Although free-diving is a sport independent from diving operators, a regulative reform

that would encompass and monitor free-diving activities should be mandatory. Licensing/relicensing of divers as well as the standardization of diving education is the second important point that needs to be addressed when discussing pre-event preventive measures. Although scuba divers must be certified in order to practice the Selleck Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Library sport, the necessary prerequisites and the training offered to future divers differ significantly between clubs.[9, 13] Before undertaking diving certification, a future diver should obtain proper medical clearance. Unfortunately, not all diving schools request a formal medical examination,[1, 14] while non-professional free-divers are completely outside of medical supervision. Studies

have proven the presence of preexisting pathologic conditions in a significant portion of fatally injured scuba divers which may have triggered the fatal outcome or were the direct cause of the diver’s death.[9, 15, 16] In our sample, 31.9% of victims (10.5% of resident divers and 46.4% tourist divers) had preexisting pathologic conditions that affected mostly the cardiovascular system. Although not directly associated to the cause of death, the presence of such conditions marks the need for regular health check-ups that are often omitted once the diver Clomifene has a regular diving qualification.[9, 13] They should be provided especially to NVP-BKM120 ic50 risk-group tourists who occasionally practice diving and to older divers,

as psychophysical abilities gradually decrease with age.[1, 9] We propose that divers undergo a medical examination before travelling to a diving destination. Given that most of the pathological conditions in our sample were found in divers older than 40 years (data not shown), regular annual health check-ups or even a relicensing should be planned for this age category, as well for occasional divers in order to ascertain their level of health, fitness, and skills. Attention should also be given to the medical screening of possible asymptomatic preexistent diseases and to young divers with acute health conditions which they often underestimate.[17] Diver education in different countries should meet a homogenized set of international guidelines so as to ensure a uniform level of knowledge for all parties participating in diving. A large number of divers from continental states learn to dive in swimming pools and lakes in their respective countries, and are therefore not adequately prepared for diving at sea. Our data show that tourists make up 59.6% of the total number of diving-related deaths and that the majority of them came from continental cities.