Telemedicine in the management of diving accidents: correlation of phone-assessed symptom severity with clinical findings.

Introduction: The object of this study was to evaluate to what extend the severity of decompression illness (DCI) assessed by a diving medicine specialist over the phone correlates with actual clinical findings.

Methods: The phone protocols of calls received by a diving medical hotline between January 2008 and December 2009 were analysed. Each case was followed up after completion of the treatment and categorized into one out of four severity groups according to the same standard protocol used for categorisation at the time of the initial hotline call.

Diving Accident Guidelines of the German Society for Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine: Summary version.

The following is a synopsis of the German Diving Accident Guidelines, which may be found on www.gtuem.org in German and English.