NTSB-like clearinghouse for diving accidents?

[Silent Diver]

Since 1964 in the UK the British Sub Aqua Club, (BSAC), has been collecting information about all diving incidents, its gets this information from a number of sources including the Coastguard, RNLI, SAR Forces and the divers themselves the collated and organized information is then made public every year BSAC also uses the information to review its training methods and make changes as it sees fit it is also a great resource for tracking accident trends if you are so inclined or as is is the case with most divers in the UK we use it at as a learning tool.

If anyone is interested you can download last years report here: Annual Diving Incident Report - BSAC

 

[KeysCuda]

The Florida Keys Keynoter newspaper in the Keys started keeping its own statistics on local dive deaths several years ago because, it turned out, nobody else was.
We (yes, I have a little something to do with the Keynoter) found that odd, as well.
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office (in the person of longtime information officer Becky Herrin) does an excellent job, but because of jurisdictional issues or circumstances, the sheriff's office might not have reports on every local dive-related death.
The sheriff's office files a report on most dive deaths, but the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission or the Coast Guard may wind up as the lead agency. No one at the government level compiles reports from different agencies.

Keynoter numbers are purely for our own purposes ( like "...the seventh dive-related death of the year..." references) and largely accurate. Or at least, few can dispute them - no one else has anything more official.

Factoids I've learned over the years:
- Diving deaths are not counted as boating deaths. Where is the statistical line drawn? When a diver voluntarily steps off a boat. Drown after falling off a boat, or on a sinking boat, it's a boating accident. Step off the platform, it's not.
- What's the lead state agency when an airplane crashes at sea? The highway patrol.

 

[tep]

- What's the lead state agency when an airplane crashes at sea? The highway patrol.

WTF?!?!? Really? On the other hand, why am I really surprised?

I'll have to see who investigates such things here in CA

 

[KeysCuda]

WTF?!?!? Really? On the other hand, why am I really surprised?

I'll have to see who investigates such things here in CA

That is true. I guess the reasoning is that they have more accident-investigation experience. The state marine agency, the FWC, has designated investigators for boating accidents, but there are far fewer boat accidents and boat-accident investigators.