Make Diving Honest and Safe
Diving in Komodo means incredibly rich marine life, big variety of pelagic fish, sharks and macro diving; superb and untouched coral reefs, and amazing topography. And you don´t want to ruin your dive holiday by omitting or providing wrong information on the medical questionnaire.
What is a Medical Questionnaire?
A medical questionnaire is an important tool (form) used to assess a diver’s fitness for diving. It typically includes some questions about the diver’s medical history, current health status, and any pre-existing conditions that could impact their safety underwater. Each diver requires a minimum level of health and fitness. Divers must be fit enough to enter and exit the water (on some dive areas to carry their own scuba equipment), to rescue themselves or a buddy in an emergency.
Why is it important?
Once you´ve spent a great deal of time and money to plan and book your dive adventures in Komodo, you do not want to risk to miss it. The same as you make sure to have the right and complete documents like visa to enter Indonesia, it is your responsibility as a diver to prepare for diving activities and to get a clearance by a doctor if necessary.
Remember that our instructors, dive masters or dive shop admins are not doctors or physicians and cannot provide a medical advice or take the decision whether a diver is cleared for diving. Only medical professional can give medical clearance to dive!
It can be tempting for divers on holiday who do not want to give up their dives, to lie on the questionnaire. Some divers view this questionnaire as a negative thing, believing it serves only to prevent them from diving if they answer “YES” to any of the questions. This is not the case at all.
The questionnaire serves to help divers and us – the dive operators – avoid emergency situations. It enables divers with certain restrictions on diving to identify this and to seek the help of their physician to make sure so that they can scuba dive safely and with joy. This questionnaire also provides doctors and emergency responders with relevant medical information that will be useful and lifesaving if a diver gets injured and cannot speak for himself.
Hence, providing full and honest information on a medical questionnaire saves you time, money and keeps you safe on your diving holidays in Komodo.
How can you fill out the medical questionnaire?
We at Wet Frog Divers provide to our guests the medical questionnaire in our dive center upon their check-in for diving. Every diver signs the form on site BEFORE diving. Yet to avoid disappointment and to risk missing your dives, we recommend to deal with that in advance, especially if you are currently experiencing any health issues or are on medical prescription.
If you already know that a medical condition applies to you, getting a doctor’s check-up before traveling saves time and stress once you arrive. Remember: some conditions might need medical clearance that can’t be obtained on short notice in Komodo.
You can also download a user-friendly diver medical questionnaire form here. In 2020, the international Diver Medical Screening Committee (DMSC) released a new diver medical screening system and guidance to the physician. It has been updated with input from DAN, PADI, WRSTC, RSTC, UHMS and dive-medicine professionals to reflect current medical thinking, to allow as many individuals to dive as reasonably possible, to improve safety and to prevent accidents.
Keep it honest and enjoyable
Taking a few minutes to fill out your medical questionnaire honestly and carefully is one of the simplest ways to make sure your dive trip goes smoothly — so you can focus on what really matters: enjoying the magic of the underwater world in Komodo.
Stay safe, dive smart, and don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you’re unsure about any preparation questions before your dive trip. We’re happy to help!
Your Wet Frog Divers Team