Screening for Oxygen Sensitivity in Combat Swimmers

By Rubicon Foundation editorial team

5 min read · 2 November 2026

Screening for oxygen sensitivity in U.S. Navy combat swimmers is a 2000 journal article by Walters and colleagues, published in Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine 27(1). Its subject is the assessment of individual responses to oxygen in combat swimmers, a concern where underwater work may involve breathing oxygen-rich gas under pressure.

Why does oxygen sensitivity matter underwater?

Oxygen is essential for metabolism, but breathing oxygen at elevated partial pressure can become toxic. Partial pressure depends on both the oxygen fraction in the breathing gas and the surrounding pressure, so a gas that is suitable at the surface may pose a different physiological burden at depth.

One important concern is central nervous system oxygen toxicity. It can involve neurological symptoms, including visual or auditory disturbances, nausea, twitching, or a seizure. Underwater, a sudden loss of control or consciousness can turn a medical event into a drowning emergency.

The risk is not determined by depth alone. Exposure duration, workload, carbon dioxide retention, temperature, and individual physiology can all matter; the possibility of variation between people is why sensitivity is a relevant screening question.

What does screening for oxygen sensitivity involve?

Screening is a way to look for signs that a person may respond adversely to oxygen exposure under defined conditions. In diving medicine, that broad aim has to be distinguished from diagnosing every possible response or predicting with certainty what will happen on a later dive.

A screening protocol must account for the conditions of exposure, the symptoms being monitored, and the safety measures used during assessment. Oxygen response can depend on the combination of pressure, duration, exertion, and other physiological stresses; a result from one set of conditions should not automatically be treated as a universal measure of tolerance.

Oxygen partial pressure: the pressure exerted by oxygen in the breathing gas.
Exposure time: the duration of elevated oxygen exposure.
Individual response: symptoms and physiological changes that may differ among divers.
Operational context: the task, workload, and environment in which oxygen is used.

Why focus on combat swimmers?

Combat swimmers work in a setting where breathing-gas choices, mission demands, and the consequences of a sudden incapacitating event intersect. A question about screening in this group therefore connects individual physiology with operational risk management, rather than treating oxygen exposure as an abstract laboratory issue.

The same underlying concern applies more broadly to divers and hyperbaric practice: oxygen has therapeutic and operational uses, but exposure must be managed against the pressure and duration involved. For scientific divers, clinicians, and dive planners, understanding oxygen toxicity helps frame decisions about gas composition, exposure limits, monitoring, and emergency response.

How does this question fit into diving medicine?

Diving medicine studies how pressure and breathing gases affect the body, and how those effects interact with work, illness, and the underwater environment. Oxygen toxicity sits alongside other pressure-related hazards, including decompression illness and gas-related effects on the nervous system, but it has its own exposure variables and clinical concerns.

Screening is one possible tool within a wider safety approach. It does not replace sound gas planning, exposure control, symptom recognition, or appropriate medical assessment. The practical question is how any assessment should inform decisions for a particular task and exposure, rather than whether a single screening label can settle every case.

Frequently asked questions

What is oxygen sensitivity in diving?

It refers broadly to individual susceptibility to adverse effects during elevated oxygen exposure. The response depends on the exposure conditions and can vary between people.

Why can oxygen toxicity be dangerous underwater?

Neurological effects, including a seizure, can cause a diver to lose control or consciousness. Underwater, that can create an immediate drowning hazard.

Does screening predict how every future dive will go?

No screening assessment should be treated as a guarantee across all conditions. Oxygen exposure, workload, and the surrounding pressure matter; consult a diving-medicine physician about individual health or fitness-to-dive concerns.

Citation details

Title: Screening for oxygen sensitivity in U.S. Navy combat swimmers
Authors: Walters, K.C; Gould, M.T; Bachrach, E.A; Butler, Frank K
Year: 2000
Published in: Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine 27(1)
Identifiers: PMID 10813436
Record type: Journal article
Repository record: Rubicon Research Repository, handle 123456789/2358

This page is an original summary written by the Rubicon editors from the publication’s bibliographic record. It does not reproduce the paper, its abstract or its data; consult the publication itself for its methods and findings.