addition, there is some clinical evidence that people 65
and older may take longer to eliminate the medication
from the body. If you awake in the morning after using
the medication fully alert and unimpaired, diving is
possible. This will require a brutally honest evaluation
by you and your dive buddy; most medications have rare
side effects, and it’s important to determine whether
yours is the rare case.
— Marty McCafferty, EMT-P, DMT
Q:
My friends and I take turns every weekend
“jumping wrecks.” The person whose job it
is that weekend to attach us to the wrecks
does two dives (one to secure the boat and one to
release it) on two wrecks, both around 100 feet deep.
Each of the four dives takes a little more than five
minutes, and all surface intervals are about one hour.
The person who ties us to the wreck always sits out
the other dives, fishing and catching a tan while the
others dive. We use an ascent rate of 60 feet per
minute. Should we be doing safety stops for the short
dives to secure the boat?
A:
Quick dives to tie in to a wreck will not deliver
much inert gas to slow or even intermediate
tissues. Fast tissues, however, can be significantly
loaded, particularly with the depth and exercise intensity
that can be substantial on these dives. Brief stops can add
a safety factor in two ways: first, by slowing the ascent
speed in anticipation of the stop, and second, with the
additional stop time for equilibration.
DAN conducted an ascent-rate study a number of
years ago that was ended early due to an overwhelming
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STEPHEN FRINK
