There are many divers out there who affirm that drinking alcohol before and after diving is beneficial. However, research shows that drinking alcohol before or after diving can have adverse affects on the diver. This is because, when one consumes alcohol, it can impair a diver’s concentration, physical performance, and underwater discretion. Moreover, the American Medical Association recommends that the Blood Concentration Level (BAC) of divers must have an upper level of 0.05 percent. Whereas, sickness caused due to prolonged decompression under water can cause the BAC level to reach 0.0 percent. Hence, the more alcohol the diver would consume, the higher would be the risk of injury and accidents because of high levels of BAC. Just think about it, we do not even need pure scientific knowledge to think why consuming alcohol could be dangerous for divers. It is quite obvious that a sport like diving requires high levels of concentration and undivided attention for many hours.
Consumption of alcohol affects the most basic behavioral components of the divers. These behavioral components include concentrated attention, reaction time, performance related to visual tracking, functioning of psychomotor jobs, underwater judgment and the ability to process information while multitasking. To an observer, a person who has consumed alcohol on board would appear to be completely normal, and there would be usually no symptoms that could render the diver physically impaired, but the person is definitely impaired and this condition persists for lengthy periods of time. Alcohol usage, even if consumed in moderate quantities, could turn out to be extremely dangerous because of the self-destructive facet of behavior that paves way for an increased likelihood of serious and sometimes fatal accidents.
Not only alcohol is dangerous for divers in terms of the above mentioned behavioral components, but alcohol can also lead to dehydration. For any diver out there, dehydration is thought to be the foremost cause of illness because of decompression. Alcohol in all forms directly affects a person’s kidneys, and as a result, body fluids are lost. If a diver happens to be drinking with an intelligent buddy diver, they would never suggest you to drink and dive, as it can have fatal consequences for the divers, as well as, his family. These days, a lot of scuba diving manuals and magazines, online forums and chat rooms have been spreading the information that consumption of beer between the dives during surface intervals is OK. Some divers also say that drinking beer before, in between the dives, and after the dive is beneficial for the divers to keep their bodies warm, but one must no pay heed to such information, and always seek advice from authentic and trained diving professionals. Trained professionals would definitely prohibit any diver from consuming alcohol because of the potential dangers associated with the activity.
So the next time you plan to party and have lots of drinks, do not think of diving immediately after the activity because your alcohol is a depressant drug, and it can slow down many of your bodily functions, because it depresses the entire central nervous system. One can see and feel the effects of alcohol immediately after one glass of drink. Hence, avoid alcohol, enjoy your diving experience and stay safe.