How dangerous is diving?

[faze]

So are we all sitting on the fence...?

Diving can be dangerous if?/Diving is dangerous because?
Skiing can be diving if?/ Skiing is dangerous because?

Both are always dangerous if? (Please substitute Skiing for any number of sports - I only elected for skiing for personal purposes)

Does the WAY that we approach our sport make a difference - is there any other sport other than flying that demands as much training?

 

[windapp]

Here in China, about 30 people a year die in elevator accidents. So take the stairs (sorry I have no stats on stair related deaths)

All of which are during maintenance tasks. There are virtually zero elevator related deaths from normal use ever since Otis invented the braking system that, in its modern form, is used in all elevators in the world....and five more characters.

---------- Post Merged at 03:38 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 03:31 PM ----------

I would say that diving is not more dangerous, just more unforgiving. Furthermore, the degree of unforgivingness increases exponentially with the degree of stupidity.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Depending on the level of training and education diving is as risky as any other pursuit that involves strapping on some type of mechanical device to exist for an extended period of time in an environment that is normally hostile to human life. Unless you're a Kennedy and ski head first into trees, it's unlikely that a fall will kill you. Screw up underwater and there is a good chance that you may be seriously injured or killed. Run out of air just as you exhale your last breath and you may drown. Enter an overhead and lose the exit and you may drown. Hit the surface and not be able to get positive - you may drown. Flip off a great white - you get eaten. Of course flip off a bear or sasquatch on the slopes and you'll get eaten or ripped limb from limb. So each has it's dangers. Just what is your own level of acceptable risk and more importantly - acceptable consequences.

 

[phoenix31tt]

the problem is the question is loaded lol... it already implies that diving is dangerous..

my 2 cents... diving CAN be very dangerous as minor (easily avoidable) situations can lead to serious injury or death...

but diving CAN also be very safe, as long as you are a safe and responsible diver (i.e. follow proper procedure)...

so as someone once said before, diving is as dangerous as you make it...

 

[Frosty]

Im in another "danger" sport being circuit motorcycle racing,
In my opinion actually taking part in the sport of scuba diving is a LOT safer than skiing or in my case motor sport.
The main reason is that under most conditions when scuba diving you are responsible for your own safety and the biggest danger to you is --YOU.
With motor racing you are at the mercy of other people and their actions.
Over the past 25 years racing the only time Ive actually been hurt is as a result of other people actions or lack of actions.
From My POV Diving is as safe as I make it -other sports are as safe as everybody makes it and you have to defer to the lowest common denominator.

 

[nimoh]

Im in another "danger" sport being circuit motorcycle racing,
In my opinion actually taking part in the sport of scuba diving is a LOT safer than skiing or in my case motor sport.
The main reason is that under most conditions when scuba diving you are responsible for your own safety and the biggest danger to you is --YOU.
With motor racing you are at the mercy of other people and their actions.
Over the past 25 years racing the only time Ive actually been hurt is as a result of other people actions or lack of actions.
From My POV Diving is as safe as I make it -other sports are as safe as everybody makes it and you have to defer to the lowest common denominator.

I agree, diving generally has more potential for the participant to be in control of the situation than skiing (or motorcycle racing). However, if you lose control in skiing (or motorcycle racing), you can probably just lay down and survive it, while in diving you might not realize that you have lost control of the situation until it's too late (e.g. your regs still breathe fine and everything seems fine and dandy even though you don't have enough gas to get out of the overhead and you're already dead).

 

[FM1520]

It depends.

But to generalize, I'd describe the difference as one of likely bad outcomes: skiing punishes error on a much more gradated scale than diving, where errors are more likely to be fatal. Unless of course you're playing in Alaska or Granite Canyon

Exactly. Well said.

 

[FoxHound]

i think like what most have said here.....it really depends.

people tell me i'm nuts because I jump out of airplanes yet everyone always tells me they want to learn how to dive, a very very very small percentage of those people will ever show interest in skydiving....and even if they do, it will only be once to say they did it.

skydiving....to me its fairly safe, its extremely regulated and i have a backup. Generally speaking I have only one thing I have/can do when something goes wrong and I have the rest of my life to do it....and that is cutaway/go to reserve

With diving, there are a ton of different things that can go wrong, most of which cause panic, most of which can turn something minimal to life threatening just with the onset of panic. I have to go through my head to figure out what is wrong and make the correct action....again i have the rest of my life to figure it out.

The way I see it, is yes there are all sorts of dangers in diving but there is also tons you can do to bring those dangers down to a very minimal level so that you can dive safely and really enjoy what you are doing.

As in any sport, if you are doing something outside of your training, skill level, without the proper equipment......there is a chance you might get away with it, but there is a very high chance you will end up dead.

 

[drrich2]

I found a collection of fatality statistics that includes scuba diving. http://http://www.besthealthdegrees.com/health-risks/. I don't know how reliable they are.

Be careful with such statistics. When someone gives you a '1 in x thousand' number, ask:

1.) Is that per dive?

2.) Per day of diving?

3.) Per diver per year where you dive at least once in that year?

4.) Per diver per year, regardless of whether you dove or not?

5.) Per diver over the course of their whole lives?

Numbers can vary hugely, as can their meanings.

It's like someone comparing the odds of serious shark attack vs. the risk of dying in your bathroom. Your bathroom will sound deadly by comparison. But how much time does the average person spend in bathrooms, vs. in the ocean? So, your odds while you are standing in the ocean at a given time are a bit different than the comparison would suggest.

Richard.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Linedog]

Diving is not dangerous, it's serious.