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Physical and Psychological Examination for Diving

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The Physician’s Guide to Diving Medicine

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Abstract

The preceding chapters have contained accounts of a variety of physiological, psychological, and pathological stresses that are imposed on an individual who enters the underwater hyperbaric environment. When a man places himself underwater he is at a great disadvantage with regard to his ability to propel himself through the dense medium and to protect himself against excessive heat loss, both activities requiring high energy expenditure. He must breathe gases of increased density in or through appliances to maintain adequate gas exchange of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and inert gases, utilizing a cardiorespiratory system that has been altered as a result of exposure to the direct effects of pressure. He must be able to adequately accommodate changes in gas volume and pressure in his anatomical and pseudoanatomical spaces to prevent morbid changes. Lastly, he must function within narrowly defined limits imposed by the indirect effects of pressure, i.e., the effects of the partial pressure of gases, which cause toxic, narcotic, stimulatory, and gas solubility alterations to bodily functions.

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Authors
  1. Paul G. Linaweaver
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  2. Robert J. Biersner
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Undersea Medical Society, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Charles W. Shilling , Catherine B. Carlston  & Rosemary A. Mathias ,  & 

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© 1984 Plenum Press, New York

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Linaweaver, P.G., Biersner, R.J. (1984). Physical and Psychological Examination for Diving. In: Shilling, C.W., Carlston, C.B., Mathias, R.A. (eds) The Physician’s Guide to Diving Medicine. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2671-7_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2671-7_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9663-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-2671-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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