Dear sulafa-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting question.
?Can someone drink and go diving? I don?t mean in the same time but
what if someone would go drinking the night before??
Alcohol is known to be a diuretic; that is to say that the amount of
fluid the body disposes of while you have alcohol on your system
increases beyond what your normal output should be. Diuretics make a
person sweat more, urinate more and often have itchy skin, dry mouth
and scratchy eyes due to dehydration, assuming the water is not
rapidly replaced (and swimming in it doesn?t replace the fluid ? you
have to actually drink it). The problem with diuretics is that useful
and necessary elements that the body needs for healthy operation are
also disposed of at a more rapid rate (potassium, sugar, salt, and so
forth). Sudden decreases in these can bring about a host of
undesirable effects.
More importantly, dehydration is known to be a major contributor to
decompression illnesses (the bends) that irreparably injures or kills
dozens of people each year. The bottom line here is to make sure that
you have all the alcohol out of your system before you dive in order
to be absolutely safe. If you have a ?hangover? it probably isn?t a
good idea to dive until you have regained all of your normal faculties
and completely flushed the alcohol from your system.
?I heard something about flight that when you go on a trip lets say
from UK to Spain you should not go diving within [a certain number of]
hours (12 or 24).?
I few pieces of evidence that flying BEFORE diving poses any
particular problems, but I found an abundance of information
indicating that there is indeed some risk to flying AFTER diving.
High altitudes create a detrimental HYPObaric environment (as opposed
to a HYPERbaric chamber that is used to treat decompression sickness).
It can actually make the problem worse. At higher altitudes gases in
the blood stream can expand and cause decompression sickness in some
passengers as many and 12-24 hours after a dive depending on the
depth, duration and number of dives made prior to the flight. If
you?ve had decompression related illness recently some medical
research suggest that a high altitude flight might even be risky for
you for as many a seven days following the event.
Having said that, I should also mention that the British Scuba Aquatic
Club (BSAC) handbook does mention flying BEFORE diving, but only
briefly and frankly, quite vaguely:
?Flying soon before, or after diving exposes the body to a further
drop in pressure, and therefore nitrogen release, which can provoke
decompression illness. You should not dive within 10 hours of flying,
or fly after diving until your current tissue code is B or less. On a
diving holiday, build in a safety factor and plan your last dive to
give a surface interval of 16 hours + before your flight home.?
So, just to be safe it seems that it might not be prudent to race from
the airport with a snorkel in your mouth and dive off into the
Mariana?s Trench. Since most people don?t normally do that anyway so
you?re probably safe if you just give yourself enough time to recover
from jet lag before taking the plunge. As you can clearly see however,
the time you should wait before taking the flight trip home is another
story altogether.
As for your other safety tips, I found a number of resources for you
to read and I have also added some common sense reminders:
16 THINGS THE PRO?S DO BEFORE EVERY DIVE
http://www.brookes-diving.org.uk/16_things.htm
10 TIPS FOR PREVENTING SCUBA GEAR LOSS
http://scuba.about.com/library/weekly/aa102600.htm
GOPBI.COM
11 TIPS FOR SAFE DIVING
http://www.gopbi.com/recreation/content/recreation/guides/diving_tip.html;COXnetJSessionID=1ANBIKDZ92eOi6alreVLmhyZFeu6IgrK5up1BmBPr9CDXWWRP1Re!1959969441?urac=n&urvf=10695510413120.2700102363877743
GOPBI.COM
DIVING SAFETY GUIDE
http://www.gopbi.com/recreation/content/recreation/guides/diving_guide.html
INSPECT YOUR EQUIPMENT!
http://scuba.about.com/library/weekly/aa020702a.htm
PRINTABLE DIVING CHECKLISTS, PLANS AND LOGS
Equipment Checklist: http://www.brookes-diving.org.uk/UKD_chk.htm
Dive Plan & Log Sheet: http://www.brookes-diving.org.uk/plaandlog.doc
Nitrox/Mixed Group Dive & Log Sheet: http://www.brookes-diving.org.uk/nitroxlog.doc
Familiarize yourself with the area and local laws. Get maps and take
all the serviceable equipment that local laws mandate.
Know where you are or where you will be. A GPS device would be a good idea.
Know the weather conditions ?and? the forecast.
Know the tide, the water temperature and any conditions/obstacles that
are in the area where you are planning to dive in. (some local laws
prohibit diving on endangered reefs or shipwrecks).
Know the wildlife (shark infestations, whale migratory patters, etc).
Some jurisdictions strictly enforce swim bans during infestations or
legally forbid close human contact with animals such as whales or
other endangered creatures.
Know the local traffic. Diving in shipping lanes or routes frequented
by ferries or hovercraft is not only dangerous, but can land you in a
heap of trouble too.
Know your diving buddies. Don?t dive with morons or people you don?t
trust. Haphazard diving and accidents kill many more people than
decompression sickness does.
Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any
questions about my research please post a clarification request prior
to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final
comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near
future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
INFORMATION SOURCES
DEEPER BLUE
?Psychological Issues in Diving (Part III): Alcohol is a Diuretic?
http://www.deeperblue.net/article.php/243/12/4
DEEPER BLUE
?Introduction to Decompression Illness: Predisposing Factors?
http://www.deeperblue.net/article.php/391/4/3
FLYING AFTER DIVING
http://www.danseap.org/pdf&doc/flying%20after%20diving.pdf
MEDICAL RESEARCH: FLYING AFTER DIVING
http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/research/fad/article2.asp
DIVE MEDICINE
http://www.brookes-diving.org.uk/medicine.htm#fly
10 TIPS FOR PREVENTING SCUBA GEAR LOSS
http://scuba.about.com/library/weekly/aa102600.htm
INSPECT YOUR EQUIPMENT!
http://scuba.about.com/library/weekly/aa020702a.htm
GOPBI.COM
11 TIPS FOR SAFE DIVING
http://www.gopbi.com/recreation/content/recreation/guides/diving_tip.html;COXnetJSessionID=1ANBIKDZ92eOi6alreVLmhyZFeu6IgrK5up1BmBPr9CDXWWRP1Re!1959969441?urac=n&urvf=10695510413120.2700102363877743
GOPBI.COM
DIVING SAFETY GUIDE
http://www.gopbi.com/recreation/content/recreation/guides/diving_guide.html
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
"decompression illness" dehydration
"decompression sickness" dehydration
"decompression illness" alcohol
"decompression sickness" alcohol
flying before diving
flying after diving
safety tips diving |
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