Diving Medicine Clinic

Diving Medicine Clinic at IEEM

Our Focus

  • Our focus is the complete health and well-being of all persons engaged in undersea activity.
  • Recreational divers, extreme sport divers, scientific divers, rescue divers, and commercial divers are all part of our clinical population.
  • Anyone considering diving, either recreational, or as a career, from snorkelling to advanced saturation diving, should consult with a diving medical expert before venturing underwater.

Our Services

  • Recreational sport diving physical examinations
  • Commercial, rescue, and scientific diving physical examinations
  • Diving injury assessment and treatment
  • Decompression sickness assessment and treatment

Diving physical examinations include:

  • Medical history
  • Complete physical exam with emphasis on neurological and otological components
  • Audiometry
  • Chest x-ray
  • Spirometry
  • Hematocrit and/or hemoglobin blood tests
  • Urinalysis
  • Any further tests deemed necessary by the diving physician

Additional testing for divers over age 40:

  • Resting EKG
  • Assessment of coronary artery disease (age, lipid profile, blood pressure, diabetic screening, smoking)
  • Exercise stress testing may be indicated

All divers are encouraged to maintain an annual recurrent diving physical examination to ensure continued fitness for diving activities.

Commercial, industrial, and rescue divers are required to certify medical fitness for diving duty to maintain qualification.

Potential diving injuries include:

Media

WFAA met with Dr. Renie Guilliod, MD. He mostly spoke as an accomplished diver with experience in deep diving, commercial diving, and even cave diving. He says the divers called in to rescue the soccer team in Thailand are highly specialized, highly technical people. "It is a very select group that requires a special personality and extremely high level of training," Dr. Guilliod said. He has been in contact with the Thai Navy and even offered his expertise through letters with the operations director. "They are working in an environment that doesn't have good ventilation," he said. He says the lack of oxygen and the high levels of carbon dioxide in the caves are harmful. But he's ultimately impressed with the operation, and believes the decisions are best left to the people on the ground."

About the Clinic

A collaborative clinical program between:

  • Texas Health Dallas
  • UT Southwestern Medical Center
  • Institute for Exercise & Environmental Medicine

An integrated care team consisting of:

  • THD & UT Southwestern credentialed physician scientists
  • Experienced ICU-trained critical care nursing personnel
  • Trained and experienced technical staff

Scheduling

Please expedite patient scheduling by providing us:

  • Referral from physician (if applicable)
  • Face sheet/demographics
  • Insurance information
  • History and physical
  • Imaging (X-ray, MRI, bone scans, etc.)
  • Recent lab work (including A1C if patient is diabetic)
  • Current list of medications

Referrals

Please contact us:

Diving Medicine Clinic at Texas Health Dallas
Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine
7232 Greenville Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75231
Phone: 214-345-4651
Fax: 214-345-4647
Email: IEEMOxygen@texashealth.org

Diving Medicine Links & Resources



Clinical Team