Although talking about diving accidents is often not a lot of fun, it can be useful. Learning from others' mistakes can help you prevent a similar accident in the future. To that end, DAN has recently made available its
2006 Diving Report on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities and Project Dive Exploration. I looked over it this weekend, and while it's not a knee-slapping good read, it is somewhat illuminating. For example, I learned that:
- Of the 160 reported dive fatalities in 2006, 88 were US/Canada residents.
- 42% of the fatalities in the US occurred in the Southeast Region (North Carolina to Florida, Tennessee and Alabama).
- Most fatalities occurred to people aged 50-59.
- Most fatalities occurred to people who were obese.
- 64% of fatalities were designated as drowning deaths.
The report has a lot more information within it, and so it's worth checking out. However, since it's kind of gruesome, if you're having a bad day, it might be better to wait until tomorrow to look at. Only DAN members can access the report, so if you're not a member, you'll have to ask a friend to print out a copy for you, or rely on the statistics I provided.
1. It is obviously in your best interest to link scuba deaths to the diver's health/condition. My sister was a 15 year experienced diver, meticulous about her equipment, was a size 4, 150 cholesterol and died during a scuba death in Turks/caicos. When they have no obvious cause they state "drowning". Then DAN does not publish these peoples's names/stories as to further put a new diver into a false sense of security whilst putting their lives on the line. I am amazed that I have never been able to locate any information, news story... about my sister's death. Also, do you count those who have mysteriously died after returning home from a scuba trip?? I've heard of 2 others who died in "their sleep" within days of coming off a scuba trip.
Posted at 4:55PM on Feb 27th 2009 by LD