Diving Safety?

[Darin]

After doing some research and a lot of reading, I'm left with the question of how safe is diving, really?

I know the books say that it is "one of the safest sports" but there seems to be a never ending series of "Don't do ____" and "Don't do that" etc.

Is the relative safety of diving due to the people taking up diving are safer people or, is it just safe all the way around? or has the equipment used today allow for a larger safety margin?

What I mean as safe, as in no major medical problems directly associated with diving, in other words, crashing into coral or tormenting Morrays don't count.

I'm probably wrong but, I doubt there is an experienced diver who doesn't know somebody personally or at least met some one who has been Bent, got DCS or something like this. Also, these conditions seem to be "Equal opportunity" problems, striking some people for no real reason. Those who push the limits not included...

Is there a "absoulte" safety margin?

So, what's your opinion? Am I way off here?

Darin

 

[opiniongirl]

After doing some research and a lot of reading, I'm left with the question of how safe is diving, really?

I know the books say that it is "one of the safest sports" but there seems to be a never ending series of "Don't do ____" and "Don't do that" etc.

Is the relative safety of diving due to the people taking up diving are safer people or, is it just safe all the way around? or has the equipment used today allow for a larger safety margin?

What I mean as safe, as in no major medical problems directly associated with diving, in other words, crashing into coral or tormenting Morrays don't count.

I'm probably wrong but, I doubt there is an experienced diver who doesn't know somebody personally or at least met some one who has been Bent, got DCS or something like this. Also, these conditions seem to be "Equal opportunity" problems, striking some people for no real reason. Those who push the limits not included...

Is there a "absoulte" safety margin?

So, what's your opinion? Am I way off here?

Darin

I guess it depends on how much risk you are willing to tolerate.
If you dress in bubblewrap I would say you are probably not going to enjoy diving.

All joking aside - there is no absolute safety margin, divers do accept risk.

There are incidents where divers who do everything "right" still get DCS, but this is rare. I do not know of any divers who have gotten DCS hits while diving within the limits, although I'm sure you will hear of it happening.

Yes, there are rules, but they are pretty common sense.
Marine life - don't poke prod puncture penetrate (den) or provoke.
Don't dive alone as lots of divers die every year doing this.
Do proper buddy checks like you learned to do each and every time
Don't dive beyond your experience, unless you are properly trained or are with a qualified guide to lead you
Watch your guages...

There are many more rules, which you learn in the basic course. Diving is not difficult, as young children have learned to dive safely.

There are accidents, but if you were to look at the DAN reports (which list all reported injuries and fatalities) you would find that the MAJORITY of RECREATIONAL (for all of you tekkies before you scream at me) incidents were caused by

(gasp)

people breaking the rules! And breaking lots of them all on one dive!

People drinking and diving!
People going down to 200 feet freshly after certification!
People diving with no guide after 20 years of inactivity!
People taking massive doses of medication then diving!
People not checking their equipment before diving!

Go out, get certified, and have fun. Choose a reputable facility, a professional instructor, and keep up your skills. Diving has a similar accident rate to bowling, but the consequences of such incidents may be more dire.

 

[mer]

I'm probably wrong but, I doubt there is an experienced diver who doesn't know somebody personally or at least met some one who has been Bent, got DCS or something like this. Also, these conditions seem to be "Equal opportunity" problems, striking some people for no real reason. Those who push the limits not included...

I doubt there isn't any experienced skier that doesn't know someone personally who has blow out a knee. I doubt there isn't any pickup basketball player that doesn't know someone personally who has sprained an ankle.

Bottom line, they are all sport injuries. Physical training and technique training, plus a good dose of experience is the best prevention.

There is inherient risk in diving. If you are risk adverse, I'd recommend knitting. But bottom line, you're more likely to be killed driving to the dive shop.

 

[WVDiver]

Darin,

I do not know anyone who has been bent, had DCS or any other ailment directly or indirectly related to scuba diving. I hope that never changes. I dive with people much more experienced than I am and as far as I know they have never known anyone with a problem either.

As far as safety........well it is like everything else. There is always that chance that something can go wrong. Nothing is absolute. Not even crossing the street or driving to the store, as you know.

I feel that safety has gotten much better over the years because more people have discovered and became fond of the sport. As a result, things such as equipment and education of the sport have improved. Education and good training are key to safety. We can never predict but we can certainly prepare.

As the market has grown over the years manufacturers have developed and implimented safety standards and educated the dive community. They can't sell their product if people are afraid to use it.

Afterall, there is no governing body for scuba. Yes you need to get certified to buy or rent equipment, get tank fills and charter dive excursions. But there is no scuba police out there watching over you.

You must be responsible for your own actions and the actions of your dive buddy. With experience and a level head scuba diving is as safe as the person diving. But that's just my opinion.

 

[DandyDon]

I don't refer to Scuba as a safe sport. I call it a potentially dangerous sport for which we work dilligently to keep safe. Therefore - we lose a lot more divers to car wrecks than diving.