Fitness to Dive
the medical clearance for Divers-to-Dive
Often called "Physical fitness to dive" or "Pre-Dive medical examination".
It is the medical and physical suitability of a diver's condition to practice underwater activities, the medical examination is done by a medical examiner of divers. Specially required when booking a recreational dive with by dive center, enrolling a course or by local regulations if you work as a diver.
The length of expiration for the fitness-to-dive certificate will depend on the type of diving that will be practiced and the health condition of the applicant. For young recreational divers in a healthy condition, normally the certificate is valid for 5 years.
The type of examination will also be determined by the specific type of diving cleared in the certificate. For young recreational divers in a healthy condition, normally it is not required to perform clinical tests.
In case of those who have pre-existent medical conditions (such as asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.) Additional tests could be required before granting the clearance to dive.
All the certifications are valid Internationally, but each country reserves their own right.
Types of diving that can be cleared by us:
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Recreational / Sport / Free-diving
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Technical, including Closed Circuit Rebreather (CCR)
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Surface Supplied
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Commercial / Industrial
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Public Safety Diving / Rescue / Recovery
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Military / Tactical / Combat Diving
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Saturation
How to Access
The first step is to get a referral to Dive Medicine from your doctor in Iceland (can be your family doctor, specialist or private), once we have the referral in the health system, then we will contact the diver to set up an appointment. If the divers have no contraindications to dive, the certification will be issued electronically.*
In case something is found during the first examination that requires further study, clinical tests could be ordered, in that case a second appointment to discuss the results can be required prior to issue the certification. We encourage all divers in need of a medical dive certification to request the referral as soon as possible*.
What to expect during the examination for first time
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Your medical record will be analyzed.
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Questions about medications, illness, disease.
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Physical examination
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Neurological examination
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Weight and height
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Vital signs
Duration: 30–60 minutes
Appointments: Tuesdays, Thursdays
Cost: Free*
*Print certificates with ink stamp can also be issued by special request for international purpose in commercial and saturation diving.
**The appointments for the required clinical tests are out of the scope and coordination from our department and can take days or weeks.
***The examination, certificate issue and all the services from our department are free of charge, nevertheless those clinical tests required by other departments or the referral from the head doctor will be charge accordingly to the entity performing it and type of test.