Dr Nightingale has been offering diving medical services since completing his training in
Basic Underwater Medicine at Stellenbosch University in 2023. He is registered with the
South African Department of Labour as a Designated Medical Practitioner and examiner of
South African commercial divers and he is a member of the Southern African Undersea and
Hyperbaric Medical Association.
Dr Nightingale offers diving medical services to all types of divers, whether diving for
recreational- or commercial purposes, and to all classes of divers, from benign water scuba
divers to saturation divers, to determine fitness to dive and to ensure a satisfactory standard of
good health which is essential to dive safely.
Diving medical services include
Performing medical evaluations
Dr Nightingale strives to offer personal services to ensure medical fitness to travel
and work at sea and underwater, considering both routine and emergency duties at
sea, chronic medical conditions and the fact that most seafarers will need to join
and leave ships by air travel.
Visual acuity testing
Dr Nightingale performs visual acuity testing to determine the visual fitness of a
diver by testing distance vision, near vision, colour vision and visual fields.
Audiometric testing
Dr Nightingale performs hearing testing on all divers to ensure that the prescribed
hearing capacity is met and to assess for noise induced hearing loss or barotrauma
related illness as part of medical surveillance. Hearing examinations is done by a
pure tone audiometer.
Respiratory assessment
Dr Nightingale performs pulmonary function testing on all divers which is a
complete evaluation of the respiratory system including medical history, physical
examination, lung function testing and chest X-ray.
Cardiovascular assessment
Dr Nightingale performs cardiovascular and aerobic fitness testing on all divers
which includes an effort ECG and Chester Step Test, a multi-stage test which
provides valuable information on exercise tolerance to specific levels of effort,
risk stratification, and physical activity.
Travel vaccinations
Dr Nightingale is licensed under the regulations of the Health Regulations Act,
1974 (Act 28 of 1974) to obtain and administer yellow fever vaccine.