TDI certified to do something they >>>>are ABSOLUTELY UNFIT for, and which puts them at EXTREME RISK. > >Are you really advocating madatory medical screening for all divers? > >Apart from the philosphical issues - I believe an individual has the right >to make dumb decisions and go to hell any way they please - the cost, >multiplied by the number of divers, of such screening would be exhorbitant, >and totally out of proportion to number of lives saved. As much as you >seem to find unfit divers repugnant, they simply are not dying in >quantities sufficient to justify such draconian extremes. > >Most unfit divers I know are well aware of the added risks they face, but >choose to accept them. I figure that's their own damn business, and not >mine, the government's - or yours. > > I think ALL NEW TECH DIVERS should have a mandatory test for a PFO, and each should have a VO2 max test run. The PFO issue, afflicting 25 to 30% of the population, clearly needs to be mandatory, and the VO2max test can be done by a personal trainer in a gym, and should NOT cost much more than about $20to $30 in the gyms that would charge for such a test, and could be done for free in many other gyms. You'd need someone to witness and sign off on the test score as true and accurate. I am making NO suggestion about any changes for recreational diving. Tech diving may well be on its way to becoming "MASS MARKETED" by dive chains like Divers Supply. With its much harsher environment, and far greater demands on the physiology of each tech diver, without real physical screening, MANY unfit divers will die. And several very fit divers may die trying to save the unfit ones ( as with Claypool, who was fit, and apparently tried to go back down to save Andre, who was NOT fit.). You may feel its the right of an obese diver without aerobic fitness to dive deep, but IF WE KNOW HIS CHANCES OF DEATH ARE EXPONENTIALLY GREATER than that of a fit diver, then is it RIGHT to endorse his potentially suicidal choice by certifying him???And is it right to allow him to be lost to his wife and children, just because he wanted to "prove" he could do something. And if he REALLY wants to tech dive, he CAN train for it, and get his VO2 max high enough to make him a tech diving candidate. So I am not trying to make it impossible for heavy people to dive deep, I'm just trying to ensure their survival if they want to dive deep----which means they must train for it. Cycling, swimming, weightlifting, and diet. If they want it, then they will have it. Aside from the issue of a family losing a loved one, due to certification to engage in an activity they were clearly not fit to be engaged in, the deaths mass marketing of tech diving will cause in the next decade, if screening is not mandated, will be staggering. Already, many of the best dive operations in South Florida will NOT take tech divers out to the really awesome reefs in 200 feet of water, or some of the really cool wrecks down deep----this is because they have come to label ALL TECH DIVING as DANGEROUS. They think any dive to 200 feet is unsafe, because so many have died already. This attitude is in existence, because so many unsafe tech divers are out there, and because of a lack of screening over the last 5 years----but with mass marketing in the next five, the deaths would become epidemic. The truth is that the tech dives on these reefs and wrecks could be incredibly free from accidents of any kind, if the proper screening and training and proceedures were applied to all tech divers. The longer we leave it as it is today, the closer we will get to finding it impossible to get a charter operator to take you out on a deep dive. Regards, Dan. > > >-- >Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. >Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'. > -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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