Experience levels & diving deaths

[Rhone Man]

Yes, if you read through the appendices there are a lot of myocardial infractions, which I think is doc-speak for heart attacks. The downside to being 20-something is that you are always broke, but the upside is that you don't tend to have heart attacks.

I suspect Lynne's point is probably close to the mark - you have two different bulges caused by different factors.

Looking at Peter's earlier point (is it caused by the rise of tec diving?), there are separate charts for the depths of dives on which the divers died, and very very few are in the technical range. No separate stats on deaths in overhead environments.

Certainly interesting reading.

 

[matt_w]

I think the most interesting statistics might be looking at people diving beyond the exact limitations of their certifications. For example people exceeding the 60 foot depth limit for newly certified (PADI) open water divers or people diving in an overhead environment without appropriate training.

For the older divers, I would be interested to see more of a breakdown in the >10 years category. I would also like to see statistics on : When the last dive prior to the fatal dive was for people in this group and the average number of dives per year they had made since being certified. A certified diver who has not dove in over 20 years and has not bolstered to take a refresher course, may be in more danger than a newly certified diver.

Yes, if you read through the appendices there are a lot of myocardial infractions, which I think is doc-speak for heart attacks. The downside to being 20-something is that you are always broke, but the upside is that you don't tend to have heart attacks.

I suspect Lynne's point is probably close to the mark - you have two different bulges caused by different factors.

Looking at Peter's earlier point (is it caused by the rise of tec diving?), there are separate charts for the depths of dives on which the divers died, and very very few are in the technical range. No separate stats on deaths in overhead environments.

Certainly interesting reading.

 

[AndrewA]

Interestingly the UK ststitics compliled by BSAC show that the greatest number of deaths are in the "Sport Diver" (AOW/RD) and Dive Leader (vaguely equivalent to DM) level. Thought to reflect the number of dives performed by diversat this qualification level. If anyone is interested the Annual Reports can be found at Annual Diving Incident Report - British Sub Aqua Club

 

[ianr33]

and very very few are in the technical range. .

But if you dont know how many uneventful dives there were in each range then its meaningless.

Very few divers have died at depths in excess of 800 feet. Does that mean its safe to dive that deep?

 

[SailNaked]

Lets see, 7 divers over 800ft at least 3 dead (from bad memory), 42% not good.

The value of any statistic is what you do with it. If we say gee the newbies are killing themselves, we should teach them better. then it is useful, if we say they are newbies sure glad I am not one I am safe, then bad on us. the stat for >10 is a wake up call, yes we are pushing the limits and most of us are getting old, but we cannot be complacent either and say "I’m not over 50 I’m safe, or I do not do deep tech stuff I’m safe or I have a billion certs and been trained by the Gods, I’m safe. we all need to remember that diving is in a hazardous environment and at any time multiple failures could end our prospects for breathing 1 atm air.

 

[founts]

As previously noted by other posters the years diving is too random of a metric. I've been certified for 10 years. 90% of my dive total was in the first 5 years of being certified. Of course,I'm trying to fix that now

 

[Rhone Man]

But if you dont know how many uneventful dives there were in each range then its meaningless.

That's true, but the question was "could all the 'experienced diver deaths' be caused by this new-fangled dangerous tec diving trend". The stats suggest probably not, as relatively few of the total deaths are connected with deep dives. It seems like lots of older divers on shallow dives.

Not suggesting for a second that ultra deep diving is a low risk sport. Just finished Diving Into Darkness - those guys are fruitcakes.

 

[karstdvr]

. New divers tend to die from complications of buoyancy problems, or from panic

I wonder how much basic OW training going away from the classroom format to e-learning or CD-ROM has an influence. True,they do get one on one in water training,but you miss some of the opportunities that you get with face time with an instructor

, the distribution of cave diving deaths is moving away from uncertified or incompletely trained divers and toward experienced people who fail to follow the basic safety rules.

If you look at the stats that have been gathered for cave diving in the recent past,it shows a paradigm shift toward trained cave diver fatalities that fall into two categories-medical issues,and exceeding experience levels. Many of these accidents showed they followed the basic rules,but many unprepared to handle the situation due to going too far,too fast,too soon.

 

[karstdvr]

But if you dont know how many uneventful dives there were in each range then its meaningless.

Very few divers have died at depths in excess of 800 feet. Does that mean its safe to dive that deep?

Only relevent if we know the number of recreational divers who have attempted this dive. If it has been 3 fatalities with 20 divers attempting the dive,then very significant.

 

[Rhone Man]

If it has been 3 fatalities with 20 divers attempting the dive,then very significant.

I think it is actually 3 out of 9 died (Shaw, Bennett and Exley - although to be fair, Bennett did not die on his record setting dive). And 3 of the 6 survivors got bent (Ellyatt, Gomes and Shirley).

Only seriously crazy people try to set diving depth records.