UNDERSEA AND HYPERBARIC MEDICAL SOCIETY
CANADIAN CHAPTER -CHAPITRE CANADIEN
Canadian Fitness to Dive Course for Physicians 2011
Version Date: Aug. 20, 2011
Wed. Oct. 19
Time
Topic
Faculty
07:00 – 07:30
Coffee / breakfast / welcome
07:30 – 08:10
Diving physics
Sherri Ferguson
08:10 – 08:50
Diving physiology
Sherri Ferguson
08:50 – 09:30
Diving techniques, technologies and work activities
Sherri Ferguson
09:30 – 10:15
Diving-related medical disorders
Dr. David Harrison
10:15 – 10:30
Coffee
10:30 – 11:10
Causes of diving accidents and fatalities
Dr. David Harrison
11:10 – 11:40
Diving regulations and inspection of dive logs
Dr. Steve Martin
11:40 – 12:10
Visual system
Dr. David Harrison
12:10 – 12:30
Gastro-intestinal system
Dr. Dominique Buteau
12:30 – 13:15
Lunch
13:15 – 13:55
Psychiatry and diving
Dr. Oliver Robinow
13:55 – 14:45
Respiratory system and testing
Dr. Mike Koehle
14:45 – 15:00
Cardiovascular system
Dr. Ken LeDez
15:00 – 15:25
Musculo-skeletal system / connective tissue
disorders
Dr. Dominique Buteau
15:25 – 15:40
Coffee
15:40 – 16:05
Nervous system
Dr. Ken LeDez
16:05 – 16:55
ENT systems
Dr. Edmond Kay
10 Plumtree Place
Portugal Cove-St. Philips
Newfoundland and Labrador
A1M 3T1
UNDERSEA AND HYPERBARIC MEDICAL SOCIETY
CANADIAN CHAPTER -CHAPITRE CANADIEN
16:55 – 17:20
Renal system
Dr. Dominique Buteau
17:20 – 19:30
Visit to Coast Guard station and introduction to
diving equipment
Sherri Ferguson /
Canadian Coast Guard
Time
Topic
Faculty
07:00 – 07:30
Coffee / breakfast
07:30 – 08:15
Endocrine system
Dr. Ron Linden
08:15 – 08:45
Hematological system
Dr. Ron Linden
08:45 – 09:15
Infection and immune system
09:15 – 09:30
Pregnancy
09:30 – 10:00
Prescribed medications and drugs of abuse
Thurs. Oct. 20
Dr. Ron Linden
10:00 – 10:15
10:15 – 10:30
Coffee
10:30 – 11:30
Medical examination of divers (separate groups)
Drs. LeDez, Buteau,
Linden, Kay
11:30 – 12:00
Required investigations and interpretation of results
Dr. Steve Martin
12:00 – 12:30
Completing forms for diver medical assessment and
fitness certification
Dr. Ken LeDez
12:30 – 13:15
Lunch
10 Plumtree Place
Portugal Cove-St. Philips
Newfoundland and Labrador
A1M 3T1
UNDERSEA AND HYPERBARIC MEDICAL SOCIETY
CANADIAN CHAPTER -CHAPITRE CANADIEN
Thurs.Oct.20 cont..
13:15 – 13:30
Aging divers and chronic medical conditions
13:30 – 14:15
Determining fitness and when to refer for an expert
opinion
14:15 – 14:45
Initial assessment and management of divers after a
diving-related accident
14:45 – 15:15
Return to diving after diving accidents, injury,
surgery, hospitalization and medical conditions
15:15 – 15:30
Review and questions about fitness to dive (panel)
15:30 – 15:45
Coffee
15:45 – 16:00
Review and questions about fitness to dive
16:00 – 18:00
Brief review / questions
Written examination
Coffee
Review of exam results
Completion of course and faculty evaluation forms
10 Plumtree Place
Portugal Cove-St. Philips
Newfoundland and Labrador
A1M 3T1
Dr. Ken LeDez
Drs. Buteau, LeDez,
Linden, Harrison
UNDERSEA AND HYPERBARIC MEDICAL SOCIETY
CANADIAN CHAPTER -CHAPITRE CANADIEN
Course Faculty
Dr. Ken LeDez
Dr. LeDez is a staff anesthesiologist and Medical Director of the Hyperbaric Medicine Service in St.
John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. He commenced hyperbaric medicine with a fellowship at the
University of Toronto. He is recognized as a specialist in diving and hyperbaric medicine by the
Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board. Dr. LeDez is the President of the
Canadian Chapter of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society.
Dr. Dominique Buteau
Dr. Dominique Buteau has graduated from the Medical Faculty of the Sherbrooke University in 1993.
He has completed his family medicine training at the Laval University in 1995 and has an Emergency
Medicine certificate from the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
In 2001 Dr Buteau completed his diving medicine training at the NOAA facility in Seattle Washington.
His hyperbaric medicine training was done at the Nix Medical Center in San Antonio Texas. He’s also
a Professor at the Faculty of Family Medicine at the Laval University and is currently the Medical
Director for the Quebec Diving Medical Center.
Dr. Steve Martin
Dr. Ron Linden
Dr. Ron Linden is a diver and an avid sailor who has specialized in diving and hyperbaric medicine for
over 20 years. He is the Medical Director and CEO of Ontario Wound Care, a Canadian registered
charity and the Medical Director of the Judy Dan Research and Treatment Centre in Toronto, a
University Health Network affiliated research satellite. He is a staff physician in the Hyperbaric Unit
of the Toronto General Hospital and
North York General Hospital, a lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, the medical
consultant and lecturer for Seneca College’s Commercial Diving Program and clinical instructor for
the Diver Medic Program.
Dr. Linden is currently involved in a major research study on the treatment of diabetic wounds
funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health, working with faculty from McMaster University and the
University of Toronto. Dr. Linden has published numerous articles on diving and hyperbaric medicine.
10 Plumtree Place
Portugal Cove-St. Philips
Newfoundland and Labrador
A1M 3T1
UNDERSEA AND HYPERBARIC MEDICAL SOCIETY
CANADIAN CHAPTER -CHAPITRE CANADIEN
Dr. David Harrison
David Harrison received his medical degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1983. He
complete residencies in Family Medicine/Emergency Medicine in 1986 and Emergency Medicine in
1990 and is board certified in both specialties. Dr Harrison worked as an attending physician in the
Department of Emergency Medicine at Vancouver General Hospital form 1990 to 2008. He was the
Director of the Royal College Emergency Medicine Residency at UBC from 1993 to 1998. He served as
a Trauma Director for the Department of Emergency Medicine from 1998 to 2003.
Dr Harrison has been involved in the practice of Hyperbaric Medicine since 1998. He assumed the
position of Medical Director of the Vancouver General Hospital Hyperbaric Unit in July 2003 during
the planning phase of the new hyperbaric chamber at VGH. His current activities are in clinical
hyperbaric medicine, practice, teaching and research. Dr Harrison has served as a Diving Medicine
consultant for the Canadian Military, WorkSafe BC, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British
Columbia, the BC Ministry of Health, and the BC Coroner’s Office. He is currently a Clinical Associate
Professor at the University of British Columbia.
Dr. Edmond Kay
Dr. Mike Koehle
Dr. Oliver Robinow
Dennis Gillette
Sherri Ferguson
Sherri Ferguson is currently the Director of the Environmental Medicine and Physiology Unit at the
Simon Fraser University. She is the President of the Canadian Association for Underwater Science.
She is also a Diving Safety Officer at the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria.
10 Plumtree Place
Portugal Cove-St. Philips
Newfoundland and Labrador
A1M 3T1
UNDERSEA AND HYPERBARIC MEDICAL SOCIETY
CANADIAN CHAPTER -CHAPITRE CANADIEN
She is an Executive voting member of the CSA Z275 committee and an instructor trainer for both
recreational SCUBA and Technical Diving and rebreathers. Sherri is a trained commercial diver and
instructor from the Commercial Diving Group at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. She
was the regional manager for TDI/SDI and worked for both Poseidon and Dräger as their service
technician instructor.
Course participants:
The course is open to licensed physicians (including residents in training) who are involved with (or
seeking to be involved with) the medical examination of occupational divers and certification of
fitness for diving according to the requirements of provincial, federal and offshore regulatory
authorities. The course meets the requirements of a Level 1 diving physician as described in CSA
standards.
Objectives of the course:
Course fees:
The cost of the course is $500 for each applicant who is approved by the course committee. All
applications will be reviewed
Course sponsors:
Recognition as a Level 1 diving physician:
10 Plumtree Place
Portugal Cove-St. Philips
Newfoundland and Labrador
A1M 3T1