deco_martini
Contributor
The report for 2008 is out.
http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/report/2008DANDivingReport.pdf
Things of note:
Positive correlation between obesity and incidents.
Positive correlation between age and incidents.
Positive correlation between _experience_ and incidents.
If you are a male diver over 50 with obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and 10 plus years of diving experience: you fit the profile. Those correlations are could be due to the diving demographic itself. If the demographic skews towards older men with obesity, then this could just reflect that.
The number 1 piece of equipment in incidents which failed......
Computers (followed by masks and fins).
Diving fatalities in the report are so sparse, that lobster mini-season skews the results.
Of people who died because of air embolisms, over half were due to panic (and the resulting ascent). Panic bad.
Of people who died to coronaries while diving, well, they fit the profile basically.
Some of the fatality reports are quite sad.
This 47-year-old male possessed instructor and technical diving certifications and he experimented with modifications he made to a rebreather apparatus. The diver's medical history was significant for epilepsy. He and a buddy were performing a dive at a quarry using a shore entry into very cold water and with poor visibility. The victim had an equipment problem approximately 15 minutes into the dive after reaching a maximum depth of 105 ft (32 m). He and his dive buddy ascended rather quickly and then became separated at an 80 ffw (24 mfw) stop. The dive buddy made two more stops and went to the surface. Other divers on the surface heard someone yell and then saw the victim floating unconscious on the surface. Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. According to the investigation the victim knew that his rebreather was malfunctioning and planned to use it in semi-closed-circuit mode to compensate. An examination of the equipment revealed that it was out of specifications, with malfunctioning sensors and an improperly packed carbon dioxide scrubber. The diluent gas tank was also empty. The report also stated that the victim had been drinking beverages containing alcohol until four o'clock the morning of this dive.
There are so many things wrong with that dive.
http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/report/2008DANDivingReport.pdf
Things of note:
Positive correlation between obesity and incidents.
Positive correlation between age and incidents.
Positive correlation between _experience_ and incidents.
If you are a male diver over 50 with obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and 10 plus years of diving experience: you fit the profile. Those correlations are could be due to the diving demographic itself. If the demographic skews towards older men with obesity, then this could just reflect that.
The number 1 piece of equipment in incidents which failed......
Computers (followed by masks and fins).
Diving fatalities in the report are so sparse, that lobster mini-season skews the results.
Of people who died because of air embolisms, over half were due to panic (and the resulting ascent). Panic bad.
Of people who died to coronaries while diving, well, they fit the profile basically.
Some of the fatality reports are quite sad.
This 47-year-old male possessed instructor and technical diving certifications and he experimented with modifications he made to a rebreather apparatus. The diver's medical history was significant for epilepsy. He and a buddy were performing a dive at a quarry using a shore entry into very cold water and with poor visibility. The victim had an equipment problem approximately 15 minutes into the dive after reaching a maximum depth of 105 ft (32 m). He and his dive buddy ascended rather quickly and then became separated at an 80 ffw (24 mfw) stop. The dive buddy made two more stops and went to the surface. Other divers on the surface heard someone yell and then saw the victim floating unconscious on the surface. Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. According to the investigation the victim knew that his rebreather was malfunctioning and planned to use it in semi-closed-circuit mode to compensate. An examination of the equipment revealed that it was out of specifications, with malfunctioning sensors and an improperly packed carbon dioxide scrubber. The diluent gas tank was also empty. The report also stated that the victim had been drinking beverages containing alcohol until four o'clock the morning of this dive.
There are so many things wrong with that dive.
