Safer than bowling?

[jponline77]

I had a little laugh to myself when, during my OW class, my instructor says "Diving is safer than bowling, it is proven less injuries than bowling."

To me the absurtity of the comparison is not debatable. In my mind, the obviousness of the attempt to misguide is clear.

a) comparing sprained ankles to DCS is not a very good comparison
b) even given that, when most people think safety they think fatalities and I haven't heard of many bowling fatalities

At any rate, what I am interested in getting opinions on is... is misguiding new OW recruits bad or good?

1) A large risk for injury/death in diving is panic. Calming peoples nerves before learning to dive can be a good thing????
2) This can lull people into a false sense of security. If I treated scuba diving like I treat bowling, I would treat holding my breath while ascending with the same lack of care as I do bowling with my shoelaces untied.

Thoughts?

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Seems to me a bit misguided to downplay the risks associated with diving. They are real and they can be deadly. We manage them through training, awareness and practice, not by silly comparisons that make us feel safer than we may actually be.

 

[ShoalDiverSA]

I have only heard this "fact" referred to in jest. The comparison I have heard is with lawn bowls, not ten-pin bowling. Due to the demographic of lawn bowls participants (older people), more people die playing lawn bowls (heart attack on the green) than scuba diving.

If it is being sold as anything other than a joke, especially by an instructor, I consider it irresponsible. The last thing new divers need is inheriting a lax attitude to safety due to the risks being downplayed by their instructor.

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[MikeFerrara]

There were some old stats shown in the PADI instructor materials, if I remember right that compared the injury incident rate of various sports. Diving and bowling came out close, however, I have never heard of a fatal bowling accident and I've never had to rescue anyone on a bowling alley or search for a missing bowler.

You're already in the class so what is the instructor trying to convince you of?

I guess the question is, do you feel better knowing that your chances of suffering a fatal lung over expansion injury aren't any worse than the chances of a broken fingernail while bowling?

I'd find another class.

 

[Diver0001]

At any rate, what I am interested in getting opinions on is... is misguiding new OW recruits bad or good?

Well... The comparison to bowling is idiotic, isn't it? Doesn't sound like you needed anyone else to confirm that for you...

1) A large risk for injury/death in diving is panic. Calming peoples nerves before learning to dive can be a good thing????

That won't help anything once the faeces is flying. What you need to teach people isn't how to be calm *before* they're diving, it's how to be calm when something unexpected happens under water....I guarantee you that there isn't a single person alive who, in the middle of a major indicent, thought, "I'm gonna be ok....this is safer than bowling..."

2) This can lull people into a false sense of security. If I treated scuba diving like I treat bowling, I would treat holding my breath while ascending with the same lack of care as I do bowling with my shoelaces untied.

There are all kinds of lulls into false senses of security in diving. The bowling comparison, spare-air, DIR, bungee this, gizmo that, the length of your spg hose, which manufacturers thingamajig you use......a magic hand signal, acting like superman on scubaboard....... It's everywhere you look. People want (maybe *need*) to believe that they're going to be ok. It makes them feel better and reality sucks.

R..

 

[shakeybrainsurgeon]

Statistics are misleading when it comes to determining how safe something is. Judging by cardiac deaths at night, sleeping is a dangerous activity.

The most common cause of accidental death or serious injury, other than motor vehicle accidents? Stairways. Yes, just walking down the stairs is dangerous.

The better point would be that diving CAN be safer than bowling if done correctly, not that diving is intrinsically safe in and of itself. Common sense tells us that anytime we are out of our element (flying in the sky or abandoning the atmosphere underwater or in space), we face danger.

 

[brutus_scuba]

Well randomly it's funny this comparison is being made now because two weeks ago I was taking a group of college freshman bowling as part of a group they are involved on in campus and we had to take two of them to the hospital that night. One had a seizure and the other got busted in the mouth with a bowling ball.

 

[terrasmak]

Havnt heard of a bowling death yet , but my coworker tore his ACL when he slipped bowling .

 

[markr]

Several years ago I saw a book titled "How to lie with numbers". If I remember correctly statements like the one the instructor made were covered in one chapter.

There probably are far fewer accidents in diving then in bowling. That's assuming you compare the absolute number of accidents not the percentage of participants having accidents. Basically, there's a lot more people bowling then there are diving.

You hear the same type of statistic thrown around when people compare the various certification agencies. You've all probably seen the comment "The diver on the boat having a problem is most likely PADI certified." The comment is probably true, but the following statement is also normally true. "The divers on the boat NOT having a problem are most likely PADI certified." Because more divers are certified with PADI , more PADI divers have problems, and more also don't.

If you want som creative use of statistics watch some of the political advertisments. You'll see two different candidates use identical statistics to prove opposite points of view.

 

[Walter]

An instructor who lies with those numbers is asking for trouble. A diver assumes a risk when he begins to dive. If he's unaware of the risk, he cannot assume it. One of an instructor's duties is to fairly explain the risks of diving. You should be told of swimmers ear and many other issues including, but not limited to, DCS, pneumothorax, and AGE.