Commercial diving medicals.
Examined by a SAUHMA-accredited diving medical examiner. Fitness-to-dive assessments in Roodepoort, Johannesburg for surface-supplied, saturation and inshore work, with the required investigations completed on site.
Built around the physiology,
not a generic template.
A diving assessment asks a different question to any other occupational medical. It is concerned with how your lungs, ears, sinuses, heart and circulation behave under pressure, and with whether an underlying problem could become an emergency at depth where help is minutes away at best.
Every assessment includes the consultation and clinical examination, spirometry, an audiogram, urine dipstick and a fasting glucose. Ear, nose, throat and sinus examination is part of the standard assessment, as is an evaluation of your exercise capacity. What is added beyond that depends on your age and on whether this is your first diving medical, and the schedule is set out below.
Which investigations, and when.
This is the question divers ask most often, usually because the answer changes the cost and the length of the appointment. The schedule below is the policy this practice works to.
| Who | Stress ECG and chest x-ray | Lipogram |
|---|---|---|
| First medical | Baseline, with haemoglobin and haematocrit | Yes |
| Under 40 | Every five years | With the five-yearly assessment |
| 40 to 50 | Every two years | Every year |
| Over 50 | Every year | Every year |
Where a treadmill stress ECG is due it serves as the exercise capacity assessment as well, estimating your VO2 max, so a Chester Step Test is not done in addition. In the years where no stress ECG is due, exercise capacity is assessed with a Chester Step Test. In line with EDTC guidance, a resting ECG is done once, at your first diving medical, and is not repeated unless there is a clinical reason to.
Because a fasting glucose is part of every assessment, and a lipogram is added in the years shown above, you should not eat for eight hours before your appointment. Water is fine.
Done here, not across town.
Before you book.
Do I need to fast?
Yes. Every diving assessment includes a fasting glucose, and a lipogram where one is due, so do not eat for eight hours beforehand. Water is fine. Keep taking your usual medication and bring it with you. If you use insulin, call before your appointment.
Will I need to do an exercise test?
Yes. Every diving assessment measures your exercise capacity, expressed as an estimated VO2 max. Which test you do depends on whether a treadmill stress ECG is due, and that follows the schedule above.
Where a stress ECG is due it does both jobs at once, assessing cardiovascular function under load and estimating your VO2 max, so you do not do a step test as well. Where it is not due, exercise capacity is assessed with a Chester Step Test on its own.
How long does the appointment take?
Allow a morning. A diving assessment carries more investigations than most occupational medicals, and where a stress ECG is due it adds meaningfully to the visit. You come once rather than three times, which is the trade.
Does this cover saturation and surface-supplied work?
Yes. Assessments are conducted for surface-supplied, saturation and inshore commercial diving. If your employer or the diving contractor requires anything beyond the standard schedule, send it through when you book so it can be planned into the same visit.
Can I dive with a medical condition?
It depends entirely on the condition and how well controlled it is, and it is assessed case by case. Diving is unforgiving of anything that could cause sudden incapacity, so the threshold is set accordingly. Do not stop your medication before the assessment, and bring any recent reports from your doctor.
Pick a time that suits you.
Choose your assessment, pick a slot, and we email your forms and a list of what to bring. Your fee is confirmed before you commit.