How dangerous is diving?

[faze]

OK, I know - it's an old chestnut but one that is difficult to answer when asked.

I was prompted by a comment from my Dad who matter of factly said that diving was macho and that's why I do it... my own fault really as in the past I always went for the stuff that I thought would get the girls... but I am now 38 with two kids!

Skiing is his preferred pursuit.

Trying to compare the safety records of the two sports is difficult if not pointless to say the least - it all depends on what type of diving, what type of skiing and as ever whether or not the accidents were the result of complete stupidity.

My only thought is - I have never been injured diving, I have never been injured skiing. Both my Dad and brother have, on the other hand been injured skiing (we always ski together). So that tells me, nothing (other than I don't want to dive with them ).

But back to my original question - how dangerous is diving? and as an aside - as I used to strap on my ski's with little or no planning - is our training and approach so materially different to other sports that what is a generally risky activity is rendered safe?

 

[Dr. Lecter]

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

 

[ajduplessis]

Just as dangerous as crossing a road or driving to the office. If you are not aware of what you are doing, understanding the "rules" or careless you will get hurt.

 

[rhwestfall]

Just as dangerous as crossing a road or driving to the office. If you are not aware of what you are doing, understanding the "rules" or careless you will get hurt.

that about sums it up

 

[faze]

Completely get the crossing the road analogy and do point out that the most dangerous part of my dive trips is the drive to the airport... actually it's the pick up the other side - I am a far better driver than any other man .

Doesn't help when trying to fight the dive corner with the uninitiated though.

 

[Tortuga68]

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)

 

[graham_s]

I have roughly equal numbers of friends who dive/ski.
All of the skiers have had serious injuries at some point, half of them have had to be pinned back together.
None of the divers have had diving related injuries.
There are parallels though, both sports have what I call "the danger phase"
This is the stage in your progress through the sport where you are just good enough to get into serious trouble, but without the experience to know when thins are about to go wrong.

 

[Token]

I would say that diving is quite safe, butonly if you pay strict attention to the well-known safety rules and practices. The consequences of not doing this is where the danger originates.

 

[USFpsychDiver]

I ski, and ski (some of) the double-blacks off the ridge at Taos. I dive and am a (beginning) cave diver. Those are supposed to be at the 'risky' ends of the respective sports. I do push myself more in skiing because I expect a few falls and know that a mistake is unlikely to be fatal (I'm also a more experienced skier than diver); I make mistakes diving cave as well (I have put a finger down more than once) but don't push the edge nearly as much. I think skiing takes more body/muscle/mental control -- things are moving fast and the smallest timing error in the steep moguls and it's a tumble; diving has more time for recovery but a failure to recover doesn't mean a sprain or broken bone, it means dead.

You can, of course, figure these things out, given the proper data: how many people did the activity and didn't die, how many people did the activity and did die, how many people didn't do the activity and didn't die, how many people didn't do the activity and did die. You compare the mortality rate from the activity to the mortality base rate (controlling for all other factors) and come up with a risk figure.

Of course the most dangerous part of either skiing or diving is the drive to the site.

 

[DevonDiver]

how dangerous is diving?

The simple answer: As dangerous as the individual diver permits it to be.

Factors that influence risk:

1) Diving beyond the threshold where experience, training and knowledge allow the mitigation of risks.
2) Diving with medical conditions.
3) Whether taught procedures are diligently applied, or abandoned.
4) Diving with ineffective equipment or protocols for the activity undertaken or location dived.