What kills ya? I'd like to avoid if possible

[divebomb]

Again...you folks rock! :guitar: I've gotten into several outdoor activities, but the support group for diving is pretty hot. I've gotten great answers for everything I've posted so far.

Thanks, Beck

 

[narcT]

Don Burke once bubbled...
Hi Bomb,

The number 1 cause of death in divers is drowning.

You can run out of air stuck somewhere. You can get yourself so tired that you surface out of sight of the boat and drift off to oblivion. You can jump in the water grossly overweighted with your tank valve shut. You can panic at depth, spit out your regulator, and try to breathe water. If you are dealing with very deep diving, or oxygen enriched gasses (or both) you can oxtox yourself, have a convulsion and spit out your regulator while unconcious. I'm sure there are some ways of drowning while diving that I've forgotten.

Behind drowning, there are expansion problems which fall into two categories:

DCS - the fizzy soda bottle problem

Embolism - Your lungs are like a balloon in an eggshell. Once they are full, adding more is a very bad thing. The lungs get most of the press, but other parts of the body can get you too.

Also behind drowning is the ever-present heart attack. A long swim in a nasty current may do someone in if he isn't in shape.

Getting attacked by critters gets some press, but it's pretty rare unless you go looking for trouble.

The bottom line is to never hold your breath on SCUBA, dive with a buddy, do your gear checks, monitor your gas supply, don't get inside or under anything (wreck, pipe, cave, etc) without proper training, be aware of how you are going to get out of where you are and back to your starting point, ascend slowly, watch your health, don't go looking for trouble, and stay within your training..

Take it slow and you'll be fine.

Have to disagree with you on this one, the number 1 cause of death in divers is stupidity

 

[Bob3]

The number 1 cause of death in divers is drowning.

(I'm not going to argue the "stupidity" part)
#2 cause (correct me if I'm wrong) is getting run over by a boat at the surface.

 

[Don Burke]

narcT once bubbled... Have to disagree with you on this one, the number 1 cause of death in divers is stupidity

There isn't a block to check for that on most autopsy forms.

 

[DandyDon]

Bob3 once bubbled...

(I'm not going to argue the "stupidity" part)
#2 cause (correct me if I'm wrong) is getting run over by a boat at the surface.

NO: 48 out of 77 drowned, perhaps with other causes;

10 weren't found;

9 died of Gas Embolism;

4 Asphyxia;

2 Cardiac;

2 DCS;

1 Acute Pulmonary Edema;

1 Head Trauma

 

[Karl_in_Calif]

Don Burke once bubbled...

quote:
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Big-t-2538 once bubbled... Chickdiver...meet Karl (instructor extrodinaire)....Karl meet Chickdiver....
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I wouldn't miss this for the world.

Hey, if she is a tech diving instructor, she outranks me!

Whatever she says is right.

 

[DeputyDan]

Never ever do anything stupid.

Never ever hold your breath.

Anything else - see one above.

 

[cdennyb]

hey there Kentucky Diver (welcome to the group)...this IS ROCKET SCIENCE. Just in case you didn't really think about in detail, just like I used to take it for granted for years, being a diver is so similiar to being a astronaut it isn't a joking matter. Especially for the enclosed space divers! Think about this...you leave the safety of your vessel (space shuttle), through the air lock (side wall gate), then enter the water (space), insert you breathing equipment (space suit), [not necessarily in this order but you know what I mean] then float weightless while you explore. If you loose your breathing gas for whatever reeason you're just as dead either place (space or underwater). In ever instance of an emergency there is NO ESCAPE. You have to stay focused and 'work' the problem, hopefully with a qualified trusted partner. The quality of your equipment has to compare with the stuff an astronaut uses and failures result in death majority of the time! (i.e. panic)...so you know, it is like a space walk, every time we hit the water. Be safe, happy diving or space walking, whatever you imagine it to be. I've always thought this would be as close to space as I would ever get, for the past 26 years of diving to be exact. Carry on...

db

 

[Zept]

I asked the same question when I learned to dive. I read a lot of reports on dive accidents and came up with four main causes of death (in no particular order):

1. Heart attacks.
2. Panic (generally followed by a breath-holding ascent).
3. Being cosmically stupid (the sort of accident where you read the report and go, 'What were they thinking?!').
4. Compounding problems (when a bunch of small things go wrong, often when the diver is doing something new, and they don't quit while the situation is still manageable).

Z

 

[BrettM]

It is excellent that you are asking this question. You have many great posts to consider and as many have mentioned diving is actually a very safe hobby as long as you do not push the limits of your training and physical ability. Panic is your worst enemy and probably the leading cause of the behaivors that cause fatal diving incidents.

Have a good dive partner, learn to dive comfortably with eachother, know eachother's gear inside and out and when diving don't be lulled into a sense of complacency and wander away from easy access to eachother. Ask yourself, if you had your mask come off at the same time your regulator and octo failed what is the farthest from your dive buddy would you want to be. Then try to stay within that distance.

Stick with dive groups, you are less likely to get lost or to lose the boat on your return to the surface.

I like having a safety sausage for use on the surface and either a whistle or dive alert surface horn. I can't say that they have saved my life but they have definately helped me to get the attention of oncoming boats in high traffic areas when our group had surfaced farther away from our own boat than expected.

Diving is safe and fun for folks properly trained and diving within their limits. Enjoy!