Telemedicine in the management of diving accidents: correlation of phone-assessed symptom severity with clinical findings.

The article presents a study which examines the connection of severity of decompression illness (DCI) assessed by diving medicine specialist through telephone with clinical findings in the treatment facility. The study analyzes the standard telephone protocols received by diving medical hotline and categorises symptoms and signs according to description and terminology of DCI. Result shows that specialist-based telephone hotline can provide a reliable assessment of the severity of DCI.