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Dive Medicine & Safety

A complete overview of dive medicine and safety. Lots of information about diving and boating safety, injuries and illnesses, safety equipment, CPR and first aid, and dive insurance.
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Is Scuba Diving Safe or Dangerous?
Is scuba diving a safe activity? Read statistics and facts to put the risks of diving in perspective. Scuba diving is not dangerous if simple safety guidelines and procedures are followed.

Dive Flags
Scuba divers should always fly a dive flag at dive sites where boat traffic is a possibility. Learn about the different types of dive flags and when to use them.

Why Does Scuba Diving Make You Need to Pee in Your Wetsuit?
Scuba divers commonly feel the need to pee in their wetsuits. This is a normal reaction to the underwater environment. Cold water immersion diaresis and the weightlessness of being underwater combine to increase a diver's urine production.

Decongestants and Scuba Diving
Can you scuba dive with decongestants? It may be safe to scuba dive with decongestants, but there are several points a diver should take under consideration before deciding whether or not to use medication underwater.

Little Bubbles Become Big Bubbles
Small bubbles leaking from a piece of scuba diving equipment indicated that a seal or o-ring is likely to fail. Divers who notice a small bubbles coming from a piece of dive gear should take care to fix the leak before continuing to dive with the gear.

Oxygen First Aid - Recommended For Scuba Diving Injuries
Adminstration of 100% pure oxygen is the recommended first aid for nearly any scuba diving injury or accident. Breathing pure oxygen on the surface will help to treat decompression sickness, arterial gas embolism, pulmonary barotrauma, and near drowinings.

What Is the Maximum Safe Ascent Rate for Scuba Diving?
What is the maximum safe ascent rate for scuba diving? Some diving organizations list the maximum safe ascent rate as 30 feet per a minute, while others list it as 60 feet per a minute. What is the safest ascent rate?

Can You Vomit Underwater While Scuba Diving?
Can you vomit or throw up underwater. If you get seasick on boats, you maybe worried about getting seasick underwater. While becoming seasick underwater is highly unlikely, here is information that scuba divers should know about vomiting underwater.

Salt Water Aspiration and Scuba Diving
Salt water aspiration syndrome is a rare condition occasionally observed in scuba divers who inhale a small amount of salt water. Most cases are preventable with proper gear maintenance and good diving protocols.

Mask Squeeze - Red Eyes and Bruised Cheeks After Scuba Diving
To prevent mask squeeze, a scuba diver must equalize the air space inside his scuba mask during descent by exhaling periodically through his nose. Doing so will prevent the mask from suctioning onto his face, which can cause bruising of his cheeks, forehead, and eyeballs.

How to Vomit On a Scuba Trip Without Alienating Everyone
Vomiting on a scuba diving trip is horrible. Being sea sick is even worse if you manage to vomit in such a way as to alienate the crew and your fellow divers. Here is advice on how to throw up in the least obtrusive way possible.

Guidelines for Handling Seasickness in the Water Before and After A Dive
Have you ever felt seasick on the surface before or after a dive? Here are tips on how to politely and safely handle seasickness and vomiting when floating on the surface of the water.

Alternobaric Vertigo and Scuba Diving
Alternobaric vertigo is a common type of vertigo experienced when scuba diving. Thankfully, it lasts a short period of time and resolves on its own. Here are tips for dealing with alternobaric vertigo and dizziness underwater.

Poor Eyesight and Scuba - Diving With Corrective Lenses & Post-Eye Surgery
Can people with poor eyesight scuba dive? Absolutely! Divers may use prescription masks, soft contact lenses, stick-in bifocals, and even laser eye surgery to ensure clear vision underwater.

Nitrogen Narcosis and Scuba Diving Part I - What Is Narcosis, How Does It Feel?
Nitrogen narcosis effects most scuba divers at depths below 100 feet. Also known as inert gas narcosis, rapture of the deep, and the martini effect, nitrogen narcosis can be dangerous to divers. Learn about the causes, symptoms, and treatment for nitrogen narcosis here.

Decompression Sickness vs Nitrogen Narcosis - What's the Difference?
In scuba diving, nitrogen narcosis and decompression sickness are both caused by nitrogen gas. However, the two conditions have very different symptoms and treatments. Learn the difference between nitrogen narcosis and decompression sickness in scuba diving.

Open Tank Valves Fully
Are you still turning your your tank valves 1/4 turn back before diving? This practice could be dangerous! Here is information about this antiquated technique.

Nitrogen Narcosis and Scuba Diving Part II - How to Avoid or Reduce Narcosis
A diver who experiences nitrogen narcosis should ascend until the narcosis subsides. Learn tricks to avoid and reduce nitrogen narcosis here.

The Golden Rule of Scuba Diving
The golden rule of scuba diving states that any diver can end the dive for any reason, no questions asked! This important rule is frequently overlooked in the recreational diving community.

8 Tips for Being a Better Dive Buddy
Why is the buddy system important in scuba diving, and how can recreational scuba divers use the buddy system to stay safe underwater? Here are 8 tips for effectively using the buddy system on every dive.

Can You Scuba Dive With Breast Implants?
Can you scuba dive with breast implants? Yes, after an appropriate recovery time, scuba diving after a breast augmentation surgery is safe. How do breast implants affect buoyancy? Do breast implants compress underwater? Read more here.

What Are the Emergency Decompression Guidelines for Recreational Diving?
What are the emergency decompression rules for recreational scuba diving?

Carbon Dioxide and Scuba Diving

Sawtooth Dive Profiles in Scuba Diving
A sawtooth dive profile is a dive profile in which a diver repeatedly ascends and descends throughout the dive. Sawtooth dive profiles can be very dangerous because they increase a diver's chance of decompression illness.

Oxygen Toxicity and Scuba Diving

Skin Bends

Ear Barotrauma - The Most Common Scuba Diving Injury

Scuba Tip: Always Purge Your Regulator After Closing Your Tank Valve
One of the best tips I was ever given as a new scuba diver was to always purge your regulator after closing your tank valve. This avoids a potentially deadly situation.

Reverse Block and Scuba Diving
What is a reverse block in scuba diving? If a diver experiences increased pressure in his ears during ascent, the worst thing he can do is to continue to go up.

Pulmonary Barotrauma and Scuba Diving

All About Decompression Sickness

Current Flying After Diving Guidelines
The current recommended surface intervals before flying after diving.

Ear Equalization Basics

Patent Foramen Ovale and Diving
What is a Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO) and why might it increase a diver's chance of decompression illness or DCI? A patent foramen ovale is a hole in a diver's heart that has not properly closed during development. Up to a third of divers have this condition, which may increase the risk of decompression illness.

Asthma and Scuba Diving

DAN - Divers Alert Network

Dive Medicine Frequently Asked Questions
A detailed frequently asked questions all about dive medicine and safety from the premier dive medical society - DAN (Divers Alert Network).

Doc's Diving Medicine

Scuba Med

Scubadoc's Diving Medicine
A detailed overview of dive medicine issues.

Skin Diver Online: Scuba Med
A guide to diving medicine from Skin Diver Online.

Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society

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