2020/09/30 by Charlotte Sadler, Miguel Alvarez Villela, Karen Van Hoesen +4 · 14 citations
Medicine · #Anesthesia #Biology #Breathing #Cardiac Arrest and Resuscitation #Cardiovascular and Diving-Related Complications #Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) #Disease #Infectious disease (medical specialty) #Intensive care medicine #Medical emergency #Medicine #Pathology #Recreation #Respiratory Support and Mechanisms #Scuba diving #Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
paper · open access · doi:10.28920/dhm50.3.278-287
published in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine Journal 50(3), 278-287
openalex publication_date 2020/09/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/15
Scuba diving is a critical activity for commercial industry, military activities, research, and public safety, as well as a passion for many recreational divers. Physicians are expected to provide return-to-diving recommendations after SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection based upon the best available evidence, often drawn from experience with other, similar diseases. Scuba diving presents unique physiologic challenges to the body secondary to immersion, increased pressure and increased work of breathing. The long-term sequelae of COVID-19 are still unknown, but if they are proven to be similar to other coronaviruses (such as Middle East respiratory syndrome or SARS-CoV-1) they may result in long-term pulmonary and cardiac sequelae that impact divers' ability to safely return to scuba diving. This review considers available literature and the pathophysiology of COVID-19 as it relates to diving fitness, including current recommendations for similar illnesses, and proposes guidelines for evaluation of divers after COVID-19. The guidelines are based upon best available evidence about COVID-19, as well as past experience with determination of diving fitness. It is likely that all divers who have contracted COVID-19 will require a medical evaluation prior to return to diving with emphasis upon pulmonary and cardiac function as well as exercise capacity.