What are the effects of donating blood on scuba diving?
“For the first few hours/days after donating blood, the person will be more susceptible to fainting and will have a reduced exercise capacity. After the blood volume that was lost in the donation is replaced, the person will no longer be prone to fainting and might actually have a slightly improved exercise capacity. There are theoretical slight increases in the risk of oxygen toxicity and DCS but this change in risk most likely has no practical significance. You should never dive (nor do other strenuous activity) the day of a blood donation and should be sure to drink lots of nonalcoholic fluids after donating blood. It should be okay to do conservative dives the next day but if you want to be absolutely certain you have recovered from the acute effects of donating blood, wait 72 hours.” Read the whole article at: http://divermag.com/archives/april2000/divedoctor_apr00.
“For the first few hours/days after donating blood, the person will be more susceptible to fainting and will have a reduced exercise capacity. After the blood volume that was lost in the donation is replaced, the person will no longer be prone to fainting and might actually have a slightly improved exercise capacity. There are theoretical slight increases in the risk of oxygen toxicity and DCS but this change in risk most likely has no practical significance. You should never dive (nor do other strenuous activity) the day of a blood donation and should be sure to drink lots of nonalcoholic fluids after donating blood.
