Solo diving accidents?

[scottfiji]

I think it's an interesting area of research. While a deeply devisive emotional issue, is there objective statistical evidence to either demonstrate or disprove that properly planned and executed solo diving is more dangerous?

Just to be clear, I never implied solo diving is more or less dangerous than non-solo diving. That could be an interesting topic, on a different thread.

Don't dwell on the negative, only think of the positive. Solo diving has a positive risk profile , if your trained and ready

Learning from past accidents and mistakes is not negative, its prudent, in my opinion. Since a great deal of my diving is solo, I wish to learn about past accidents solo divers have had. If you know of an experience a solo diver has had (death, bends, etc), and you wish to share it, please post on this thread.

 

[budgy]

Technique is often developed because of negative incident/accidents. Standing on one leg taking off a fin at the end of a dive resulted in me falling over and losing a fin it was an £80 mistake and on another occasion the difficulty of getting ashore in big waves, made me realise I had to learn to put on and take off fins floating on my back.

 

[ArcticDiver]

From what has been posted I'm not sure what the purpose of this thread is. I'd have a better idea of just how to contribute if you could clarify just what it is that you are trying to do.

 

[scottfiji]

From what has been posted I'm not sure what the purpose of this thread is. I'd have a better idea of just how to contribute if you could clarify just what it is that you are trying to do.

Sure, no problem.

I've read through a lot of DAN accident reports (e.g - death, DCS), but most of those reports seem to be new divers, people who lost their buddies, heart attacks, etc. Solo divers to me seem in general to be more prepared, and more comfortable in the water; in fact I don't remember reading any accident reports regarding people who decided before hand to dive solo, but I'm sure they happen.

Anyways, I could theorize all day what could happen to a solo diver (smash head on a rock, get caught in a net and drown, run out of air), but I wanted to know what the most common accidents actually are with people who dive solo. It just helps me make proper risk assessment. Since I dive solo alot, I want to know what to be cautious about, based on actual incidents. I think its a good way to learn.

 

[Diver0001]

I don't think the range of problems you could encounter as a solo diver is any different than what you saw in the DAN report. The difference is that there will be nobody else there to help you with it. Just go back to the DAN report and ask yourself for every incident what you would have done if you were alone.

Think especially about divers who needed medical help. Without a buddy, who will notify the EMS? An evacuation is the one time that you really *need* your buddy and can't compensate with good procedures/equipment etc. Avoidance is absolutely crucial.

Case in point. A friend of mine got his leg jammed between two rocks and fell over and broke his leg during the entry on a shore dive. Without a buddy he would have needed to get himself back out of the water and crawl the 300 metres back to the car with a compound fracture of his lower leg......BAH! How would you deal with that (how would avoid it happening) as a solo diver?

R..

 

[captain]

I don't believe the medical issue ( heart attack, injury, etc.) is a solo diving issue. I had heart bypass surgery 5 years ago and dive solo. We all do a lot of things where help is not available should the unexpected happen. Solo diving does not increase the risk of the event occuring. If help in the event of a medical emergency was our primary concern we would never allow ourselves to be alone.

Captain

 

[DORSETBOY]

sometimes, the sites at which i solo dive can be quite isolated and I may be the only person there, if I have an accident or medical emergency then I need either to be able to deal with it myself or accept the risks of not being able to do so such as if something extreme happened eg having a heart attack inwater.

 

[Diver0001]

I don't believe the medical issue ( heart attack, injury, etc.) is a solo diving issue. I had heart bypass surgery 5 years ago and dive solo. We all do a lot of things where help is not available should the unexpected happen. Solo diving does not increase the risk of the event occuring. If help in the event of a medical emergency was our primary concern we would never allow ourselves to be alone.

Captain

Your right, the medical issues in and of themselves are not inherent to diving solo and neither does solo diving increase the chance of the event occurring.

But risk management isn't all about chance.... It's also about consequences.

Let's not put our collective heads in the sand about this. If something were to happen (like my friend who broke his leg) you need to deal with it alone. And even though the chance of something happening may be the same (or even less) the consequences can become more severe if you're alone....

It's too easy and imho naive to just say "it will never happen to me". Murphy can hear you thinking that. Believe me.

R..

 

[captain]

We all have read the stories of the person whose car runs off the road without being seen and that person is trapped and unable to summons help and is found hours or days later. If it happened to me I would have to deal with it alone. If I am not found and die in my car am I any less dead than if I were solo diving and got trapped. The point is I accept the general risk in both activities but unless the risk of a particular event happening is known how can risk management help me in any and all circumstances.

Captain

 

[DORSETBOY]

just an example in my opinion of risk management in solo diving is whether you carry a medical kit, does it include O2? (mine doesnt at the moment but has in the past), perhaps as important is whether you're trained in O2 delivery procedures and basic first aid. There are of course lots of other things that you can do for risk management.