HSE Medical

[dry suit diver]

Originally Posted by Finless

It's not the needle you want to worry about it's when the rubber gloves and KY (YK?) Jelly come out.

If the Marigolds with the 'improved grip dimples' come out then ........

No its when they do the rear inspection and both the hands are on the shoulder you need to worry, according to billy connolly.

[DougA]

I just did my first HSE Diving Medical took about 2 hours and cost £200.

Stage 1 with Nurses: Strip down to boxers and put robe on
Urine sample Pulse and blood pressure
ECG Large sample of for full blood count
Hearing Test in sound proof booth
Colour blindness and sight test
Lung capacity - lots of blowing through tubes in various ways
Aerobic capacity - heart rate gets monitored doing step ups in time to beat
Lung capacity again 5 and 10 minutes after exercise

Stage 2 with Doctor The doc does a whole series of tests checking your senses, coordination, reflexes and balance. Lots of prodding and pushing. He sets of this tuning fork and sticks it on your ankle - you have to tell him when its stops vibrating. He has a pin thing with a blunt and sharp end - he jabs you with it in various places and you have to tell him whether its the sharp or blunt end. Plus drop your shorts and cough to check for hernias.

I got the all clear for diving. Still waiting for blood test results but the Doc the HSE only check for sickle cell which is typically found in people with a Mediterranean origin. So chance of me having it very remote hence they issue the certificate straight away.

Nice to get it over with - was bit of a worrying before wondering if they would find anything :P

**Forum has removed all my white space :s **Sorted it - needed to let it run scripts

[Bardo]

Originally Posted by DougA

I just did my first HSE Diving Medical took about 2 hours and cost £200.

£200?!!!! Ouch!!!!! I think my first HSE medical cost about £130 but that also included chest X-rays! My last HSE cost £90 which is about going rate for 'follow up' medicals so you might want to shop around a bit next year...

[DougA]

I know - I'm glad I wasn't paying! £100 an hour and for most of that I was with the nurse or in the waiting room.

The place was very busy with its own dedicated area for medicals - took 2 weeks to get an appointment! Quite funny with the waiting room filled with people in robes nipping to the toilet to try and force out a urine sample - not easy first thing having already had morning pee and nothing much to drink after . There was a notice on the wall for some companies which would not allow their staff to leave until all tests had been completed! I'm assuming this is a drugs thing.

Capita Health Solutions was the company.

[Finless]

Originally Posted by Waskey

............ just a prick on the finger.

I've tried that line and it never worked for me.

[Ian30]

very first Medical includes the following.

Full Plate Chest X-Ray - to check for lung tissue damage.
FBC and LFT (blood tests)- FBC is to check for any clotting disorders,diabetes. LFT is to check the Liver function (i.e are you a heavy drinker or suffer any form of hepatitis)
Exercise Tolerance test. Usually done as the step test, then 3 seperate pulse checks for CV tolerance.
Vitalograph - Lung capacity.
Hearing Test - usually as part of a hearing conservation program.
Colour perception is done using the Ishihara plates(coloured dots and numbers) and a Holmes Lantern test if this is failed.
Urine sample - to check for any Kidney, or Urinary infection and again for diabetes.
Blood pressure and pulse at rest and in a sitting position.
12 lead ECG - to check for any hidden heart defects.
Eye Sight test.

All these are usually performed before seeing a Doctor.

Once in to see a Dr you will go through your family history, medical history.
Carry out a neurological examination.
this involves sight, hand eye co-ordination and reflexes.
then you will either be signed off as fit or sent onto for any further investigations if anything is flagged up.

Hope that helps a bit more.

[AM1]

Ian - useful info, thanks for sharing.

Who did you go to?

Regards

AnneMarie

[String]

All of the above on mine were performed by the doctor. It took about an hour all in.

I did manage to walk face first into the door when just changing room to go for the coordination test though.

Exercise test was very very easy. 10 mins of stepping onto a box. The hardest part was trying to synchronise my steps with the tape - anyone that's seen me attempt to dance would appreciate why i found this hard.

Blood test was potentially the most traumatic moment of my entire life although im not convinced it actually caused any more physical pain than removing the ECG probes.

Follow up tests apparently have no blood test (thank god for that).

[Ian30]

I never have had a commercial HSE medical i just carry out the tests and exams.

[AM1]

Hi, my incorrect assumption, I thought you were speaking from the position of having had a medical!

Thanks for the info anyway. I'm still trying to decide who to go to, I've already had a few diving medicals and you get the odd scheister, especially considering the bullshit information I've been given in the past.

Regards

AnneMarie