A lot of diving fatalities recently in one area.

[terminal]

Sep. 4, 2011 "Woman dies after diving near the Boynton Beach Inlet"
Death of female diver off Boynton Beach Inlet being investigated

Aug. 7, 2011 "Bodies Of Missing Divers Found Off Plantation Key"
Bodies Of Missing Divers Found Off Plantation Key « CBS Miami

July 27, 2011 "Diver seeking lobster dies in Upper Keys Wednesday"
Lobster diving death - Sun Sentinel

Jun. 29, 2011 "Teen dies after diving accident"
Monroe County Sheriff's Office - Florida Keys: Teen dies after diving accident

March 24, 2011 "Man dies while diving with his son"
Monroe County Sheriff's Office - Florida Keys: Man dies while diving with his son

Mar. 12, 2011 "Michigan man dies shortly after dive"
Monroe County Sheriff's Office - Florida Keys: Michigan man dies shortly after dive


There was a similar incident reported early this year in the accidents section by reefman. But the wider diver community may wish to be aware of the increase in these occurrences.

 

[Blue Sparkle]

... the wider diver community may wish to be aware of the increase in these occurrences.

terminal,

You mention an increase, so I gather you have data from multiple years. How much of an increase is there? Do you have a link to the data?

Florida has a lot of divers, and your time frame also includes lobster mini-season, which is infamous for accidents and incidents, due to the tendency for possibly "rusty" divers to brush off their gear (which has been sitting idle), and jump off a private boat to participate in a hunt that can easily take their attention away from their diving (as can any "extra" activity on a dive).

I guess I'm just wondering if there is really an increase over other years, and also if this would really be considered a "lot" of fatalities in one area (especially if we took out the lobster mini-season cases). This is not to say that any number of fatalities is okay, but just that I'm not feeling so sure that this is really extraordinary and/or increasing.

 

[Splitlip]

Nonsense post. Consider the stats. Where do people dive? Places mentioned are dive Meccas.

I hear that there are lots of drownings reported near water.

 

[bleeb]

Although it is reasonable to be concerned about each fatality, the perception that there is an increase based on news (and SB) reports is not justified by this evidence. The DAN accident report for 'fatalities in the US, Canada, or involving DAN North America members for which DAN was involved, through insurance or otherwise' shows between 70 and 110 (IIRC) per year. That's 1-2 per week, ignoring the fact that dives are believed to be at least somewhat concentrated at certain times of year. The previously posted listing doesn't even come near the 'real' frequency, and so is not really 'proof' that there's suddenly been a significant increase. Maybe there has and maybe there hasn't, but in the Internet era and the greater availability of 'news', it wouldn't be surprising to *think* you're seeing more. Personally, my vague impressions is that I'm not seeing an obviously significantly greater number of posts in SB A&I than previous summers. FWIW.

 

[The Chairman]

There are far more shark attacks in knee deep water simply because there are far more people in knee deep water. Mark Twain said it best: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics!"

 

[cloudswinger]

The distance from Boynton Beach to the Upper Keys is pretty far, over 100 miles. There's a huge community of local divers and a lot of tourist divers. There's probably someone diving every day around here.

I guess an informal survey could be done by searching the Monroe County Sheriffs Office site, Monroe county being the county that the Keys are in. There seemed to be plenty that were not discussed on SB. Fatalities seem pretty regular down there. Most seem to be tourist divers, and seem to have trouble at the surface.

Boynton Beach in not in Monroe county, btw.

 

[koozemani]

Nonsense post. Consider the stats. Where do people dive? Places mentioned are dive Meccas.

I hear that there are lots of drownings reported near water.

Not a whole lot of diving fatalities here in Tucson. This must be one of the safer diving cities then.

 

[Splitlip]

Not a whole lot of diving fatalities here in Tucson. This must be one of the safer diving cities then.

Heck, I forgot about the Santa Cruz.

But for what it's worth, I looked at dozens of threads on the AI forum. Do you know what most of them had in common? Water!

 

[terminal]

Sep 12, 2011 Davie man's diving death is fifth off South Florida shores in recent months
Robert Hocke: Davie man's diving death is fifth off South Florida shores in recent months - Sun Sentinel

Aug 2011 Last month, a Fort Lauderdale man died after diving with a group on a private vessel off Hollywood Beach. William "Billy" Teeples, 35, was using a dive system comprised of an onboard air compressor and hose. He later was found floating in the Atlantic and was taken to shore by lifeguards


"Hocke's death is at least the fifth diving-related fatality off South Florida and the Keys since July, according to news reports.

Even though some of those who recently died were experienced divers, the Coast Guard urges people to thoroughly train, and "to keep safety at the forefront of every maritime outing," Petty Officer Nick Ameen said Monday.

"The death of one diver is one too many, and can usually be avoided through proper equipment maintenance and thorough training," Ameen said."

 

[terminal]

Sep 21,2011 Another diving death in South Florida.
Man dies while scuba diving in South Florida waters, near Lake Worth Inlet | The Republic

This makes six diving deaths in this region since July.
By comparison, the heavily dived San Diego region, now beginning its lobster diving season, has had in the most recent 4 year period a total of 10 diving fatalities.