Examples of a dive death that could not have been prevented?

[Ice Mike]

Tons of medical cases where the pre-condition is not detectable unless you have highly intricate tests, usually only discovered during autopsy... cardiac s-a malfunctions, brain venus wall weakness.. etc.

Agree completely.

So if somebody walks from his car to the store and dies of a cardia s-a malfunction (if that is possible) we don't call it a sidewalk related death.

Should we then call the same death during diving a dive related death?

 

[z3r0c00l]

Death due to war is death due to war, not scuba. The scuba environment (under water, high pressure) has to kill you, not something else like a bad heart, or a bomb. Tsunami might be an example, but I am not aware of any scuba diver who died from one (they seemed to have gotten away with it because they were in deep water, actually safer than the shore). Lets also rule out the one in a trillion events like shark attacks. We mean, fairly common scuba accidents (one a year, one a decade) that cant be prevented.

 

[Gombessa]

Agree completely.

So if somebody walks from his car to the store and dies of a cardia s-a malfunction (if that is possible) we don't call it a sidewalk related death.

Should we then call the same death during diving a dive related death?

Do we call *anything* a sidewalk-related death?

A guy who has a heart attack or seizure while driving is still involved in an automobile accident. Maybe we need a tighter distinction over what we mean by scuba-"related" deaths.

 

[Ice Mike]

actually, I remember seeing a docu from discovery. They interviewed a man who lost his wife when they were diving as the tsunami hit. (wasn't to friendly with him either.)

Is the thread now:

Examples of frequently occuring dive deaths that could not have been prevented?

 

[dumpsterDiver]

All SCUBA accidents are preventable. Crank up the conservatism, to as high as necessary, and that will get you there. Self-sufficiency, two of everything, and more than enough gas, and you are there. The rule of thirds is actually for your benefit, not just for your buddy.

Cars, now, are indeed a totally different story. Driving in your car is infinitely more dangerous than scuba diving.

I agree, cars are more dangerous than most all diving, primarily because you enter into situations while driving a car that are inherently uncontrollable. Other motorists can literally kill you with their mistakes.

Unfortunately, the ocean can also present the diver with "uncontrollable" circumstances that sometimes simply requires "luck" to survive. Adding layers and layers of redundancy does not entirely shield a diver from danger and excess gear and overly conservative procedures can hamper your fun.

I'm perfectly willing to risk my life (just a little) to go into the sea.

What's the story? Is this the line you give your wife: " Don't worry; nothing CAN happen" when you leave a warm bed at 6:00 am to go diving?

Actually the more I read your "stuff", I actually get a little angry. I guess because Sunday evening is the memorial service for a diver (that I had recently dove with) who died just a few months ago. Speaking with the greiving parents has me convinced that we need to be very careful underwater and to also be realistic with ourselves (and our families) about the presence of risk.

 

[dschonbrun]

z3, not sure I agree with your example... If you have a heart defect, and the exertion of scuba (perhaps up current) creates stress and results in a heart attack... it is a Scuba related death. It's more about over-exertion and a pre-existing condition, but it occurred while diving. Just the way that the basketball player who had a major heart attack and died was a basketball related death. The heart condition caused the death, but the stress of basketball triggered it.

 

[eriediver2002]

Who's doing the deleting of threads. Apparently I offended someone with factual statements?

This is ****ing retarded.

 

[vladimir]

Lets also rule out the one in a trillion events like shark attacks. We mean, fairly common scuba accidents (one a year, one a decade) that cant be prevented.

I cut and pasted the following from Statistics of Shark Attacks on Divers
We can probably agree that a fatal shark attack on a scuba diver is likely to happen once a year, and quite a few times a decade. I have personally been bumped by a silvertips in the Coral Sea, and recently saw a silky charge a diver with mouth wide open in Cocos. I take sharks seriously, but I don't think they are a great threat to divers. Unanticipated currents are probably more deadly, and the idea that everybody carry gas for a 300 foot dive everytime they plan a 60 foot dive is a little impractical. The idea that each dive has to be 100% safe is also a little impractical--if we required that of each car trip I couldn't visit my mother for the holidays. I'm going to risk it though.

Statistics of Shark Attacks on Divers

These data reveal that the majority of shark attacks on divers are not fatal. This does not mean that divers should be less careful in the water, but it does support the idea that sharks are not hunting humans for food. Fatal attacks are usually the result of significant blood loss and stress. One theory suggests that sharks will bite their prey to make sure it is edible before eating it. Once this 'prey' item is identified as an unnatural source of food, the shark will swim away to find more suitable food elsewhere.

Last updated: January 10, 2007

Use these data with CAUTION, remembering that scientific and media coverage of shark attack during the early part of this century was far less inclusive than that of today. This graph indicates an overall increase in the numbers of reported shark attacks over the last century. This apparent trend is a reflection of increased numbers of people utilizing the ocean, and enhanced media coverage over the last century. These data do NOT support an increase in the per capita attack rate on divers worldwide. (For further information, see the ISAF 2005 Worldwide Shark Attack Summary) The apparent drop in number of attacks in the 1970s occurred at a time when the ISAF was not as active due to lack of funding.

Last updated: January 10, 2007

The data presented above are the percentages of shark attacks on divers per decade that were fatal. (See the previous chart, "Unprovoked Attacks on Divers by Decade," for the number of divers attacked per decade.) The only shark attack that occurred between 1900-1909 was fatal, resulting in the 100% fatality for that decade. The increase in percentage of fatal shark attacks between 1990-1999 is likely due to divers' behavior. People are diving in more exotic areas, searching farther for areas where no one has been without regard to the added safety precautions one must take when diving in high shark risk areas

.

 

[z3r0c00l]

Define unprovoked shark attack. Simply walking through polar bear land = provoking an attack in my mind. Just because people are oblivious to how obnoxious they are around wild animals, doesnt mean attacks were unprovoked.

 

[Thalassamania]

Do we call *anything* a sidewalk-related death?

There's an entire industry in New York based on sidewalk-related injury or death.

A guy who has a heart attack or seizure while driving is still involved in an automobile accident. Maybe we need a tighter distinction over what we mean by scuba-"related" deaths.

Most folks don't see driving as being stressful enough to cause or contribute to the hear attack or seizure, though I'd a agree that the seizure would likely not have been fatal had the victim not been driving. Investigations of diving fatalities often try to identify (and segregate) proximate and ultimate causes. The point is that a heart attack or seizure, that would have been just a medical emergency on the surface is infinitely more complicated and dangerous if it occurs underwater.