So, what actually KILLS divers?

BlueGirlGoes · Aug 20, 2003

Bear with me here, please. I'm a new diver, and I just read the DAN accident and fatality reports from 2001. Some things I understand. Some things I don't. And I'm veerrry interested in understanding this. Here are some of the reasons I've seen.

1. Get separated from your buddy.

I don't know what happens after that, but for a lot of people, the Death Fairy shows up. Solution: buddy lanyard. If I'm going down, *you're* going down.

2. Be a drunken idiot cave diving or similar without ever actually being certified to dive.

Don't have to worry about this one. Not going to happen.

3. Have a heart attack.

OK, that can happen anywhere.

4. Run out of air and panic.

How in the hell does this happen? Do these people not have gauges or what?

5. Uncontrolled ascent.

What's going on here?

I know this sounds like newbie nerves. I'm not scared, really. I just don't understand what actually HAPPENS to cause these accidents. I read Underwater Times: "Scuba diver appeared to be having difficulty at surface. Unable to be resuscitated (sp). Accident under investigation."

DAN says most fatalities occur in very new divers OR divers who've been certified for over 10 years. So why DO people drown or otherwise expire while diving? I'd like to make my own personal episode of "What Not To Do" before trouble begins. Thanks.

Uncle Pug · Aug 20, 2003

What kills most divers is the end of a chain.

The chain of events that lead up to the diver's death starts with a little something going wrong... then something else going wrong... and another... none of which get corrected... and ultimately the end of the chain is reached.

Break the chain anywhere and you live. Good training will teach you how to break the chain.

jepuskar · Aug 20, 2003

Usually, several events lead up to the tragic ending. On occasion something could occur underwater or on the surface that could not be avoided and is a freak accident.

But the vast majority of accidents had events leading up to them.

There are soo many possible answers/scenarios to your question, but I would say...

1)Poor judgement (diving when you shouldn't, doing something you shouldnt etc)
2)Lack of attention
3)Panic

Custer · Aug 20, 2003

BlueGirlGoes once bubbled...
Bear with me here, please. I'm a new diver, and I just read the DAN accident and fatality reports from 2001. Some things I understand. Some things I don't.

DAN says most fatalities occur in very new divers OR divers who've been certified for over 10 years. So why DO people drown or otherwise expire while diving? I'd like to make my own personal episode of "What Not To Do" before trouble begins. Thanks.

Chill out, sis.

First off, they usually die from being underwater.

Then, try and remember, that millions of divers do millions and millions of dives, and a fraction of a fraction of a percent of them die.

77 died in 2001, 30%, IIRC, of uncontrolled ascent.

That's about 23 divers, out of millions.

It's hard to say why they died, or how.

Some were rusty in their skills, some were stupid, some may have been undertrained.

No doubt one or two had defective equipment.

But they were so few, it's hard to actually define a "cause of death".

You should spend more time worrying about alien abduction.

Refine your skills, review your manual to determine if anything was skipped in OW class, dive your butt off, and don't worry.

chrispete · Aug 20, 2003

I don't know what happens after that, but for a lot of people, the Death Fairy shows up. Solution: buddy lanyard. If I'm going down, *you're* going down.

Actually, good buddy skills should solve this problem - you don't need to be tethered to your buddy, that'll actually cause more problems than it solves in most cases. Just get in sync with your buddy, agree to check on each other every 30 seconds (more or less depending on the conditions) and you should have buddy seperation pretty much taken care of.

4. Run out of air and panic. How in the hell does this happen? Do these people not have gauges or what?

Guages can and do on occasion malfunction, you can also become entangled and not be able to reach the surface, etc.

5. Uncontrolled ascent. What's going on here?

Uncontrolled ascents can happen for a ton of different reasons. My favorite anecdote is when I was in Belize last year I found a weightbelt on the bottom, picked it up and then tried to get neutral - no go on that, the thing must have had 20+ pounds of lead on it and my BC couldn't create enough lift. I thought about it for a moment and decided that I didn't want to fight this thing for the rest of the dive (5 mins into dive at this point), soooo I set the weights down and let go. Off I went, flying toward the surface. As UP said, break the chain somewhere and you'll be OK - I flared, dumped and got it under control within about 15 feet or so.

Training and practicing that training are the keys to being as safe as possible. Welcome to diving!

jbichsel · Aug 20, 2003

gets started. You have to know how, when, where, and who to break the chain with or from.

Read the book "The Last Dive" for an example of how the chain of events can lead to a horrible end. There are so many points at which that tragedy could have been averted.

SwimJim · Aug 20, 2003

Seems like a million years ago when I first got certified. October of 1978 to be exact. My instructer told the class"the first rule in diving is, no matter what happens to you, don't panic. The second rule in diving is don't forget rule number one!"
Stop, THINK, react and generally you'll be okay. Also never dive beyond your training. Its tempting, but if in doubt, don't dive.
Believe it or not buddy seperation will not kill you. If you have a problem with that, your skills are lacking and you should'nt be diving anyway. Follow your training. Make a quick search, no buddy, surface and regroup. No tether requiered. Just keep an eye on each other. Its a good idea to be aware of your surroundings anyway.
Just remember to dive as often as you can. Nothing builds confidence like experience. And once you can do things like controling bouyancy without thinking about it, the real diving(fun) begins.

Jim

CD_in_Chitown · Aug 20, 2003

Uncle Pug once bubbled...
What kills most divers is the end of a chain.

The chain of events that lead up to the diver's death starts with a little something going wrong...

Or being overlooked/taken for granted. "I checked that (piece of equipment) last time and it was fine," You'd be surprised how fast you can huff a tank dry when discovering problems underwater. I may be the most anal retentive gear checker my buddies know today, but I learned the hard way that the surface pre-dive is the best time to discover issues.

C

Charlie99 · Aug 20, 2003

BlueGirlGoes once bubbled...
... just read the DAN accident and fatality reports from 2001. ... Here are some of the reasons I've seen.

1. Get separated from your buddy.

I don't know what happens after that, but for a lot of people, the Death Fairy shows up.

I think cause and effect is reversed here. My guess is that FIRST there is some sort of problem, THEN the problem, combined with poor buddy awareness, leads to buddy separation.

divemed06 · Aug 20, 2003

BlueGirlGoes once bubbled...
Bear with me here, please. I'm a new diver, and I just read the

4. Run out of air and panic.

How in the hell does this happen? Do these people not have gauges or what?

Gauges are good...if you acyually look at them! It's like when a cop pulls you over for speeding and you tell him "I was sure I wasn't going over the speed limit..." when all you had to do is keep an eye out on your spedometer! And also, PLAN YOUR DIVE AND DIVE YOUR PLAN....corny? YES....essentiel...WITHOUT A DOUBT!!!

So, what actually KILLS divers?

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BlueGirlGoes

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