In-depth course Brain under pressure, Manado Indonesia

18-25 November 2023

Available seats: 2

The latest Scott Haldane in-depth course is called “Brain Under Pressure”. In this course, both the physical and mental aspects of the brain under overpressure are discussed.
Mental (un)health usually receives little attention during the diving medical examinations. On the one hand because there is a lot of unfamiliarity among the examining physician, and on the other hand because it is often a difficult area to examine during the diving medical. The recently deceased Australian diving medicine expert Carl Edmonds already mentioned the importance of a good mental condition: “Panic is a psychological response to stress and is probably the most common single cause of death in scuba diving”.
In addition, our brain responds to the changes caused by the hyperbaric conditions during diving. The more well-known phenomena such as nitrogen nacosis, Cereral Arterial Gas Embolien (CAGE), hyper-/hypoxia and hyper-/hypocapnia are reviewed. But perhaps less well-known phenomena such as the High Pressure Nervous Syndrome (HPNS) are also discussed.
Our brain is what it's all about in this course, which is organized in one of the most beautiful dive sites in the world, the area of Manado on the northeast tip of Sulawesi, Indonesia. With dive sites such as Bunaken and Banka on one side and the renowned Lembeh Strait on the other.
Ingredients that guarantee a fantastic course week!

1548954346221The Scott Haldane Foundation has a full internationally accredited training program that meets all the requirements of the European Committee for Hyperbaric Medicine (ECHM). The course announced here is part of the training for Diving Medicine Physician (level 2d). The course is an accredited refresher course for the re-registration of Medical Examiners of Divers and Diving Medicine Physicians and is directly accredited by the European College of Baromedicine (ECB).

Topics

During the dive medical examination, things get complicated when tension and panic do not manifest themselves as an anxiety or panic disorder, but manifest in some other way, such as the common complaint of shortness of breath that is regularly presented to pulmonologists. Or as palpitations, cardiac complaints, which will also be further evaluated before diving. Of course substance abuse in the form of nicotine or drug use and drinking alcohol do not help. In addition, a diver's brain has to deal with the large partial pressure differences of the different breathing gases during a dive.

This course aims to increase the diving physician's knowledge of mental and physical health of the diver's brain.

  • duizendpootAfter this course, the diving physician is expected to be better able to detect mental health problems during a preventive dive medical examination.
  • The diving physician must be able to assess, based on the mental status, during a preventive diving medical examination, whether problems can occur during diving and thus jeopardize diving safety.
  • After this course, the diving physician is expected to be better able to assess the various circumstances that can occur during diving for their possible effects on the mental state of the diver and thus on dive safety.
  • The diving physician takes note of the effects that diving has on (psycho) pharmaceuticals and the effects that these medications have on diving safety
  • The diving physician is trained in the influence of breathing gases on the brain during and after diving.
  • The diving physician can use the knowledge gained to advise divers on cerebral risks of changing partial pressures and thus make diving safer.
  • The course also aims to enable the diving physician to apply existing guidelines and, if necessary, to deviate from them with arguments.
  • The diving physician is trained in how to deal with a panicked diver so that he is able to act accordingly or to give specific advice about this.

Poolth 2The course is a nice combination of theory and practice. For example, practical situations are simulated, situations with panicked divers are practiced in the swimming pool. Each participant is asked to submit at least one case related to this course. For example, the case may relate to psychopathology in the examination situation or to the use of psychotropic drugs or to having anxiety disorders and hyperventilation syndromes. In addition, the direct and indirect physical and biochemical consequences of pressure changes for the brain are discussed. i.e. all subjects that fit within this course. We kindly ask you to e-mail your case before September 1st (earlier is also possible) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..