Why are experienced divers getting killed and injured lately?

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pilot fish

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Location
Charlotte, NC, fomerly NYC all my life
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What is going on with all these diving accidents and fatalities lately? Is this the result of experienced divers pushing the limits, or just part of the risks of diving? We all know about what happened to two divers from this Board. That brings it into sharp focus for me. Those were upsetting and sad to hear about, even though I did not know them. Another highly experienced diver lost his life on the Andrea Doria this weekend. Is this a disturbing trend since diving has become more popular? Is this average?

I find these reports scary actually, because I feel, if it can happen to them, it can happen to me as well.
 
Bored are you?
 
They probably had bad instructors.
 
pilot fish:
What is going on with all these diving accidents and fatalities lately?

perhaps as the dive population ages, divers who could do certain dives are pushing
themselves past what their older bodies can handle. or perhaps they are taking
risks a less experienced and seasoned diver would not.

combine that with more divers out there, and the percentages do the rest

just a guess
 
True. We're flooded with bad news of diving accidents lately. This doesn't help me much while trying to convert some non divers into divers.
 
Perhaps you just know more divers PF. Statistics show that the frequency of deaths are are about normal.
 
After all this is a risky sport... if it's not physical fitness issues (more divers than I care smoke but it's their life)... equipment failures happen... and other situational issues happen (eg. weather, current, etc.) that add stress and cause cascading errors to happen... it could just be their time... might have been a bus or car accident instead... or a heart attack in the cubicle at work...
 
I blame it on the DM.



I have a theory on why some of these accidents have occured, but no solid conclusions can be made given the lack of factual details. I believe that most incidents can be avoided and that complacency is the #1 killer amoung experienced divers.
 
pilot fish:
I find these reports scary actually, because I feel, if it can happen to them, it can happen to me as well.
Not to distress you further, but it CAN happen to you as well.

Big Jet Driver was a careful, meticulous guy and a good diver. Ditto for a friend of mine who died diving about three weeks ago. You can be an excellent diver and make a mistake. You can be skilled and experienced and run into something for which you are, sadly, unprepared. The ocean is a dynamic environment and occasionally wind, currents, or other natural phenomena will defeat you. Sometimes it comes down to fate - you decide to do X, the non-fatal option was likely Y. You can be careful and situationally aware, and still die. There are no guarantees.

"Any diver can die on any dive at any time."

It's good to remember that, and prepare for as many worst case scenarios as you can. The fact that 99% of the time most divers have uneventful dives does not eliminate the grim statistics that annually we can count on losing a half dozen or so divers along the eastern seaboard between Florida and New York. Some are heart attacks or medical issues, some are weather/current-related, some are poor decisions, and some are simply never seen again.

I think that if you don't have that thought somewhere in your mind as you prepare for, and practice, and then actually go out and execute your dives, THAT's what I find scary. This avocation is not one that should be undertaken casually or lightly.

You can do everything right and still die. But doing everything right reduces your risks considerably.
 
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