Helmet Dive with COPD

[jilllofalltrades]

My dad has COPD. Not enough to require oxygen but enough to make breathing difficult at times. He really wants to do the Helmet Dive. Does the pressure on your chest at 30' underwater make breathing any more difficult. I would hate for him to pay for this trip and then not be able to do it.

[Scooter-n-GB]

My dad has COPD. Not enough to require oxygen but enough to make breathing difficult at times. He really wants to do the Helmet Dive. Does the pressure on your chest at 30' underwater make breathing any more difficult. I would hate for him to pay for this trip and then not be able to do it.

 

There is definite pressure, but if the helmet dive equipment is anything like scuba, the air supply is under pressure, so it makes it easier to breath. I have my reservations as to whether they will even let him do it. I would ask them before booking. :)

[TurtleTagger]

Asking his doctor might be a good idea as well....

[goose30]

You do not put on a pressure suit like a spaceman so it seems to reason that there will be extra pressure. Only your doctor can advise you.

[drew sailbum]

A helmet dive is really no different than scuba diving as far as medical issues are concerned.

 

A person with COPD would require a medical examination prior to engaging in a scuba diving. Based upon my experience as a scuba instructor I would be highly doubtful that a competent medical professional would clear a patient with COPD to engaged in scuba diving.

 

COPD can result in pockets of the lung tissue closing off, leaving sections of inflated lung further down the airway. As a diver descends he is breathing air under higher pressure. As that diver ascends, the air in his lungs expands due to lower pressure. If a portion of his ariway is pinched off due to a COPD event while the diver ascends then the trapped expanding air will (not might, not possibly, not maybe... it will happen) rupture his lung. This could result in a severe medical emergency and possibly the diver's death.

 

A safer alternative for a person with COPD to see the undersea world is a ride in the Atlantis submarine. It stays pressurized to atmospheric prssure at all times.

[curacaoqueen]

My pulmonologist advised me aginst me diving for fear of a collapsed lung, snorkling is much safer for me.

[cce33e]

Thanks Drew, thats good information

[jilllofalltrades]

Thank you for the response. Although disappointed, Dad sees that the helmet diving would not be a good idea for him. He plans to feed stingrays instead, another once in a lifetime opportunity for him.

[TurtleTagger]

Better choice anyway. :)