At a recent meeting of the BDSG a failing of a cylinder at the neck was highlighted. The image shows an O ring ballooning between the cylinder neck and the valve. This occurs because the tread above the O ring is exposed to sea water and can be prone to corrosion. There are reports of cylinder necks being ground to remove the area of corrosion, this reduces the depth of thread and will result in an automatic fail.

These days, while still costly, cylinders are at the lower end of dive kit costs. They do represent one of the greatest dangers to divers and dive centre operators when they fail under load. We should treat cylinders as consumable and accept that they have a finite safe life.

The post Cylinder Safety appeared first on Sub-Aqua Association.

Irene, at head office, is currently working through the members with CMAS cards and entering their details on the new CMAS system. Members will receive a system generated email when this has been completed.

If you wish you can register yourself on the portal by clicking on this link

When you access the page, scroll down to “Need to register an account” Go to Individual then Create Account. Please note that when completing the personal information you only need to complete those boxes with a*

When you visit the CMAS Portal you will find a list of features on the left hand side. For now you only need to view “My Certificates”. The portal functionality is still being developed and we will let you know when additional functionality is available. We are looking at what guidance might be needed and this will be published at a later date. Please also keep in mind that the portal supports all aspects of CMAS so there will be areas which will not be relevant to the diving.

Steve Orange
National Diving Officer

The post NEW CMAS PORTAL appeared first on Sub-Aqua Association.

• Myocardial Infarction. You can access the guidance here
• Neurodiversity
  This now only applies to new divers (and does not apply at all to dyspraxia or dyslexia). Those on medication still need to contact a Medical Referee as they would be answering yes to the medication question.
  These new divers need to complete a Neurodiversity or Neurodivergence Declaration for New Divers form, found on the website under Downloads (there is also a link to it in the Medical Conditions section under Neurodiversity). Only those answering yes to any of the questions numbered 2 to 12 on this form need contact a Medical Referee.
  There is no longer an age restriction and no longer a requirement for a report from an instructor after pool training. If the instructor is happy with the diver’s progress (as in any diver irrespective of any medical issues) they can go on to open water diving without having to get a report or contact a Medical Referee. There is no longer an age restriction and no longer a requirement for a report from an instructor after pool training. If the instructor is happy with the diver’s progress (as in any diver irrespective of any medical issues) they can go on to open water diving without having to get a report or contact a Medical Referee. You can access the guidance here
• COVID
  For those who have had COVID there is now no need to declare it, except in those cases that were severe enough to require admission to hospital and would then need a 3 month lay-off from diving as opposed to a year. These divers only (likely to be few) would then still need a medical and possibly detailed lung function testing. The “score sheet” attached to the UKDMC Medical Declaration form is no longer required.

Revised Medical Form
You can download the latest medical  form here. This latest form, dated May 2024, no longer has the COVID score card. When completing your medical form, you should always download the form from the UKDMC website rather than reuse a version you have saved locally.

Dealing with Medical Referees
I have been made aware of medical referees receiving abuse. It goes without saying that any abuse is totally unacceptable and one of the main problems seems to be the perceived high cost of a dive medical.

In reality the cost is held at artificially low levels when you consider the high cost of setting up and ongoing costs including additional training courses and specialised insurance. When looking at what the doctor is charging consider how this compares with the hourly rate tradespeople and garages charge, I suggest we are getting very good deals.

Not every medical results in being able to continue diving, in such cases don’t blame the referee they are only ensuring that the next dive doesn’t kill you (or put your dive buddies at risk).

Finding a medical referee can be difficult in some areas. The DDRC provide a telephone screening service (https://www.ddrc.org/diving/fitness-to-dive/) where they can offer advice and guidance on how you should proceed, there is a small charge of £10 for this service.

Medical Certificates
The completion of a medical certificate is a requirement of SAA membership and where required divers must have been cleared by an approved UKDMC medical referee.

Failure to dive without a valid medical clearance would invalidate your SAA insurance and would very likely invalidate any personal insurance a diver has, as they would be diving outside of the guidelines of their diving agency.

I have no reports of members falsifying their medical certificates and I would ask that club diving officers make the following checks:

• Is the name of the medical referee one that is known to you? If not check the list of authorised medical referees on the UKDMC website. (The list of authorised medical referees does change so if the certificate was issued several months earlier and doesn’t list the name on the certificate use the contact form on the UKDMC website – https://www.ukdmc.org/contact-us/ to confirm.
• Does the certificate have a valid stamp? These will normally show the doctor’s name and contact details as a minimum.

If you, as the club’s Diving Officer, have any doubt as to the validity of a medical certificate I would strongly recommend that you contact the referee named on the certificate, who will gladly confirm if the certificate is genuine or not.

Take care and stay safe
Steve Orange (ndo@saa.org.uk)
National Diving Officer

The post Diving Medical Updates appeared first on Sub-Aqua Association.

During the strikes we are asked to avoid high risk activities, we should be taking this
approach when planning our dives. Ask yourself is the 100% oxygen supply enough to
support a casualty for an hour or more where previously we could expect an ambulance
with large quantities of oxygen to be with us is 20 minutes or so.

You may be asked to take the casualty direct to the chamber for treatment. If the casualty
can be transported by car remember to ensure that it is well ventilated, it only take a small
increase in the oxygen concentration in the car to create a potentially lethal situation – oh
and don’t smoke!

Insurance as Divers
The subject of insurance is very wide and it is always recommended that you read the
small print so that you know what cover you are buying. I am not an expert in this field and
I would recommend you speak to an insurance expert if you have any questions about
your own policies. Some personal observations:

• Travel insurance.
  A lot of policies include cover for scuba diving to 30 metres, or in some cases to the
  depth you are qualified. However do check your own policy to ensure that you are
  covered, especially if you have bought a budget policy. I would check that your
  policy covers helicopter recovery as this can prove costly.
  It is not only scuba diving some policies exclude: parascending, rides of bit yellow
  bananas, rock climbing in fact anything even slightly out of the “norm”.
• Life Insurance
  A number of years ago when I took out life insurance to cover my mortgage I had to
  declare that I was a diver and provide details of my qualifications and dive
  parameters. These were consider by the underwriters and my premiums reflected
  that additional risk. Like holiday insurance any activity which is perceived to carry a
  higher risk than normal day to day living should be declared.
• Third Party Insurance
  Most household policies include a level of cover for claims from a third party.
  However these tend to cover you as a householder and not any liability you might
  incur as a diver, instructor or officer of your club or the SAA.
  This is why SAA membership includes this vital insurance for our members,
  however you must remain within the SAA guidelines to ensure you remain covered.
• Equipment Insurance
  Again home contents policies can provide some level of insurance for your dive
  equipment. However this tends to be cover against theft while stored at home and is
  unlikely to cover loss while diving, including equipment you might need to dump in
  an emergency. You can buy a policy from dive insurance specialist, such as
  Westfield Insurance (https://www.divinginsuranceuk.com/), to cover your equipment.
  I have always worked on the basis of tell them everything as any omission will give the
  insurer a reason to reject your claim.

Finally check that any policy covers where you are planning to travel, few policies cover
the USA and Canada (including the SAA’s) due to the costs in those countries. If planning
to dive in the USA or Canada you will need a policy with a much higher level of cover.

Take care and stay safe.

Steve Orange (ndo@saa.org.uk)
National Diving Officer

The post NDO Update appeared first on Sub-Aqua Association.

The post Manikin Workshop appeared first on Sub-Aqua Association.

NDO Open Forum

In days gone by previous NDO’s held regional workshops around the country. Following the virtual meeting held at the launch of the SAA One Star Diver it is my intention to hold regular on-line open forums.
I am in the process of scheduling the first meeting, if you have a subject you would like to add to the discussion list please email me. This will be a mid-evening session and details will be provided once the date has been set.

Updates to SAA One Star Diver Instructor Material
I thank those instructors providing feedback on the SAA One Star Diver material. I am collating all feedback and plan to issue updated documentation reflecting these changes shortly. However, I have been made aware of some corrections and updates required to the two  PowerPoint presentation which should be made available now. Both the new versions 1.2 are available on the SAA drive for download now. A new version control slide has been added to both these packs which highlight the changes made. I apologise to our instructors for any inconvenience this has caused.

Shared Ideas.
From time to time you hear of a good idea, as regional instructors you pick tips up from course attendees on the courses you are instructing or assessing on – one of the benefits of working on such courses. I am sure that many members have ideas outside of the mainstream training which are passed onto other divers, of all grades. This new slot is intended to share those simple, and not so simple ideas with the membership.

To kick things off I would like to share the following idea from Wendy Holt, Diving Officer of Arnewood Divers Sub Aqua Club no. 435:

• You can make a very reasonable mini slate from a plastic milk bottle, and with a bit of elastic it fits the wrist very well.
   
  1. Mark out the 10,20,30 etc. minutes to check in permanent marker.

2. Use a 4B pencil to fill in the details.

3. A normal eraser will clean the slate.

Many thanks to Wendy for sharing this with us.

Take care and stay safe.

Steve Orange
SAA National Diving Officer
ndo@saa.org.uk

The post NDO Update appeared first on Sub-Aqua Association.

Q5 Collapsed lung, pneumothorax or other lung injury?

Now reads:

Collapsed lung, pneumothorax or any other lung injury or problem (except COVID-19)?

Note – This is largely unchanged in that it merges questions 5 and 6 but now excludes COVID-19.

Q6 Any other problem affecting the lungs, suspected or known COVID-19 or tested positive for COVID-19?Now reads:

A requirement for Medical Referee assessment in the guidance on return to diving after COVID-19 at ukdmc.org?

Note – This question now only covers COVID-19 and must be answered in conjunction with guidance on return to diving after COVID-19, we will look at that shortly.

Q13 Diabetes?

Now reads:

Diabetes? All diabetics require a medical & need to complete Diabetes forms A & B annually (see ukdmc.org)

Note – This just clarifies the current requirement so does not impact on the membership.

The new form can be found on the UKDMC website – https://www.ukdmc.org/downloads/

Guidance on Return to Recreational Diving After COVID-19

This consists of two tables and is included as an appendix to the revised medical form. This is in the format of two tables.

Table 1 Covid-19 Status

This table covers the period following Covid-19 and whether or not you need to be assessed by a medical referee. For those who have had no or mild symptoms and meet the requirements can return to diving without the need to see a medical referee which will be welcome news for many of our divers.

Table 2 Factors

This table is basically assessing three health factors which I will cover here:

1. General health, if you answer yes to any of the questions on the form you will, in effect, need to seek the advice of a medical referee. This will apply whether you are answering the question for the first time or it is a condition you have previously received clearance from a medical referee on an “indefinite” basis.
2. This looks at the risk factors around age and, for the older divers, whether or not they are fully vaccinated.
3. The final factor is the divers level of fitness and provides a guide for fitness levels of “Good” and “Satisfactory”.

Physical Fitness

The two levels of fitness in the table are defined as:

• Satisfactory – Someone who can run 1.5 miles / 2.4 km in 20 minutes 30 seconds
• Good – Someone who can run 1.5 miles / 2.4 km in 12 minutes 30 seconds

If, like me, you do not take part in timed running events I would like to put some perspective on these times:

• 5 miles in 20 minutes equates to 4.5 miles per hour and the good level is just over 7 miles per hour
• Police fitness levels are that the 1.5 miles must be completed within 14 minutes.
• The army entry fitness level for is between 12 minutes 45 seconds and 14 minutes 30 seconds, recruits are expected to improve on these and some regiments require sub 10 minute times.

When looked at these requirements the satisfactory level seems quite reasonable.

Completion of Self Certification Medical Form

The requirements for completing the medical form are covered in Club Guidance Manual Section 3.1, the main points are repeated here:

1. All trainees must complete a medical self certification form before training commences.
2. All diving members must complete the medical self certification form annually, it is recommend that members are asked to complete a new form at the same time as they renew their SAA membership.
3. A parent or guardian must sign the form if the member is under 18.
4. The form is valid for a maximum of 12 months, if an answer to any question changes in that period the declaration immediately becomes invalid.

Take care and stay safe.

Steve Orange
SAA National Diving Officer

The post New Medical Form & Guidance for Diving after Covid 19 appeared first on Sub-Aqua Association.

Each country in the UK has its own path which you can view by visiting the government website :- https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus. 

With dive centres starting to up to open from the 29th March 2021 and over the Easter period, now is the time to actively consider the question “am I fit and ready to dive?”. We have already provided a copy of the “Preparation for a return to dive UK sites and seas” on the 19th February (https://saa.org.uk/preparation-for-a-return-to-diving/ ). I would urge everyone to start your preparation now to be completely ready for your first dive, after what has been the longest break from diving for the vast majority of divers. When you do start to dive again proceed with caution and take gentle steps to build up your dive fitness.

There has been some reports suggesting that divers should take a break from diving following the Covid-19 vaccination. We have sought medical advice on these reports and the advice provided is:

1. 1. 1. Take advantage of having the vaccine, both doses. This is the best route out of the pandemic.
      2. Follow your government guidelines, social distancing remains important at this time and we must not let our guard down now.
      3. The Covid vaccine can be regarded in the same way as any other vaccine, if you don’t feel well then you shouldn’t go diving.

A very simple set of rules.

Take care and stay safe.

Steve Orange, SAA National Diving Officer

The post Guidance Notes For A Safe Return To Diving appeared first on Sub-Aqua Association.

The UKDMC medical form is now in three parts. When completing the form the following should be observed:

1] Everyone completes Page 1, the form has been designed so that this can be done digitally and includes the ability to digitally sign the form.

2a] If all questions on Page 1 have been answered “NO”, send a copy of Page 1 to your Diving Officer, answering no to all the questions does not disclose any personal medical data.
or
2b] If one or more questions have been answered “YES” and this is the first time you have answered yes or there has been a change in your condition, complete Page 2 and refer to a medical Referee. When the Referee issues the medical certificate (Page 3) ONLY a copy of Page 3 should be sent to your Diving Officer, Pages 2 & 3 disclose personal medical data which should not be shared. The certificate will contain details of any dive restrictions which should be observed.
or
2c] If one or more questions have been answered “YES” and there has been no change since the Medical Referee issued the medical certificate. Initial and date the form at Page 3 section b and send a copy to your Diving Officer.

The new system supports the rights of the diver not to disclose medical conditions to others, unless they choose to do so. Whilst there is no requirement to disclose medical conditions any condition which might give rise to a potential incident should be made known to the dive party in the interest of safety.

The new system, as always, introduces an anomaly for anyone who already holds a valid countersigned medical form. To facilitate the process under 2c above it is suggested that details of the current medical be copied by the diver into Page 3, these should include:

• Copy any listed dive restrictions into section a
• Indicate the period of validity in section b, either indefinite or the number of years
• In section c print the Medical Referee’s name and the date the original form was signed
• In the box for the medical stamp enter confirmation that a copy of the original form is held by the club diving officer
• Before accepting the Page 3 confirmation the Diving Office will ensure that the form accurately reflects the details held on the original form.

In future years the diver may follow the process outlined in 2c above and need only provide a copy of the updated Page 3 to the Diving Officer.

If this process is adopted it must be noted that this cannot be accepted as a valid medical unless a copy of the original form is held.

Steve Orange, National Diving Officer

The post UKDMC MEDICAL FORM appeared first on Sub-Aqua Association.

The form has been revised slightly and now includes a new question about BMI of 40 or more. This new form is available for direct download from here, and is to be used with immediate effect

One of the things that the medical committee have addressed is the mistaken view that a medical declaration covers a diver for twelve months regardless. As part of your dive preparation, you should review your medical declaration to check nothing has changed. If you now answer yes to one of the questions or anything has changed in regard to a question previously answered yes you must not dive until you have discussed this with a medical referee. Clearly there is no requirement to complete a new form each time they dive, unlike when attending a SAA regional course.

Military or HSE medical

The UKDMC have recently provided the following advice on divers who hold a military or HSE medical:

“The UK Diving Medical Committee’s view is that any diver who has been passed with no restrictions by an AMED (i.e. has an in date HSE diving medical) or a military diving physician would be fit for civilian recreational diving. This would only be valid for one year. However, they may still be required by BSAC, SSAC and SAA to complete a UKDMC self cert form on joining a club and then annually. Most, if not all, are likely to be answering no to all the questions in which case it would not be an issue. However, in the unlikely event they have answered yes to something that was known about when they had the HSE or military medical it depends how their diving organisation feels about the way the forms are completed.

If in these circumstances their diving organisation wish the UKDMC form to be reviewed by a diving medical referee the diver would be wise to include a copy of the HSE or military diving medical certificate with the form to inform the referee’s decision. It is likely the referee will charge for countersigning a UKDMC form, without seeing the diver as there is evidence of fitness on the HSE or military medical, if BSAC, SSAC and SAA still require these to be countersigned.”

The SAA’s view is that DO’s may accept any HSE or military medical without the need for the diver to complete a UKDMC medical form, conversely there is no objection to DO’s requiring the diver to complete the form. If there are any restrictions on the medical the diver must dive within these restrictions.

Take care and stay safe.

Steve Orange (ndo@saa.org.uk) 

The post UKDMC Revised Medical Form appeared first on Sub-Aqua Association.