How Dangerous is Scuba Diving?

When I talk about diving with friends and relatives, they all seem to have the same view: They think that recreational scuba diving is a dangerous sport. I think this perception is common: Media reports of scuba incidents are prominently publicized, while more mundane injuries and fatalities receive less attention.

I have also noted the tendency by some within the sport to portray recreational scuba diving as a "dangerous" sport.

Recently here in San Diego, we have had several scuba fatalities. Some of these fatalities have been due to heart attacks or drownings, and one or two others have been due to gross negligence. These kinds of details make the analysis more difficult, I am sure. Nevertheless, it seems to me that one could rank various sports by gross numbers of incidents.

So my question is this: Is scuba diving a "dangerous" sport? Relative to what? Does anyone have any data? How does scuba compare with other activities?

My take is that it is not dangerous.

From what I have read in incident reports, a large portion of the people hurt or killed were basically asking for it.

It's a sport that requires risk management with the ultimate risk of death.

Injury by equipment complications is likely much lower than injury due to operator error.

I would say the sport is only as dangerous as you allow it to be.

This may be what you're looking for. it show riding a bike to be 8 times more dangerous.

How Safe Is Diving?

People do die as a result of diving, no question.
Most often, according to medical examiners who work in diving locales, as a result of 'an undiagnosed medical condition" (read: heart) triggered by the physical effort required in diving.
Which, by itself, does not have to be considerable, but unexpectedly adverse conditions might require extreme exertion. Recognizing those conditions, and avoiding them, is part of the process of becoming a capable diver. Also: stay in reasonable shape.

"Drowning" actually is relatively rare in scuba, if you stay out of caves or the bowels of shipwrecks.

There are dive-related medical conditions - aneurisms, et al - that can kill or disable.

But you can easily get killed driving to the grocery store. Do you give up driving?
No, because it take you where you need to go, or where you want to go for fun.

That's diving for many of us. We enjoy diving more than most other things. We need to do it. There's a risk. We think the joys and immeasurable delights far outweigh the risks taken by reasonable and prudent divers.

Mike Boswell:

Recently here in San Diego, we have had several scuba fatalities. Some of these fatalities have been due to heart attacks or drownings, and one or two others have been due to gross negligence. These kinds of details make the analysis more difficult, I am sure. Nevertheless, it seems to me that one could rank various sports by gross numbers of incidents.

So my question is this: Is scuba diving a "dangerous" sport? Relative to what? Does anyone have any data? How does scuba compare with other activities?

Click to expand...

Like most things in life, it's exactly as dangerous as you make it.

At the "safe" end of the spectrum, if you have good training, and dive well within your training and capabilities you could easily go your entire lifetime with no significant injuries.

If you're a huge "thrill seeker" or a world-class dumbass, you could have a life expectancy measured in minutes.

And there's an entire range in the middle where your actions will increase or decrease your risk of death or injury.

A friend had a close brush with death because of a rebreather problem (actually, AFAIK, a rebreather operator problem). I don't dive rebreathers, so I'll never have a problem with one.

Another friend nearly died because of several poor decisions, including swapping out a bent computer for a non-bent gauge to continue a series of dives. I hope to never rise to this level of Darwin ball-kicking, but if I do, you should tell everybody I was a dumbass.

The list goes on. If you do risky or dumb things, your chances of having Something Bad happen increase. If you dive conservatively, with a good buddy and respect your training and limits, SCUBA doesn't need to be any more dangerous than fishing or walking to the grocery store.

Terry

Mike Boswell:

So my question is this: Is scuba diving a "dangerous" sport? Relative to what? Does anyone have any data? How does scuba compare with other activities?

Click to expand...

Here's how I put it in context for my non-diving wife:

Scuba diving like driving a car. It's very easy to have an accident, but it's very easy to NOT have an accident.

Diving is not inherently DANGEROUS, but there are inherent RISKS. Through proper training, planning and execution, diving is as safe as just about any other sporting/athletic activity.

Diving is an inherently dangerous sport. Training and experience can reduce your risk but it’s still a dangerous sport.

A friend and I made a single 70 foot dive, multilevel with no vertical assent, and a good safety stop. We both had computers and were well within the no DECO limits. We were diving out of kayaks, when we got back she couldn’t get out of her kayak. It turned out that she couldn’t get out of her kayak because she was paralyzed from the waist down. Fortunately she made a full recovery after several chamber dives.

Sitting here I can think of eight other friends and acquaintances off the top of my head that have done some chamber time for no apparent reason. I’ve made a few chamber dives myself.
Bottom line is that you never know when it’s going to be your turn.

Water Monkey:

A friend and I made a single 70 foot dive, multilevel with no vertical assent, and a good safety stop. We both had computers and were well within the no DECO limits. We were diving out of kayaks, when we got back she couldn’t get out of her kayak. It turned out that she couldn’t get out of her kayak because she was paralyzed from the waist down. Fortunately she made a full recovery after several chamber dives...

...Bottom line is that you never know when it’s going to be your turn.

Click to expand...

Another take-home message from Water Monkey's kayak-diving story is that strenuous post-dive physical activity increases the probability of DCS. There are "unexpected" and expected/likely DCS hits. I'd venture a guess that the friend's hit falls into the latter category. Ocean kayaking is a lot of fun and a great work-out. Doing a dive and then paddling for shore just seems like a bad idea to me. Just my 2 psi...

A college student from my home town just made the news last week. He did an emergency ascent from 135 and is currently paralyzed. Another person in that town made news too that day. He was killed in a sledding accident. The point - nothing is completely safe. Plan your dives for the worse case scenario, know your limits, dive your plan and the rest is what it is.