The purpose of this study was to identify the major scuba diving factors that may affect the safety of the activity as well as the directional guideline for the future. A panel was composed of 18 scuba diving related experts and through intuitive judg...
The purpose of this study was to identify the major scuba diving factors that may affect the safety of the activity as well as the directional guideline for the future. A panel was composed of 18 scuba diving related experts and through intuitive judgements, results were converged in three rounds with pre-defined stop criterion. Three major scuba diving factors were identified through first round which were ‘medical screening of health and physical fitness.’ and ‘physical fitness’ in the order of higher identification. Each major factors were categorized in detail and through two more rounds, each items were scored with 5-point Likert scaling. In the ‘health and physical fitness’ factor, items such as ‘need for increased scuba diver medical staff(4.94),’ and ‘need for increased facility, equipment and medical information(4.65).’ were scored the highest. In the ‘basic physical fitness’ factor, ‘cardiovascular fitness(4.69),’ ‘flexibility(4.21),’ and ‘strength(4.18)’ were scored the highest. In conclusion, basic physical fitness should be considered with supportive medical staff, facility. For prevention and safety, each diver should evaluate one's capacity and acquire customized training periodically. Moreover, adequate physical activity should be conducted composed of cardiovascular fitness, flexibility and strength training along with other basic physical fitness factors such as power, agility, and endurance.