Flying after diving.

[320DRIVER]

Does your company manual say anything about flying after diving? Our manual states that we should not fly (operating) within 48 hours of a dive deeper than 10 metres. Is this an overreaction since if I am correct, the USAF has a 24 hour limitation only.

Thanks for any feedback.

[liquidhockey]

i think thats the same in the UK.

The only reason i can think of that the USAF has a shorter time limit is because they wear pressure suits so this may counteract the risk.
May be wrong here.

Cheers
Dave

[FloatJockey]

From the top of my head (no manual available right now), for recreational diving (40 meters max.) the rule of thumb is as follows:

- do not fly 12 hours after diving to a max. depth of 18 metres for 20 minutes (or 30 minutes? Not sure there...)
or
- do not fly 24 hours after diving any deeper or any longer

Of course low altitude flight in case of decompression sickness is an exception to this rule, but this is not the question...

Hope it helps...

Mrs. FloatJockey (retired PADI Dive Instructor and F/A wannabe)

[Julian]

The rule is 12 hours but we always recommend 24 hrs, thats for recreational diving breathing air, NiTrox would be shorter but I would still be inclined to go for 24hours. Leave longer if you can.

Be careful you dont get caught out in other ways, I was working in Greece and went diving one weekend. To get back to my flat I had to drive through mountains and ended up going a bit light headed!!! Its all altitude at the end of the day you just forget about it sometimes till it kicks you up the @rse to remind you.

[maninblack]

Certainly you shouldn't be flying within 24 hours of diving in any case. Some claim that 12 hours is fine, however, with the change of pressure you run a serious risk of nitrogen, or in the case of TriMix divers-Helium, being liberated from the soft tisdsue and entering the circulatory system or collecting next to a nerve.

It is the individual's choice but the risks involve the possibility of serious nerve damage, being permanently crippled, brain damage or just spending the first few days back in the UK bored out of your head in a recompression facility wasting everybodies valuable time.

It is true that the TriMix kids will have foreced more dissolved gas out of their system by breathing a high partial pressure oxygen mix or even 100% oxygen but on the other hand helium is more damaging than nitrogen if it does decide to go walkabout within a body.

Is life in a wheelchair a price wirth paying for an extra morning in the water?

[ironbutt57]

Wonder if any of this takes into account the possibility of a rapid decompression?

[DXB]

Used to fly into Zanzibar with a b767 used a self imposed limitation of 24hrs clear time before flying.Found that if we climbed up to fl410 you would not be feeling all that wonderful.So kept it to 290 or 330 and loaded a few tons of extra fuel and felt much better when arriving at dest.